Hi all,
 
When I was testing the new HPLASTSPID variable (contains $stdlist spoolfile id
for the job most recently streamed and will be part of a 5.0 patch thanks to
Gopi) I came across this example:
  !job jfoo,mgr.sys
  !stream jboo
  !showvar hplast@
  HPLASTJOB = #J123
  HPLASTSPID =
  !...
 
Note that HPLASTSPID is empty, even though in this case the job can logon
"immediately".  The problem here is that it takes a little time for JBAR
to logon and when :showvar was executed JBAR hadn't opened its $stdlist yet.
 
This got me wondering if there is *real* value in being able to pause JFOO
until JBAR is "executing".  (Note: in a 5.0 patch being developed, the PAUSE
command has been enhanced to be able to pause until a job or jobs have
terminated.)
 
I offer a possible way of doing this, but it is important to me that there is
actually a need to be able to pause one or more jobs until it (or they) have
reached a certain state (in this case, are executing rather than waiting,
scheduled or just introduced).
 
  :PAUSE ...;JOB=jobid ;UNTIL=state   ,where "state" can be END or TERMINATE
   to indicate a pause until the job(s) have terminated (this is what is
already
   implemented).  Or state can be START or EXEC to mean pause until the job(s)
   has progressed beyond "intro" (this is what I am considering adding).
 
With this enhancement the above jobstream could be:
  !job jfoo,mgr.sys
  !stream jbar
  !pause job=!hplastjob;until=start   (jfoo pauses until jbar opens stdlist)
  !showvar hplast@
  HPLASTJOB = #J124
  HPLASTSPID = O432
  !...
 
The lifecycle for a job is:
  [wait or sched->] intro -> initializing(EXEC*) -> exec [-> susp] -> terminate
 
I am wondering if there is a need to be able to pause while jobs are not yet
EXEC* vs. just being able to pause until a job has terminated?
 
Thanks for your feedback,
Jeff Vance, MPE/iX Lab
 
 
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