topic Re: Running a job in a Connect session in SAS Programming

Running a job in a Connect session

OS2Rules — Fri, 20 Jun 2014 18:17:53 GMT

Hi All:

I have a little problem and I'm hoping someone will be able to figure out the ins and outs of it.

I run a job on a z/OS mainframe via a Spawner and SAS/Connect. The batch job runs for a long time and the

Connect session times out before the job has completed. I have requested that the timeout interval be increased

but that is not likely. I have also tuned the job to the max so it runs as quickly as I can make it.

From what I can see, the job completes the DATA step that it is in - which is to read a very large VSAM dataset

and select a number of records, and stores this in a catalogued SAS dataset on the mainframe. It look like this

is where the job dies because a subsequent DATA step does not get run. I would like to know if there is a way

to get the subsequent step to run (ie: get the job to run to the end) before it dies?

Basically, I would like to be able to submit the job via remote submit through the Spawner and then go about

my business and wait for the job to complete, even if the connection times out. Then I can sign on to the mainframe

and download the file knowing it was created successfully.

Any help would be much appreciated.

Re: Running a job in a Connect session

jwillis — Fri, 20 Jun 2014 18:29:56 GMT

OS2,

I don't recall all the requirements however 14 years ago and prior, I would store the code on the mainframe and remote submit the mainframe code through a mainframe session. Then, if the PC connection to the Mainframe was lost, the Mainframe job was still running. The last time I ran similar code, I had the code stored on the PC, uploaded the code to a mainframe library, then used the remote mainframe session to submit the uploaded code. The PC SAS administrators were happy because I would log out of my PC SAS session when I left for home. The mainframe SAS job ran all night because there were no governors in place on how long a mainframe SAS session could be up and running.

Back then it was possible to use the PC SAS session to open a mainframe SAS session so that I had a PC Session and a Mainframe session running simutaneously.

Re: Running a job in a Connect session

OS2Rules — Fri, 20 Jun 2014 18:51:48 GMT

That is very like what I am doing - the actual SAS code lives on the mainframe and I just run a Connect session to "kick it off".

The problem is that as soon as the mainframe SAS program ends a data step, it tries to communicate back to the local session,

and since the communication has timed out at they point, the attempt is unsuccessful and the program ends. My difficulty

is finding a way to get the mainframe job to run to the end.

Re: Running a job in a Connect session

Warren — Thu, 21 Aug 2014 17:52:42 GMT

I tried the following in PC SAS, but it did not work. Please give me a sample PC SAS program that runs a mainframe job. Thanks. -- Warren

%let cs2=mvsw.sysplex.bns;          /* macro cs2 points to site 2 */
signon cs2.spaw820 user=_prompt_;   /* command to connect to cs2 */
rsubmit;
x " SUBMIT VQ487.VQ3.PRG(CONTENT)";
endrsubmit;
signoff cs2.spaw820;                /* command to disconnect cs2 */

Re: Running a job in a Connect session

OS2Rules — Thu, 21 Aug 2014 18:17:55 GMT

Hey Warren:

What you are using looks very familiar - you wouldn't be working at a large Canadian bank would you? A red one?

I think I'm the person who installed the spawner there....

Re: Running a job in a Connect session

Warren — Thu, 21 Aug 2014 18:26:49 GMT

You are right, are you Bruce? Please give me a sample program. Thanks. -- Warren

Re: Running a job in a Connect session

OS2Rules — Thu, 21 Aug 2014 18:31:57 GMT

Warren:

Not Bruce, but I know him - I'm no longer with bns.... (as is he).

Your code looks mostly correct - what error message are you getting? It may have something to do with the quoted string you are submitting to the

internal reader. I may have to do with the way the Spawner is started on the mainframe. Also - what version of SAS are you running (on the mainframe)?

Re: Running a job in a Connect session

Warren — Thu, 21 Aug 2014 18:40:54 GMT

I don't get an error. I even added the quotes as follows.

x " SUBMIT 'VQ487.VQ3.PRG(CONTENT)' "

I'm running 8.2 on the mainframe, but I can also easily change it to 9.2 by using the following.

//STEP1 EXEC SAS9

Re: Running a job in a Connect session

OS2Rules — Thu, 21 Aug 2014 18:44:20 GMT

Warren:

Replace the "X" command in your code with this:

tso sas input('''VQ487.VQ3.PRG(CONTENT)''');

the "sas" is the name of the sas exec on your z/OS system - which, if I remember is actually just "sas" unless \

someone has changed it from what I remember. Let me know what happens - if this won't work there is a very

complicated fix.....

Re: Running a job in a Connect session

Warren — Thu, 21 Aug 2014 18:53:58 GMT

This doesn't work. I got no error messages, but I also could not find any evidence that the program was submitted for mainframe execution.

Below is my PC SAS code. Please advise. Thanks. -- Warren

%let cs2=mvsw.sysplex.bns; /* macro cs2 points to site 2 */

signon cs2.spaw820 user=_prompt_; /* command to connect to cs2 */

rsubmit;

tso sas input("VQ487.VQ3.PRG(CONTENT)");

endrsubmit;

signoff cs2.spaw820; /* command to disconnect cs2 */

Re: Running a job in a Connect session

Warren — Thu, 21 Aug 2014 19:00:23 GMT

I'd really want this to work so that eventually, I can schedule mainframe jobs using PC SAS. Thanks. -- Warren

Re: Running a job in a Connect session

OS2Rules — Thu, 21 Aug 2014 19:02:03 GMT

Warren:

It looks like you have the same problem as I do. The Spawner is not "authorized" on the z/OS box to

issue commands - such as a TSO SUBMIT or a "X" command - which is really the same thing. If you

have access to the Spawner log you should be able to see this (or know someone who has access...).

The fix is quite complicated because you need to change the script that the Spawner runs (it is a task

that is really run in UNIX on the z/OS box). SAS and IBM provide a download of the new command that

you can run via the Spawner so that it is "authorized" to do the submit. Not sure how you would go about

getting this changed because it took me 18 months just to get the Spawner up and running in the first place.

Another option is the use FTP to get the file from your local session to the mainframe and submit it to the

interal reader, but this may also not work (it doesn't work for me here) also.

I suggest that you check the Spawner log first to see what the error is forst and proceed from there.

You would happen to be the Warren that went on the Year 2000 COBOL programming course a long

time ago at the DELL building at Cummer and the 404 are you?

Re: Running a job in a Connect session

Tom — Thu, 21 Aug 2014 19:02:52 GMT

About 10 years ago I had to run a lot of jobs to transform some old mainframe SAS data.

I was able to generate the jobs and submit them to the system using an FTP interface to the JOB stream.

It was like using a card deck from the 80's, only instead of physical cards I used SAS to punch the cards

Re: Running a job in a Connect session

OS2Rules — Thu, 21 Aug 2014 19:03:30 GMT

Warren:

There is another method that works but it does not use the Spawner - we use it here all the time.

I will look up the details.....

Re: Running a job in a Connect session

Warren — Thu, 21 Aug 2014 19:07:52 GMT

No, I don't remember going to the Year 2000 COBOL programming course, even though I was using COBOL at that time.

Re: Running a job in a Connect session

OS2Rules — Thu, 21 Aug 2014 19:17:05 GMT

Warren,

Damn - thought you might be someone I know back in the day.

Anyhow - what you need to do is connect to the mainframe using the "old" - non spawner way and then you can submit

batch jobs to the system at will. I'm assuming that you have SAS on your desktop (laptop?) correct? Then you need to do....

%let a=%ip.address.of.mainframe%;

filename rlink 'c:\sas\source\scripts\tsocmsip.scr'; *or wherever the scripts are*;

%let remote=a;

options remote=&remote comamid= tcp set=tcpnt3270 1;

signon;

You need the IP of the mainframe box you want to connect to and the location of the script file which is somewhere on your

PC in the SAS installation. This will do a TN3270 connection to the mainframe which is slower than using the Spawner and

you need to use your TSO credentials to sign on. Also - you can only have 1 session open at a time. And you may need to

customize the script to suit your own environment (I don't have mine any more but I do have the TSO sign on code....)

Give it a try and let me know what happens.

Re: Running a job in a Connect session

jakarman — Thu, 21 Aug 2014 20:11:53 GMT

Why do you ran that in synchronous mode switch it to asynchronous mode. "Options noconnectwait ; " SAS/CONNECT(R) 9.2 User's Guide Using the spawner (unix-servers BPXAS address space) with all advantages. The effect will be there is No polling to you desktop and the detached process will run until it is ready. Then it can verify the existence of your machine at the end. It is possible the system will detect the tcp-ip session got broken because no traffic is seen.
Better leave your machine on and running. Hoping routers will not kill your session. When that happens you need a newer SAS release supporting the session keep alive option

Multitasking....

It is something of the big promoted advantages when moving from DOS 3.3 trying to run OS/2 session-manager dialogmanager NT. You are better of with W7.

Re: Running a job in a Connect session

OS2Rules — Fri, 22 Aug 2014 12:03:45 GMT

Jaap:

Unfortunately, it is the task that is run by the Spawner that is the issue as per 40451 - Enabling the use of authorized TSO commands for SAS® 9.2 spawners in the z/OS operating environment

The environment that Warren is talking about I set up about 10 years ago and I know that it is not running the authorized UNIX command so he is boned there.

Hopefully, using a TN3270 - type session will work for him as well as it works for us.

Re: Running a job in a Connect session

jakarman — Fri, 22 Aug 2014 12:29:58 GMT

OS/2 that is along time ago indeed. If he is using a SAS/connect session and has started that by the TN3270 method. My remarks about synchronous/asynchronous still holds.
The TN3270 method is starting almost the same as using the Spawner. It replies with a portnumber line mode in the screen to be captured by sas. After that it is port/port communication.
10 yrs that was the time IBM used the TCP/IP stack delivered by SAS. The WSA (Work Station Agent) in TSO was an attempt of IBM to run TSO client/server using that.

Re: Running a job in a Connect session

OS2Rules — Fri, 22 Aug 2014 13:07:52 GMT

Hi:

The way things were working there, I doubt that there have been any changes to the Spawner since first installed. We have been using

the TN3270 connection where I am now for the past 8 years because the mainframe people would not install a Spawner no matter how much

we begged them. Finally got it last this past November and found this issue with submitting batch jobs to the mainframe. Now we have to

retain the TN3270 session for the batch jobs and the Spawner for just about everything else. One step at a time.....