Using AutoStrobe and the Strobe Command Language

This section explains how to create AutoStrobe schedules and work with AutoStrobe measurement request groups using the Strobe command language. Other AutoStrobe functionality is available only through the Strobe/ISPF interface.

Using Strobe Commands to Create AutoStrobe Schedules

This section explains how to use the Strobe command language to designate an AutoStrobe measurement request schedule. To set up a schedule for a measurement request or a request group, you specify the STARTDATE and STARTTIME operands. You can supply these operands with either the ADD, CHANGE, or SUBMIT commands. You cannot use these operands with ADDGRP.

STARTDATE

To indicate the dates when you want Strobe to measure the job or request group, you specify the STARTDATE operand, which uses one of the following formats:

The first date you specify is the first scheduled date that the job or request group should be measured. Additional date specifications designate when subsequent measurements take place (up to one year from the date submitted) and must be entered in the order in which they occur.

STARTTIME

To indicate the times you want to measure the job or request group, use the STARTTIME operand, which uses one of the following formats:

The first hour and minute designation is the first time during the day that the job or request group is measured. A one-to-one correspondence must exist between each STARTDATE and STARTTIME operand. Allow at least two minutes between the time of day when you submit a request with a schedule and the first time you have scheduled a measurement request. Strobe will delete the scheduled request if it determines that less than two minutes exist between the time of the request submission and the time of the first scheduled request.

Command Language Scheduling Examples

The following example submits request group GROUPA with a schedule calling for a measurement session to start on 10/15/2013 and 10/22/2013 at 5:00 p.m.

This example submits request group GROUPQ with a schedule calling for a measurement session to start on 10/20/13 at 8:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m.:

This example submits a measurement request for a job named JOBNINE with a schedule to measure on 10/19/13 at 10:00 PM.

Using AutoStrobe Groups and the Strobe Command Language

AutoStrobe users have six commands and several operands available to work with measurement request groups. The commands relate to using request groups and request group elements. Two of the operands are used to define schedules for measurement sessions. All of these commands and operands are described in this section.

For the ADDGRP and CHGGRP commands, you can use any of the operands that were described earlier for the ADD and CHANGE commands. For example, you can assign a session duration (GOMIN) and a number of samples (SAMPLES) for a measurement request with the ADDGRP command and then make the request an element of a request group. You could also use the CHGGRP command to change the session duration or the number of samples after the request becomes a request group element.

This section describes how to perform the following tasks using the Strobe command language:

• Creating a request group
• Submitting a request group
• Submitting a measurement request or a request group with a schedule
• Specifying operands to retry a measurement request
• Measuring multiple address spaces concurrently
• Changing a request group element
• Listing request group elements
• Copying a request group
• Deleting a request group or a request group element.

Note also that by using the Strobe command language, you do not realize many of the usability enhancements provided with the Strobe/ISPF implementation of the AutoStrobe functions.

Creating a Request Group

To create request groups and request group elements, use the ADDGRP command.

ADDGRP

The ADDGRP command specifies a measurement request that you want placed in a request group. To create a measurement request group, the first task is to specify the job and the job step that you want assigned as a request group element as described in . Setting these operands is mandatory. A request group cannot exist unless it contains at least one request group element. You must also specify the name of the request group in which you want to place the request group element.

GROUP

The GROUP operand specifies the name of the request group in which you want to add the request group element. If the request group name you specify does not exist, Strobe creates a request group with the name you specified and places the job name and job step as a request group element in the request group. If the request group name does exist, the job name and job step to be measured are placed as a request group element in the existing request group. For information about changing a request group element with the CHGGRP command, see Changing Request Group Elements.

Examples

This example shows how to create a request group element that measures a step that is not part of a procedure:

This example shows how to create a request group element that measures multiple steps that are not part of a procedure:

This example adds a measurement request to a request group named GROUPX for a job step named “SS1”, in the same batch job that runs Strobe:

This example adds the measurement request for the first job Strobe finds beginning with the alphanumeric sequence STR to a request group named GROUPY:

Adding a Request to an Existing Request Group

Use the GROUP operand with the ADDGRP command to identify the request group to which you want to add a new request group element. Request group elements can be created for either active or queued requests. The following example places a measurement request named JOBFIVE in a group named GRP1:

Submitting a Request Group

To submit a request group you have created, use the SUBMIT command.

SUBMIT

SUBMIT dispatches the request group so Strobe can begin measuring the jobs specified in it. The request group can contain both active and queued jobs.

• If a request group element in the request group specifies a job that is active, Strobe begins to measure the job immediately.
• If a request group element in the request group specifies a job that is not active, Strobe creates a queued measurement request that begins when the job becomes active.

Strobe marks subsequent SUBMIT commands for any jobs in a request group that are already being measured as complete. The following example submits a request group named GRP_1:

Scheduling a Measurement Request

To set up a schedule for a measurement request or a request group, you specify the STARTDATE and STARTTIME operands. You can supply these operands with either the ADD, CHANGE, or SUBMIT commands. You cannot use these operands with ADDGRP.

STARTDATE

To indicate the dates when you want Strobe to measure the job or request group, you specify the STARTDATE operand, which uses one of the following formats:

The first date you specify is the first scheduled date that the job or request group should be measured. Additional date specifications designate when subsequent measurements take place (up to one year from the date submitted) and must be entered in the order in which they occur.

STARTTIME

To indicate the times you want Strobe to measure the job or request group, use the STARTTIME operand, which uses one of the following formats:

The first hour and minute designation is the first time during the day that the job or request group is measured. A one-to-one correspondence must exist between each STARTDATE and STARTTIME operand. Allow at least two minutes between the time of day when you submit a request with a schedule and the first time you have scheduled a measurement request. Strobe will delete the scheduled request if it determines that less than two minutes exist between the time of the request submission and the time of the first scheduled request.

Examples

The following example submits request group GROUPA with a schedule calling for a measurement session to start on 10/15/2013 and 10/22/2013 at 5:00 p.m.

This example submits request group GROUPQ with a schedule calling for a measurement session to start on 10/20/13 at 8:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m.:

This example submits a measurement request for a job named JOBNINE with a schedule to measure on 10/19/2013 at 10:00 PM.

Specifying Parameters to Retry a Measurement Request or Request Group

If the job your measurement request targets is not running when your measurement request is scheduled, you can set operands that cause Strobe to attempt to measure it again. The operands used to retry a measurement request or a request group are the INCREMENT and COUNT operands.

INCREMENT

The INCREMENT operand, which uses the format INCREMENT= ii, specifies the number of minutes that must elapse before Strobe attempts to measure an active job again if the job is not running the first time Strobe attempts to measure it.

COUNT

The COUNT operand, which uses the format COUNT=cc, controls how many additional times Strobe will attempt to measure after the time period specified by INCREMENT expires.

INCREMENT and COUNT apply only to measurement requests for active jobs or active jobs within a request group that you have scheduled using the STARTDATE and STARTTIME operands with either the ADD or SUBMIT commands. You can specify a value of anywhere from 0 to 60 minutes for INCREMENT and a value of anywhere from 0 to 24 for COUNT. You cannot use one operand without the other.

Example

The following example creates a schedule for a request group named GP_1 that has an entry to measure a set of jobs on 10/30/2013 at 10:00 a.m. If the job is not active at that specific time, Strobe will attempt to measure again in as many minutes as the value specified by INCREMENT. If INCREMENT is set to 5 and COUNT is set to 2, Strobe tries to measure again five minutes after the original scheduled time. If the job still is not active, Strobe will try again in another five minutes. If the job is not active on the second remeasurement attempt, Strobe discards the measurement request. To set up the schedule, code:

Measuring Multiple Address Spaces Concurrently

The Strobe AutoStrobe option allows you to easily define a group of jobs so Strobe measures them concurrently. This capability lets you produce Performance Profiles from each job’s measurement session that can indicate any performance impact that one job has upon another. To run concurrent measurement sessions, you have to designate the start of one measurement session as the “trigger” that starts the other measurement sessions.

CONCURRENT

The CONCURRENT operand, which uses the format CONCURRENT=setname, allows you to specify a name for the set of jobs that you want to measure simultaneously. If the name for the set of jobs to be measured concurrently does not exist, Strobe creates the set with the name you specify. If the set name does exist, Strobe adds the measurement request to the request group containing the concurrent set with that name. All members of a concurrent set must be contained in the same request group.

TRIGGER

The TRIGGER operand, which uses the format TRIGGER =YES/NO, identifies which measurement session triggers the other measurement sessions. The job with the measurement session that is designated as the trigger is called the trigger request group element. The jobs with measurement sessions that are started by the trigger request group element are called related request group elements.

When Strobe begins to measure the job designated as the trigger, Strobe also starts measuring the other active jobs that are part of the concurrent set. When the measurement of the trigger job step ends, Strobe also ends the related measurement sessions. If the request serving as the trigger specifies multiple steps to be measured, the related measurement sessions last only until Strobe finishes measuring the first specified step. Any measurement request designated as a trigger is always specified by Strobe to have the operand values of “LIMIT=(1,QUIT)” to ensure the measurement session stops when the target number of samples has been taken.

Both active and queued measurement requests can be specified with the TRIGGER operand set to YES and both types of requests can be specified with the CONCURRENT operand. However, within a concurrent set, only measurement sessions for active jobs can be related elements and started by the trigger measurement request. CONCURRENT and TRIGGER can be specified as operands for both the ADDGRP and CHGGRP commands.

By making a request group element a member of a concurrent set, you indicate that it is related to other members of the set and will execute concurrently only with its related request group elements. For a detailed explanation of concurrent sets and trigger and related request group elements, refer to Measuring-with-Strobe-ISPF.

Examples

This example shows three ADDGRP commands that create and use a concurrent set called CON1 in a group called GRP1. Three request group elements called JOB1, JOB2, and JOB3 are placed in the request group. JOB1 and JOB2 are the active related request group elements and JOB3 is the queued trigger request group element.

Changing Request Group Elements

After you have created the request group elements you require, they retain default values for operands such as GOMIN and SAMPLES unless you specified other values for them when you created the elements. If you need to change any of the operand values for the request group elements before you submit the request group for measurement, you can use the CHGGRP command to make the adjustment.

CHGGRP

The syntax format for the CHGGRP command is

or

The request group element sequence numbers for a request group can be obtained with the LSTGRP command. If the measurement session for the request group element you want to change is already active, you can specify only the GOMIN, SAMPLES, LIMIT, and RETAIN operands. If the request is queued, you can change any of the operands.

You must specify two operands to change request group elements: the sequence numbers or names for the elements you want to change in the group and the group name. You cannot specify a request group name only to change all of its request group elements. Each sequence number or name for the request group elements in the request group must be specified.

If you specify a request group element name, it is the name of the job to be measured. If the group contains several elements that measure different steps of the same job and you only specify the job name, the change will apply to all elements in the group using the job name. For example, if you had three elements in a group named GRP5 that measured the first, second and third step of a job named MULTISTP and wanted to change the session length to 20 minutes for each of them, you could use the following syntax:

This example changes the measurement session length to 15 minutes for two request group elements with sequence numbers 0002 and 0004 in a request group named GRPZ, code:

To change an operand value for a request group element that has been submitted, you use the CHANGE command. To obtain the request number for a submitted request group element, you can use the LIST command with either the TYPE=DEFERRED or TYPE=QUEUED specifications. If you submit a request group for measurement and then change it using the CHGGRP command, the changes only apply to subsequent times that you submit the request group.

Listing Group Elements

To list the elements of a request group, use the LISTGRP command.

LISTGRP

LISTGRP allows you to list the request groups you have created. If you specify a request group name, the request group elements contained in the request group and their sequence numbers are listed. The syntax for the LISTGRP command is:

Depending on whether you specify a group name, the LISTGRP command produces two types of listings. If you do not specify a group name, a listing with the following format appears:

This message displays the message number, request group name, the number of elements in the group, the date the request group was created, the date it was last modified, the date it was submitted, and the owner ID of the request group creator. The message is repeated for each group that you own.

Using a group name with the LISTGRP command produces a different listing that contains the operands you designated for each request group element that you added to the group. The format for the listing is:

The first message identifies the request group name. This message is followed by one message for each element in the group. These messages display the element sequence number, the target job name and program or stepname, the date and time the request group was created, and the request group name.

The four columns shown in the example are always displayed. Additional operands, such as GOMIN, are displayed if you provided values for them rather than accept the default values assigned to them by Strobe.

Copying Group Elements

To copy request group elements to another request group, use the COPYGRP command.

COPYGRP

COPYGRP allows you to copy all of the request group elements contained in one request group into another request group. You cannot copy individual request group elements from one request group to another. The syntax for the COPYGRP command is:

The following example copies the request group elements of a request group named MYGROUP to a request group called YOURGROUP.

Deleting a Group

To delete a request group, use the DELGRP command.

DELGRP

DELGRP allows you to delete a request group or delete several request groups at once. The syntax for the DELGRP command is:

This example deletes a request group named GRPTWO.

The following example deletes two request groups named GRPJAN and GRPFEB:

To delete individual request group elements, you use the DELETE.