Using AutoStrobe Scheduling

This section describes how AutoStrobe users can set up measurement request schedules. By submitting a measurement schedule, your target applications will be measured at whatever interval (hourly, daily, weekly, biweekly, etc.) you want. Schedules eliminate the need to submit a request each time you are interested in a program’s performance.

AutoStrobe users can create schedules for both regular requests and candidate monitoring requests. To set up a schedule, you can either use the Strobe/ISPF menu or the Strobe command language. This section only explains how to create a schedule through Strobe/ISPF. See Measuring-with-the-Strobe-Command-Language for information about designating schedules using the command language.

Scheduling Measurement Requests

To schedule a measurement request through the Strobe Options menu:

1. Select Option 1 (ADD ACTIVE) or Option 2 (ADD QUEUED) from the Strobe Options menu.
2. Press Enter to display the Strobe- Add Active or the Strobe- Add Queued panel.
3. Enter a Y in the SCHEDULE REQUEST field.
4. Press Enter to display the Strobe- Request Scheduler panel.
5. On this panel specify the dates and the times for measurement requests to be automatically submitted.

Creating a Weekly Schedule

To create a weekly schedule for an individual measurement request or a request group:

1. Select Option 1 (ADD ACTIVE) or Option 2 (ADD QUEUED) from the Strobe Options menu.
2. Press Enter to display the Strobe- Add Active or the Strobe- Add Queued panel.
3. Type a Y in the SCHEDULE REQUEST field.
4. Press Enter to display the Strobe- Request Scheduler panel.
5. Type a Y below the day or days of the week on which you want Strobe to initiate a measurement session.

6. In the Starting Time(s) field, specify the time that you want the measurement session to move from the deferred category to active or queued. You can designate up to three daily start times for the request. If you enter three start times then three measurement sessions are initiated on each of the days you specified. To submit more than three measurement requests for a particular target job step, enter additional times on the bottom half of the panel.

   Important

   The time you enter in these fields must be at least three minutes later than the time you actually submit the request or request group.

7. Type the date when you want the schedule to begin.
8. Type the number of weeks that you want the scheduled request to run or the date that you want the schedule to end. If you enter the number of weeks, Strobe automatically calculates the end date for you.

Creating a Customized List of Schedule Dates

You can customize a schedule by typing a list of specific dates on the bottom half of the Strobe- Request Scheduler panel. For example, you can create a schedule that would initiate a measurement session on a specific date during each fiscal quarter. To create a list of dates, specify the dates and times and type an A in the OPT field to the left of the date.

You can also supplement the schedule for a measurement request or a request group by adding or excluding certain dates on your weekly schedule. For example, you could create a schedule that would automatically initiate a measurement session every Monday for the next 22 weeks. However, there are two Monday holidays that you would like to exclude from the schedule, and instead initiate a measurement session on Tuesday. Specifying the Monday dates and times with an E in the OPT field to the left of the date excludes those dates from the schedule. Specifying the Tuesday dates and times with an A in the OPT field to the left of the date adds those dates to the schedule.

To customize your schedule, type the dates and times on the lines at the bottom of the Strobe- Request Scheduler panel, and specify the add or exclude option in the OPT field. Strobe will then automatically initiate (or omit, in the case of the exclude option) a measurement session on those dates.

Modifying a Weekly Schedule

To change the characteristics of a scheduled request:

1. Select Option 3 (STATUS) from the Strobe Options menu.
2. Press Enter to display the Strobe- Status panel. Scheduled requests that have not yet run are listed under the DEFERRED REQUEST category.
3. Type a C to the left of the request you wish to change.
4. Press Enter to display the Strobe- Change Deferred Active Request or the Strobe- Change Deferred Queued Request panel, depending on the type of scheduled request you are changing.
5. Type a Y in the SCHEDULE REQUEST field.
6. Press Enter to display the Strobe- Request Scheduler panel.
7. Modify the schedule as necessary.
8. Press Enter to save the changes.

Defining a schedule for an ADD request causes a AutoStrobe measurement candidate program screening on specific dates only. If you have a candidate program that runs every day but always has an unusual work load on specific days, a candidate monitoring request to screen that program could specify a schedule that suppresses screening on those days.

To define a schedule for the AutoStrobe measurement request:

1. Type the required information on the Strobe- Add AutoStrobe Request panel, specifying Y in the SCHEDULE field. Press Enter.
   Strobe displays the Strobe- AutoStrobe Request Scheduler panel.
2. Specify Y below the days of the week on which you want to initiate observing.
3. Specify a date on which you want the schedule to begin.
4. Specify the number of weeks that you want the candidate request to run or the date that you want the schedule to end. If you type the number of weeks, AutoStrobe automatically calculates the end date for you.

You can customize a schedule by typing a list of specific dates on the bottom half of the Strobe- AutoStrobe Request Scheduler panel. For example, you can create a schedule that would initiate observations on a specific date during each fiscal quarter. To create a list of dates, specify the dates in the lower portion of the panel, and type an A in the OPT field to the left of the date.

You can also supplement the schedule for an AutoStrobe candidate monitoring request by adding or excluding certain dates on your weekly schedule. For example, you could create a schedule that would automatically initiate monitoring every Monday for the next 22 weeks. However, there are two Monday holidays that you would like to exclude from the schedule, and instead initiate a measurement session on Tuesday. Specifying the Monday dates with an E in the OPT field to the left of the date excludes those dates from the schedule. Specifying the Tuesday dates with an A in the OPT field to the left of the date adds those dates to the schedule.

To customize your schedule, type the dates on the lines at the bottom of the Strobe- AutoStrobe Request Scheduler panel, and specify the add or exclude option in the OPT field. AutoStrobe will then automatically initiate (or omit, in the case of the exclude option) observations on those dates.