Argent Job Scheduler Home Directory

The default value for the root/home directory of the installed program product is typically C:\ARGENT\SchedulingEngine. Customers can change the directory name during product installation.

Throughout the remainder of this document, the term “home directory” will be used to refer to the name of the installed product root directory.

Sub-Directories

The following directories are installed under the home directory:

\_KEY

This directory contains the Argent Job Scheduler license file. There is typically only one file in this directory. The license file name is made up of the product name and the issue date of the product license.
An example is:

ARGENT_JOB_SCHEDULER_04_AUG_2008_14_19_27.LIC

\DBF\History

This directory contains archived job information.

When the archive format is configured as “Excel comma delimited“, the archived job information is stored in files with a .CSV extension. When “Argent Job Scheduler History File” format is used, the archived job information is stored in files with a .ARC extension. When “ODBC compliant database” format is used, the archived job information is stored in files with a .SQL extension.

These files are not SQL queries. The use of the .SQL file extension can be confusing in that regard.

\DBF\History\JobLog

This directory contains job logs for completed jobs. During rollover and archival processing, the job logs for jobs that are eligible to be purged are stored in a sub directory for each date. The job logs from jobs purged on 2 Aug, 2008 are stored in

\DBF\History\JobLog\20080802, for example.

Job history information is stored for the length of time configured on the J9P settings display.

\JobDiagram

This directory contains customer-created job diagram files. Files in this directory are named using the name of the job and a .DGR file extension. An example is:

TEST_JOB.DGR

The files in this directory are perpetual and are not purged.

\Logs

This is used to store the product service log files. The service log file is, effectively, a running commentary on the actions a given product takes on behalf of the customer. A service log file can have varying degrees of detail. Four levels of detail are currently supported:

1 – LOG_NONE

This level of detail avoids writing text, if possible. Error messages and other important information are written to the log.

2 – LOG_NORMAL

This level of detail provides some status information, such as the routine starting and stopping of services. This level of detail is adequate in most production environments.

3 – LOG_DETAILED

This level of detail provides some feedback information about completed API calls, completed function calls within the product, and enhanced information about progress of multi-step processing.

4 – LOG_HIGHLY_DETAILED

This level of detail provides the greatest level of information about the product as the code executes. This level of detail should only be invoked on the recommendation of experienced and trained Argent technical professionals.

Changing the level of service file logging level requires changing a Windows registry entry for the product.

For many Argent products, the level of service log file logging can be changed directly from the user interface. In some cases, direct access to the service log file detail value is not supported directly using the user interface.

For the Argent Job Scheduler, the value of the service log file level of detail is controlled by the

HKLM\Software\Argent\SchedulingEngine\DEBUG_LEVEL

registry key. After a typical product installation, this value is set to 2 (LOG_NORMAL). On the advice of experienced and trained Argent technical support professionals, customers may wish to set this value to a higher level.

The service log level of detail can be set to a value between 1 (LOG_NONE) and 4 (LOG_HIGHLY_DETAILED). After making a change, the Argent Queue Engine service should be re-started to be sure the changed value is read in to memory and used for all components of the product.

The current service log file within the \Logs sub-directory will have the name svc_log.txt. Each Argent product supports the specification of a maximum service log file size. When the maximum log file size has been reached, the service log file will be renamed, and a new service log file will be created. Typically, the value for the maximum service log file size defaults to 5Mb (5,120Kb).

When the maximum size of a given service log file has been reached, the Argent product will rename the current log file to a name that includes that date and time the service log file reached its maximum size.

As mentioned above, the current service log file for the Argent Job Scheduler is named svc_log.txt. When the service log file maximum size is reached, the current service log file is renamed and further service log file messages are stored in svc_log.txt.

The Argent Job Scheduler user interface program log file is named gui_log.txt. When the service log file maximum size is reached, the current user interface program log file is renamed and further log file messages are stored in gui_log.txt.

All Argent products use a standardized approach to writing service log file messages and managing product service log files. This approach calls for opening and closing the service log file for each service log file message that needs to be written.

The result of this approach is that all Argent product service log files can be deleted at any time. The very next service log file message request invoked by the Argent product code will trigger a new file to be created within the \Logs sub-directory, if needed.

\MAPS

This directory contains customer-created Argent SuperMap graphic files.

The files in this directory are perpetual and are not purged.