1 03/17/88 enter_abs_request, ear
2
3 Syntax as a command: ear path -control_args
4
5
6 Function: allows you to request the creation of an absentee process,
7 which you can delay until a specified time. An absentee process
8 executes commands from a segment and places the output in another
9 segment.
10
11
12 Arguments:
13 path
14 specifies the pathname of the absentee control segment associated
15 with this request. The absin suffix is assumed. If a pathname
16 is given, it identifies the absin segment. If only an entryname
17 is given, the absin segment is located using the exec_com search
18 list.
19
20
21 Control arguments:
22 -arguments STRs, -argument STRs, -ag STRs
23 indicates that the absentee control segment requires arguments. STR
24 can be one or more arguments. All arguments following -ag are taken
25 as arguments to the absentee control segment; therefore put -ag last
26 in the command line.
27
28
29 -authorization STR, -auth STR
30 sets the authorization of the process to that specified by STR.
31 STR is a character string composed of level and category names for
32 the desired authorization, separated by commas. STR cannot contain
33 any embedded blank or tab characters. The short names for each
34 level and category always contain no blanks or tabs and can be
35 used whenever the corresponding long names contain blanks or tabs.
36 STR must represent an authorization that is within the range of
37 minimum and maximum authorization of Person_id on the Project_id.
38 If -authorization is omitted, your current login authorization is
39 used. See the Programmer's Reference Manual for more information
40 about process authorizations. Allowed authorization range can be
41 displayed via the "user auth_range" command.
42 -brief, -bf
43 suppresses the message "ID: HHMMSS.f; N already requested."
44
45
46 -comment STR, -com STR
47 associates a comment with the request. If STR contains blanks or
48 other command language characters, enclose it in quotes. The
49 comment is printed whenever you or the operator lists the request.
50 It indicates to the operator the time or circumstances when a
51 deferred job should be released, such as when a specified reel of
52 tape is delivered to the computer room.
53 -defer_indefinitely, -dfi
54 does not run the absentee process until the operator starts it.
55 -extend
56 append output of the absentee process to the absout file default.
57 Provided to override the -truncate argument.
58
59
60 -foreground, -fg
61 places the request in the foreground queue, rather than in one of
62 the numbered background queues. For load control and charging
63 purposes, jobs in the foreground queue are treated as interactive
64 logins; that is, a foreground job is logged in as if you would have
65 logged in interactively, and, while logged in, it occupies a primary
66 slot in your load control group. See -secondary.
67 -home_dir path, -hd path
68 sets the home directory of the absentee process to the path
69 specified, if the project administrator allows such changes.
70 The "user attributes" command displays allowed attributes. The
71 vhomedir attribute is required to use the -home_dir control
72 argument. The specified home dir cannot exceed 64 characters and
73 must be specified as an absolute pathname.
74
75
76 -limit N, -li N
77 places a limit on the CPU time used by the absentee process. The
78 parameter N must be a positive decimal integer specifying the limit
79 in seconds. The default limit is defined by the site for each
80 queue. An upper limit is defined by the site for each queue on each
81 shift. Jobs with limits exceeding the upper limit for the current
82 shift are deferred to a shift with a higher limit.
83 -long_id, -lgid
84 prints the long form of the request identifier in the normal
85 message:
86 ID: yymmddHHMMSS.ffffff; N already requested
87
88
89 -no_start_up, -ns
90 instructs the standard process overseer not to execute the
91 start_up.ec segment in the absentee process, if the project
92 administrator allows it. The "user attributes" command displays
93 allowed attributes. The nostartup attribute is required to use
94 this control argument.
95 -notify, -nt
96 notifies you by an interactive message sent to your mailbox when
97 the job is logged in, when it is logged out, or when it is deferred
98 for any reason other than your request. The latter might occur
99 because of the unavailability of resources or a time limit higher
100 than the maximum for the shift.
101 -output_file path, -of path
102 specifies the pathname of the output segment see "Notes" below.
103
104
105 -process_overseer path, -po path
106 sets the process overseer for the absentee process to the procedure
107 given by path if the project administrator allows this. If path
108 ends in the characters ",direct", the specified procedure is called
109 directly during process initialization rather than by the standard
110 system-provided procedure. This means that the program used by
111 path must perform the tasks that would have been performed by the
112 standard procedure. The length of the process_overseer path should
113 not exceed 64 characters. The "user attributes" command displays
114 allowed attributes. The vinitproc attribute is required to use
115 this control argument.
116
117
118 -proxy User_id
119 enters the request on behalf of the specified user. An absentee
120 process of that User_id is logged in to run the job. The system
121 administrator controls the use of -proxy by an access control
122 segment. See Notes for details.
123 -queue N, -q N
124 specifies that absentee queue N should contain the request to be
125 entered, where N is an integer specifying the number of the queue.
126 The default queue is designated by the site administrator. There
127 are four background queues, with queue 1 having the highest
128 priority. The highest numbered queue processed on each shift is
129 determined by the site. For convenience in writing exec_coms and
130 abbreviations, the word "foreground" fg following -queue performs
131 the same function as -foreground.
132
133
134 -resource STR, -rsc STR
135 specifies resources given in STR e.g. one or more tape drives;
136 don't start them until they are available. These resources are also
137 reserved for the absentee job before it is logged in. Resource
138 reservation via the reserve_resource command need not be done in
139 the absin segment. Enclose the resource description in quotes if it
140 contains blanks or other command language characters.
141 -restart, -rt
142 starts over the computation of this request from the beginning if
143 interrupted for example by a system crash. Default: not to
144 restart the computation
145
146
147 -ring N, -rg N
148 sets the initial ring to N if this ring number is within the range
149 of the registered minimum ring and maximum ring. This range may
150 be displayed via the "user ring_range" command.
151 -secondary
152 logs in a foreground job as a secondary user subject to preemption
153 if there are no primary slots available in your load control group.
154 By default a foreground job is only logged in if a primary process
155 can be created for you.
156 -sender STR
157 enters requests only from sender STR. In most cases the sender is
158 an RJE station identifier.
159 -start_up
160 instructs the standard process overseer to execute the start_up.ec
161 segment if it exists. Default.
162
163
164 -time DT, -tm DT
165 delays the creation of the absentee process until a specified
166 date-time, where DT must be a character string acceptable to
167 convert_date_to_binary_ see the Subroutines manual. If DT
168 contains blanks, enclose it in quotes.
169 -truncate, -tc
170 truncate the absout file, so that the absentee process will
171 begin writing at the beginning of the absout file. See Notes.
172
173
174 Notes:
175 If you don't supply the pathname of the output segment, the output of
176 the absentee process is directed to a segment whose pathname is the
177 same as the absentee control segment, having a suffix of absout instead
178 of absin. If you omit the absout suffix from the output segment
179 pathname, the suffix is assumed. The named output segment may or may
180 not already exist.
181
182 If the absout segment exists, the absentee user Person_id.Project_id.m
183 or in the case of a proxy request Person_id.Project_id.p must have w
184 access to the segment. If the absout segment does not exist, the
185 absentee user requires append permission to the directory in which it
186 is to be created.
187
188
189 The command checks for the existence of the absentee input segment and
190 rejects a request for an absentee process if it is not present.
191
192 The effect of specifying -time is as if enter_abs_request were issued
193 at the deferred time. Be aware of differing time zones when deferring
194 absentee jobs. If there is a possibility of overlapping times i.e.
195 when est changes to edt etc., specify the time zone in the value
196 given for -time. If an absentee job cannot be run or if it terminates
197 abnormally, the system sends an interactive user message to your
198 mailbox, whether or not you give -notify.
199
200
201 All input and output that occurs in the absentee job is written to the
202 segment STR.absout in the same directory as the absentee segment
203 STR.absin. This absout segment has its safety switch turned on
204 temporarily while the job is running, since deleting the absout segment
205 crashes the absentee job. To make sure that the absout is printed
206 after absentee logout, even if it does not reach completion, put the
207 following command line near the beginning of the absin file:
208 eor -dupt user absout
209 where "-dupt" is short for -defer_until_process_termination.
210
211 To delete the absout when done, make the following the last line in the
212 absin file:
213 dl user absout -force; logout -brief
214 The logout command prevents an abnormal termination trying to write
215 another line to the deleted absout file.
216
217
218 An alternative to deleting the absout is to rename it so as to keep
219 only the latest copy:
220 answer yes -brief rename user absout ===.old
221 This command line, which can appear anywhere in the absin file, forces
222 deletion of any previous .old copy and saves the current absout with
223 suffix .old for later examination.
224
225 To delete the absin when completed, make the following the last line in
226 the absin file:
227 dl user absin; logout
228 The logout command prevents an abnormal termination trying to read
229 another line from the deleted absin file.
230
231
232 The -truncate argument causes the absout file to be truncated at the
233 time the absentee job is starting to run, but if the job is being
234 restarted because of a system crash interruption, the truncation
235 will not be performed.
236
237 When -proxy is given, no attempt is made by ear to validate attribute
238 dependent control arguments. Since the job is submitted on behalf of
239 another user, the attributes for the proxy user will be validated only
240 by the answering service when it attempts to run the job. Attribute
241 dependent control arguments are:
242 -no_start_up
243 -home_dir
244 -authorization
245 -process_overseer
246 -ring
247
248
249 See also list_abs_requests and cancel_abs_request.