Creating and editing external procedures

You can create external procedures to run an executable program on a local or remote system.

About this task

To create or edit an external procedure:

Procedure

  1. From the Netcool/OMNIbus Administrator window, select the Automation menu button.
  2. Click Procedures.
    The Procedures pane opens.
  3. To add an external procedure, click Add External Procedure in the toolbar.
    The External Procedure Details window opens.
  4. To edit an external procedure, select the external procedure to edit and then click Edit Procedure in the toolbar.
    The External Procedure Details window opens.
  5. Complete this window as follows:
    Name
    Type a unique name for the procedure. If you are editing a procedure, you cannot change the name.
    Tip: When you create ObjectServer objects, their names must begin with an uppercase or lowercase letter, followed by uppercase or lowercase letters, numbers, or underscore (_) characters, up to 40 characters in length. User, group, and role names can be any text string up to 64 characters in length and can include spaces. Names of ObjectServer objects are case-sensitive.
    Parameters
    This area displays the parameters that have been created for the procedure. These parameters can be base type variables, arrays of base type values, or rows of named tables.
    You can use the up and down arrows to the right of the list box to change the order of any selected parameter. You can also click Remove parameter to the right of the list box to remove any selected parameter from the list.
    To create a parameter, use the In/Out, Name, and Data Type fields, the Array check box, and the Add parameter to the list button.
    In/Out
    The in mode is selected by default. You cannot change this value because external procedure parameters are always IN parameters. You can use an IN parameter in expressions to help calculate a value, but you cannot assign a value to the parameter.
    Name
    Type a name for the parameter being created. Parameter names must be unique within the procedure.
    Tip: When you create ObjectServer objects, their names must begin with an uppercase or lowercase letter, followed by uppercase or lowercase letters, numbers, or underscore (_) characters, up to 40 characters in length. User, group, and role names can be any text string up to 64 characters in length and can include spaces. Names of ObjectServer objects are case-sensitive.
    Data Type
    Select the type of data that the parameter can pass into the procedure. The data type can be any valid ObjectServer data type except VARCHAR or INCR.
    Array
    Select this check box to pass an array of the selected data type into the procedure.
    Add parameter to the list
    After completing the In/Out, Name, and Data Type fields, and the Array check box, click this button to add the parameter to the parameter list.
    Executable
    Type the full path for the command to run. You can click Browse to help locate and select the file.
    Arguments
    Type any command-line arguments for the command to run.
    Host
    Type the name of the host computer on which to run the procedure. The logged-in computer name is shown by default.
    User ID
    Specify the (UNIX) user ID under which to run the executable program.
    Group ID
    Specify the (UNIX) group ID under which to run the executable program.
  6. Save or cancel your changes as follows:
    OK
    Click this button to save the external procedure and close the window. New external procedures are added to the Procedures pane.
    Cancel
    Click this button to close the window without saving your changes.

What to do next

After you create a procedure in the ObjectServer, you can run it from the SQL interactive interface (iSQL), or run it in a trigger using the EXECUTE PROCEDURE command.
Note: To run an external procedure, you must have a process control agent daemon (nco_pad) running on the host where the executable file is stored.