Configurable Standalone Files

Some file processing performed by the Argent Job Scheduler is configurable and is not tied to a specific directory.

Configuration Information Files

Both the Argent Job Scheduler and the Argent Queue Engine maintain configuration information in three files:

  • hosts.dat
  • timeouts.dat
  • users.dat

The hosts.dat and timeouts.dat files contain information about Queue Engine server connections. The users.dat file contains mapping information used to translate a Job Scheduler user account to a different account on a given Queue Engine server system.

The Job Scheduler GUI Remote/UNIX/iSeries/SAP Server Management dialog (Screen ID J87A and J87B) is used to maintain these files. Customers should only manipulate these files on the advice of trained and experienced Argent technical and support professionals.

Exit Code Files

Typically, a customer job returns an exit code directly to the operating system. In C++, for example, the return statement is used to do this. A customer job that calls a C++ .exe file will use the return statement to tell Job Scheduler its result. The result is an exit code that can be used to configure exit code processing on the J20I display of a job definition.

In some cases, the customer executable that is invoked runs a script. Visual Basic scripts, for example can be invoked using VBScript.exe. Even though the script does not complete successfully, VBScript.exe will complete successfully. To provide a way for the Argent Queue Engine and thus Argent Job Scheduler to retrieve the result of the script, a customer-developed application can format an exit code file that contains the result of the script.

When a job definition is configured for exit code file processing using the J20E display, the Argent Queue Engine server looks in the installed product home directory for a file with the following general name:

<job_name>_nnnnnn.CC

Where nnnnnn is the job number assigned by the Queue Engine.

Example:

COPY_DAILY_FILES_000156.CC

After the job exit code is retrieved from the exit code file, the file is deleted.

License Key Files

A license key received from Argent will have the product name and a date expression in the name, followed by a .LIC extension.

An example of a product license file for the Argent Job Scheduler is:

ARGENT_JOB_SCHEDULER_4_AUG_2008_14_22_33.LIC

Product license files must not be deleted.

Argent recommends storing all license files received from Argent in the _KEY sub-directory.

Internal Tables

The Argent Queue Engine maintains status information in four critically important files within the product home directory:

  • JobsSlot.bin
  • JobTemplate.bin
  • PerfData.bin
  • QueueSlot.bin

These files contain product-specific internal information about each job, job template, and queue supported by the Argent Queue Engine. Each of these files is assumed and required to be available to the Argent Queue Engine at all times. These files can not be inspected, opened, read, or manipulated in any way by customer processes, including anti-virus programs.