The purpose of a variable is to allow job switching and wait state controls that go beyond the traditional prerequisites and initiates. The values contained in variables can exist either in the database or as a local, temporary variable. There are three basic variables types:

Variable type	Description
Integer	Variable holds an interger value
String	Variable is a character string
Boolean	Variable holds a True/False value. Values considered True: Any string that starts with 'T', 't','Y', or 'y' Any odd integer Values considered False Any string that does start with 'T','t','Y','y' Any Even integer

An expression is any valid relationship using a variable. For example:

variable1 variable1 .eq. variable2 (variable1 .gt. variable2) .and. (variable3 .gt. 30) (variable .ne. variable2) .or. (variable3 .le. 200) variable1 + variable3 * 40 .ge. 100

A variable's value is saved in the database where it can be accessed or modified with the SET command by any number of jobs . Variables can also be created or modified on the command line or in the SCHEDULE GUI. An example of a stored variable is shown below.

Examples: var1 ! The variable name /dir1/var ! A more complete name /miller/dir1/var1 ! A fully qualified variable

A temporary variable is associated with the currently running job and it's value exists only for the duration of the processing of the list it is used in. The following run-time defined temporary variables only hold values after the job command list is processed so may only be used in the initiates or End actions list:

• $job_name - The name of the current job.
• $full_job_name - Name and directory of current job.
• $status - Contains the completion status code of the current job.
• $step - The step number is used to determine where a job run has progressed to in the event of failure.
• $set_id - The set id is the job number of the set of jobs that is currently running.
• $severity - The numeric severity level of the job completion.
• $restart_down_count - The remaining number of times the job will be restarted.

In addition there are time-based temporary variables that can be used to bring time, day, month or year into the evaluation of variables. Unlike the other temporary variables, time based variables may be used in any of the lists. For instance if you only want to suppress a job run if it is the 5th of the month you can enter the line:

IF $DAY==5 THEN SUPPRESS_RUN

The time-based temporary variables are:

• $DATE - Format YYYYMMDD. Example: 19990528.
• $YEAR - Format YYYY. Example: 1999.
• $MONTH- Format MM. Example: 05
• $DAY- Format DD. Example: 28
• $TIME- Example: 1705 (for 5:05 P.M.)
• $HOUR- Example: 17 (for 5:00 P.M.)
• $MINUTE- Example 05 (for 5 minutes after the hour)

SCHEDULE parameters can also be used as temporary variables. The parameter variables are"

• $p1 - Contents of parameter 1)
• $p2 - Contents of parameter 2)
• $p3 - Contents of parameter 3)
• $p4 - Contents of parameter 4)
• $p5 - Contents of parameter 5)
• $p6 - Contents of parameter 6)
• $p7 - Contents of parameter 7)
• $p8 - Contents of parameter 8)

There are four SCHEDULE job lists in which the advanced job interaction described above can be used. There are specific ways you can use each of these lists to enhance your job runs and micro-manage job interaction. The lists that can include these advanced evaluations are:

• Resource List - The General Resource list, which is processed when the job is run, can evaluate an expression and then do one of three things if the expression is true:
  • Suppress the job run
    Example:

    IF count .eq. 20 THEN SUPPRESS_RUN

  • Put the job in a wait state
    Example:

    IF disk_space .ge. 20000 THEN WAIT

  • Set a variable to a new value
    Example:

    IF job_success .le. 12 THEN SET job_success .eq. 0

  
  The SET statement may also be used to assign a variable on it's own unconditionally in the resource list.
• End Actions List - The End Actions list which is processed after the job is run can evaluate an expression and then set a variable to a new value.
  Example:

  IF job_failure .eq. 5 THEN SET rerun_job_set .eq. 0

  
  The SET statement may also be used to assign a variable on it's own unconditionally in the End Actions list. The WAIT and SUPPRESS_RUN statements may not be used in an End Actions list since the job has already completed when the list is processed.

• Initiates List - An initiate list is a list of jobs that are executed upon successful completion of the current job. Normally the initiate jobs will run if the job completes as designated.

  Note Initiates usually only run upon successful completion. However, an initiate can also run if the current job completes with WARNING, ERROR or FAILURE status depending on how completion status is defined.

  
  Using variables, one or more initiate jobs can be selectively suppressed depending on the results of a variable evaluation attached to the initiate.
  For example:

  NEXT_JOB, IF DISK .lt. 1000 REPORT, IF RUN_REPORT == "TRUE" FINISHED, SUCCESS, WARNING

  
  When this initiate list is processed, the variable next_job will be evaluated. If it is less than 1000, the initiate job NEXT_JOB executes. Next, the variable run_report is evaluated to see if it equals "true". If it does, then the initiate job REPORT executes. Finally, the job "FINISHED" will execute if the job completes with either a SUCCESS or WARNING status.

• Prerequisites List - A prerequisite list is a list of jobs that must be completed before the current job can execute. Normally the job will run when all the prerequisites listed are completed successfully.
  Using variables, jobs can be selectively suppressed depending on the results of a variable evaluation connected to one or more of the jobs in it's prerequisite list.
  For example:

  JOB_1, IF job_set == complete JOB_2 JOB_3, IF node == run, IF job_set == complete

  
  A job with this prerequisite list has three prerequisites that must successfully complete before it can run. JOB_1 must complete successfully and the variable job_set must be equal to 3. JOB_2 has no condition connected to it and must only complete successfully. JOB_3 must complete successfully with variable node equal to "run" and job_set equal to "complete". When the job completes it checks first to see if the variable "MODE" is equal to 3. If it is the prerequisite JOB_1 must have finished successfully. Next, JOB_2 will execute automatically. Finally the variable MODE is checked to see if it quals 3 or 4. If it does, JOB_3 must have finished successfully..

In addition to simple resource string variables EnterpriseSCHEDULE supports a rich set of variable expressions that feature simple and complex math expressions, date expressions and character expressions. This extends the power of variables and allows for run time calculation of dates and other values.

Variable expressions are evaluated in an order and priority similar to common math expressions and support the use of parentheses. The expression is evaluated during a job submission when the job references the variable.

3.2.1 Enhanced variable basic structure

Variable expressions can use normal arithmatic and relational operators as well as parentheses to specify the order and precedence of the operations.

Table 3-5 Expression operators

Operator	Alternate	Description
A + B		Evaluates to the sum of A and B
A - B		Evaluates to the difference between A and B
A * B		Evaluates to the product of A and B
A / B		Evaluates to the quotient of A and B
A < B	A .LT. B	Evaluates to true if A is less than B
A > B	A .GT. B	Evaluates to true if A is greater than B
A <= B	A .LE. B	Evaluates to true if A is less than or equal to B
A >= B	A .GE. B	Evaluates to true if A is greater than or equal to
A == B	A .EQ. B	Evaluates to true if A is equal to B
A != B	A .NE. B	Evaluates to true if A is not equal to B
A % B		Evaluates to the integer remainder of B and A

Expanded variable examples:

A+(B*5) b * 2 + c / 2 X+(A>B)/(Y*Z) var1/(var2-var3) (a < c) * 23 + (a > c) * 53

3.2.2 Formatting math based variables

Variable expressions can be made to be desired format by placing a symbol or phrase before an expression. For instance if you want an expression to be resolved to an integer, you can put INTEGER before the expression. A minus sign negates the value of the expression. This allows the value of the variable to be formatted as needed by the application.

Table 3-6 Math based variable operators

Operator	Description
-	Produces the negative value of the expression.
.NOT. or !	Produces the inverse value of a boolean expression.
FILE_NOT_FOUND	Produces a 1 if file in parentheses is found. 0 if not.
FORMAT="Picture String"	Produces the formatted value of the expression. See Section 3.3.5.
INTEGER	Produces the integer value of the expression.
FLOAT	Produces the floating point value of the expression.
ADATE	Produces the absolute date value of the expression.
DDATE	Produces the delta date value of the expression.

Math Based variable example:

FLOAT(X*Y/Z) INTEGER(VARB-VARA) FORMAT="DD-MMMMMMMMM-YYYY" TODAY -(A+B) FORMAT="DDMMMYY" ("BOY" + 3 months)

3.2.3 Using Dates in Variables

Dates can be used in variables expressions and can be calculated using math operators and date units. For instance two days added to Wednesday will calculate as Friday. A month added to today will produce today's date, one month from today.

Table 3-7 Date Keywords

Expression	Alternate	Description
BOY	BEGINNING_OF_YEAR	First day of the upc year.
EOY	END_OF_YEAR	Last day of the year.
BOM	BEGINNING_OF_MONTH	First day of the month.
EOM	END_OF_MONTH	Last day of the month.
BOM	BEGINNING_OF_MONTH	First day of the month.
MONDAY - SUNDAY		Days of the week.
MONDAY_THIS_WEEK - SUNDAY_THIS_WEEK		The "THIS_WEEK" word means the day of the current week.
TODAY		Today's date.
TOMORROW		Tomorrow's date.
YESTERDAY		Yesterday's date.
NOW		The current date and time.

Table 3-8 Date Units

Expression	Alternate	Description
DAY	DAYS	A day. A 24 hour period.
HOUR	HOURS	An hour (60 minutes).
SECOND	SECONDS	A second.
YEAR	YEARS	A year.
MONTH	MONTHS	A month.
WEEK	WEEKS	A week.

Rules for Dates:

• When using YEAR as a Date Unit, the same date in the calculated year is the result. For example when adding a YEAR to an absolute date like "12-dec-2006" the result is "12-dec-2007".
• The "THIS_WEEK" added to a day of the week means the day of the current week even if that is in the past. If today was Thursday then MONDAY_THIS_WEEK would be three days earlier. MONDAY by itself would be the upcoming Monday four days later.
• When using MONTH as a Date Unit, the same day of the month in the calculated month is the result. For example when adding a MONTH to an absolute date like "12-dec-2006" the result is "12-jan-2008.
• YESTERDAY and TOMMORROW are calculated as the current time tommorrow or yesterday.
• BOY/BEGINNING_OF_YEAR is first day of the upcoming year.
• BOM/BEGINNING_OF_MONTH is first day of upcoming month.
• Absolute dates and Delta dates must be in quotes. Parentheses are recommended (e.g. ADATE ("NOW")) .
• The default for a date unit when not using a date unit keyword is SECONDS (e.g. "NOW" + 2 would be the current time plus 2 seconds).
• Building date strings sometimes requires a casting operator. In the example below, the string "1-feb" + "2006" without casting will be interpreted as adate("1-feb") + ddate("2006"), or the date 1-Feb + 2006 hours. Casting ensures that all segments remain strings, and the '+' then causes concatenation.
  Building the date string: "1-feb-2006" from the strings "1-feb" and "2006":
  with cast: (( string "1-feb-" + string "2006" ))
  without cast: (( "1-feb-" + "2006" ))
  

Table 3-9 Date Variable Examples

Expression	Result
"12-jan-2007" + 1 MONTH	February 12, 2007, 0:00
ADATE ("BOM") + 12 DAYS	12 days after first of this month
ADATE ("MONDAY") + 2 WEEKS	2 weeks from next Monday
ADATE ("MONDAY_THIS_WEEK") - 2 WEEKS	2 weeks before Monday
"NOW" + 12 HOURS	12 hours from the current time
ADATE ("END_OF_YEAR") - 12 DAYS + 2 HOURS	"2:00 AM, 12 days before the end of the year"
ADATE ("bom") + 2 MONTH - 1 DAY	Last day of next month
FORMAT="ZZ9" (ADATE "eoy" - "boy")/1 DAY + 1	Number of days in the current year

The following example displays the current value of a date expression:

Schedule> lsvar -full variable1 \myfolder\variable1 Comment = Type = Expression Value = "TODAY" + 1 DAY Result = August 22, 2006, 0:00