Re: Batch automate connecting to AS400's

Andre Nortje wrote:
> 
> > At 7:11 PM 7/17/97, Andre Nortje wrote:
> > >I would like to write a CL/RPG set of programs that will run in
> > >batch. At 4 different locations (other AS400's) nightly jobs are
> > >run that produce files to upload to a central AS400.
> 
> Paul E Musselman wrote...
> 
> > Do you really -need- to use passthrough to get your data?  Why not
> > set up the remote AS/400s to automatically transmit at 06h30?  They
> > can use send net file and SNADS to have your data arrive
> > automatically.  After the file is transmitted, send a net message to
> > a given queue and let the central '400 receive the net file.
> 
> Many thanks to all that replied.
> 
> Ok, I have some constraints - Only one telephone line at Head office
> with one modem attached. No system operators. So I thought I have to
> fetch the data rather than let the remote systems send the data. I
> use SNDNETF extensively, via QSNADS connection, but not TCP/IP.
> 
> AS400-1 can STRPASTHR to AS400-2, then ENDPASTHR. This already
> works. But can you set up SNADS in such a way so that AS400-2
> STRPASTHR to AS400-1 without an existing connection?
> 
> If branch-1 passthrough to central AS400 at 06h30, and branch-2 then
> passthrough at 06h35, and the connection to branch-1 is still active,
> a message is sometimes send to the system operator message queue that
> request a reply. So I though hold the distribution queues at the
> branches, run the day-end job, and let head office control the
> pasthrough, release the queues, pull the data until complete,
> disconnect, and try the next branch.
> 
> REMEMBER I HAVE 4 BRANCHES TO COLLECT DATA FROM, and I do not have a
> system operator that sit there answering messages.
> 

OK, on the remote systems, in CFGDSTSRV option 1 set up the distribution
queue for sending to central AS/400 so it will not send automatically
(Leave from/to times blank, and set Send depth to blank instead of
default of '1').
Set "Ignore time/depth values while receiving" to "Y".
(This means that if SNADS is receiving files from this location, it will
always send what it has - a nice way to use someone elses dime when they
initiate a long distance call to you).
(Note - you may only want to do this for the 'Normal priority' queue, so
that high priority sends will still be sent immediately from the remote
system).

Now, when you want to 'receive' the files from the remote AS/400 you can
just send something like a dummy message (SNDNETMSG) to a userid on that
system.  SNADS will wake up on the remote machine to receive the
message, and the "Ignore time/depth values while receiving" will cause
it to also send anything queued there back to the central system.

So your central system can just run a job to do a SNDNETMSG to each of
the 4 remote machines in turn (either build in a DLYJOB so it waits
before sending a message to the next system, or just send them all one
after the other and have SNADS take care of it by specifying 
frequent retries on the distrubution queues created for the remote
systems (maybe "Number of retries = 999" and "Number of minutes between
retries = 5").

OR, your remote distribution queues could have a time window when they
can send normal priority queued items back to the central system.
Maybe something like:

System          Dist Queue From/To times
  1              04:00-04:25
  2              04:30-04:55
  3              05:00-05:25
  4              05:30-05:55



-- 
... Neil Palmer                                      AS/400~~~~~      
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