Handling Maybe Dependencies

The most common method of handling Maybe job dependencies is to add the unscheduled conditions of Maybe jobs to the IOA Conditions file.

However, examining each condition in the Manual Conditions list to determine if it is an unscheduled condition from a Maybe job, and manually adding each Maybe job unscheduled condition, is a difficult process. The process can be greatly simplified and automated, by following these steps:

1. Define a Unique Prefix for Maybe Job Prerequisite Conditions

   When Maybe dependencies are defined, the prerequisite IN, OUT and DO COND conditions must all have the same unique prefix (that is, a prefix that is not used for other prerequisite conditions).

   Using a unique prefix symbol makes it easier to see unscheduled conditions of Maybe Jobs in the Manual Conditions list.

   Normally, this prefix is either symbol # or @.

   Note: If your site utilizes MVS restarts and uses symbol @ in OUT conditions for the restart, this symbol must not be used as a prefix for Maybe job conditions. In this case, use the # symbol for Maybe conditions. For details, see MVS Job Restart Without Control-M/Restart

2. Use the ADDCOND7 KeyStroke Language utility to add the prerequisite conditions. The ADDCOND7 KSL utility automatically adds all conditions with a specified prefix in the Manual Conditions file to the IOA Conditions file. The ADDMNCND JOB member in the IOA JCL library can be used as a sample for running the KSL.

   By specifying the above-defined unique prefix symbol in the utility, unscheduled conditions from Maybe jobs are automatically added, making manual adding of the conditions unnecessary.

After the above two steps have been implemented, the only manual intervention required for unscheduled conditions of Maybe jobs is the executing of the ADDCOND7 KSL utility.