Using Qedit For Windows to Test Suprtool Jobs

By Robyn Rennie

I maintain a number of jobstreams which check the integrity of our production databases. They do this by executing Suprtool tasks which check for valid data values. These jobstreams have grown over time and may now contain over 1000 lines of intermixed MPE commands and Suprtool tasks. They also can take many minutes to complete and it is not something which should be tested during the day. So maintaining and testing them had become a big problem for me.

I found a technique so I could change and test the jobs any time I wish. The solution was to use the HOST command facility within Qedit for Windows.

I open my host jobstream in Qedit For Windows. It consists of code portions like this

!comment
!comment     If a customer has SA outstanding
!comment     in d-products must have update flag in master
!comment
get m-customer
if sa-outstanding = "SA"
sort account-no
extract account-no,company-name
output m-cust,link,temp
xeq
get d-products
...

To test this piece of code without streaming the whole jobstream I can simply add the lines

run suprtool.pub.robelle
base kco.db

after the last !comment

and replace the xeq with an exit.

Then I select all the lines between the "run suprtool" and the "exit", use the right mouse button and choose "run selection as host command".

This causes the host command dialog box to pop up, and my commands are executed with the results showing in the box.

When I have finished debugging this section of the jobstream I need to remember to remove the "run suprtool", "base" and "exit" lines and save my file. But I didn't have to run the entire job stream, and work late to schedule the run!

To read more Qedit for Windows tips, visit this compilation.

robyn.rennie@robelle.com
December 2, 2000