TIMER

Purpose

The TIMER control file entry applies to base NetView® policy statements.

The TIMER control file entries define default timers that initiate commands or command lists at scheduled times. The timer can be scheduled for a specific day and time, after a certain day of the year, or repetitively at intervals. Multiple TIMER entries can be specified in the control file, one for each scheduled command.

The TIMER entry is optional. If a TIMER entry is not included in the control file, the online TIMER facility can be used to schedule timer events. The TIMER command provides a full-screen operator interface for displaying, adding, deleting, and modifying timers for NetView.

Syntax

TIMER

timer_id

The identifier that you specify for this timer request. The timer_id can be from 1 - 8 characters in length. You cannot use the following values for timer_id:

The word ALL
The characters EZL, FKV, FKW, FKX, SYS, or RST as the first three characters
Any VTAM® resource name or Dncpname or Rncpname.

Note: If you use any of these values, automation can be unpredictable.

TIME

Specifies when or how often you want the command issued.

DAILY: The NetView program issues the command daily.
AT: The NetView program issues the command at the specified time. If the date defaults and the time specified is earlier than the current time, the command is scheduled for the next day.
EVERY: The NetView program issues the command repetitively at a timed interval. The EVERY parameter is not valid with a date.
AFTER: The NetView program issues the command after a specified period of time.
#days: Specify the number of days (ddd) with the EVERY or AFTER parameter as ddd in the range of 1 - 365. If you specify ddd, you must also specify a start time.
weekday: Specify weekday with the AT or EVERY parameter as a day of the week, or DAILY.
date: Specify a date with the AT parameter as mm/dd/yy, where mm is the month, dd is the day of the month, and yy is the year. The default value is the current date. AT is not valid with DAILY.
start: Specify the start time as hh:mm:ss, hh:mm, or mm where hh is the hours in the range of 00 - 23, mm is the minutes in the range of 0 - 59, and ss is the seconds in the range of 0 - 59. The default is 00.

TASK

Specify where the command is to run. You can specify:

oper_id

The NetView operator identification under which this timer runs. If you specify oper_id, the NetView program issues the timer command only if the operator is logged on.

PPT

Specifies that the command or command list indicated by the COMMAND parameter runs under the PPT. If you specify PPT, the command runs regardless of which operators are logged on at the indicated time.

Notes about the PPT: Not all commands can run under the PPT. For example, the following commands cannot run under the PPT:

Commands that control the screen (such as AUTOWRAP, INPUT, and SET PFnn).
Commands or command lists that start full-screen command processors (such as BGNSESS FLSCN, NLDM, NPDA, or BROWSE.
Commands that issue STIMER.
Command lists that issue the control statement &WAIT or &PAUSE
REXX command lists that issue WAIT, PAUSE, or TRAP.

autoop

The operator ID as specified on the AUTOOPS control file entry. For more information, see AUTOOPS.

SAVE

Indicates whether this timer event is saved to the NetView SAVE/RESTORE database. If SAVE is not specified, the timer event is not saved. SAVE=YES is required if CATCHUP=YES is specified.

CATCHUP

Allows a timer that was saved to be caught up after a system outage occurs. If the system outage occurs prior to a timer being started and restarts after the start time for the timer, specifying CATCHUP=YES allows the timer command to be issued after the specified time. This parameter is valid only with the AT operand.

COMMAND

The command or command list runs when the timer expires.

Usage notes

If SAVE=YES is specified for a timer and the timer data is changed at a later date (leaving the timer-id the same) in the control file, the operator must also change the data for the timer_id through the operator interface. The timer_id is restored from the SAVE/RESTORE data base rather than reset from the control file. The last saved data can be old data if it is not updated online before NetView shutdown.
Timers are not reset when the control file is loaded. If timer definition data in the control file is changed, you must use the TIMER command to alter the current TIMER settings in NetView.
Commands defined as REGULAR or BOTH when the NetView program was installed can be used with TIMER. Commands defined as IMMEDIATE cannot be used with TIMER.
If you specify the EVERY parameter with CATCHUP=YES, the timer is not scheduled. If you specify the EVERY parameter, the command runs at the indicated interval until you purge the EVERY command.
To avoid overloading system resources, do not schedule an excessive number of commands during short time intervals.
If you schedule commands under the PPT, they might not run in the order that you specify if the value of the time parameter is the same for each command.

Examples

In this example, the CDRMS command list is issued on August 28, 2009, at 5:20 P.M. The timer is initiated only if operator NETOP2 is logged on. If a system failure occurs prior to 17:20 and restarts after 17:20, this timer is initiated because CATCHUP=YES is specified.
```
TIMER   RUNCLST,TIME='AT 08/28/09 17:20',SAVE=YES,TASK=NETOP2,
                CATCHUP=YES,COMMAND='CDRMS'
```
In this example, the command is issued at 5:21 P.M. on Thursday to load NCP21. If a system outage occurs, this timer does not catch up because SAVE=NO is specified. Operator NETOP2 must be logged on for this timer to start.
```
TIMER   LOADNCP,TIME='AT THURSDAY 17:21',SAVE=NO,TASK=NETOP2,
                CATCHUP=YES,COMMAND='V NET,ACT,ID=NCP21,LOAD=YES'
```
The D NET,BFRUSE command is issued at noon on every Sunday. The operator BJSIMPS must be logged on. This timer does not catch up because the EVERY parameter was specified.
```
TIMER   DISPLAY1,TIME='EVERY SUNDAY 12:00',TASK=BJSIMPS,
                CATCHUP=YES,COMMAND='D NET,BFRUSE'
```
In this example, the D NET,CDRMS command is issued after 20 hours and 40 minutes. Because no task keyword is defined, this timer runs if the operator who loaded the control file is logged on.
```
TIMER   DISPLAY2,TIME='AFTER 20:40',SAVE=YES,
                COMMAND='D NET,CDRMS'
```
In this example, the MVS™ D J,L command is issued every 150 days at 12 noon. This timer is not to be saved in the SAVE/RESTORE data base.
```
TIMER   MVSDISP,TIME='EVERY 150 12:00',SAVE=NO,TASK=NETOP1,
                COMMAND='MVS D J,L'
```
In this example, the specified command is issued at 6:15 P.M. on August 2, 2009, to print a dump. This timer initiates under the PPT and catches up if there was a system outage during its scheduled time.
```
TIMER   DISPLAY3,TIME='AT 8/02/09 18:15',SAVE=YES,TASK=PPT,
                CATCHUP=YES,COMMAND='D NET,ID=CICSAPPL'
```

In this example, after 6 minutes, the VARY NET,ACT,ID=CDRMAB command is issued.

TIMER   DISPLAY4,TIME='AFTER 6',SAVE=YES,
                COMMAND='VARY NET,ACT,ID=CDRMAB'

In this example, the EZLEOIVT command automatically removes resources from the OIV view when the resources' display status is updated to satisfactory (129).
```
TIMER   ADOIV,TIME='EVERY 00:03',
             TASK=AUTOIV1,
             COMMAND='EZLEOIVT'   
```
In this example, the MVS S SYSLOG command is issued every 20 minutes. This timer runs on the operator ID performing Timer initialization. Usually, AUTO1 performs initialization during NetView startup, therefore, this timer is scheduled to initiate under AUTO1 if this entry is defined in the control file.
```
TIMER   MVSSTRT,TIME='EVERY 20',SAVE=YES,
                COMMAND='MVS S SYSLOG'
```