CONCURRENT PROCESSING

CONCURRENT PROCESSING

This section explains how a request to run a concurrent program is handled by Oracle Applications, and what the life cycle of a concurrent request is.

In Oracle Applications, concurrent processing simultaneously executes programs running in the background with online operations. As System Administrator, you can manage when programs are run and how many operating system processes Oracle Applications devotes to running programs in the background.

Concurrent Requests, Programs, and Processes
When a user runs a report, a request to run the report is generated. The command to run the report is a concurrent request. The program that generates the report is a concurrent program

Concurrent Managers start concurrent programs
Every time your users request a concurrent program to be run, their request is inserted into a database table, and is uniquely identified by a request ID. Concurrent managers read requests from this table.

Part of a manager's definition is how many operating system processes it can devote to running requests. This number is referred to as the manager's number of target processes.

Running concurrent programs
A concurrent program actually starts running based on:

· When it is scheduled to start
· Whether it is placed on hold,
· Whether it is incompatible (cannot run) with other programs
· Its request priority

Concurrent Request Priorities
The priority of a concurrent request is determined by application username, and is set by the System Administrator using the Concurrent:Priority user profile option.

The first available concurrent manager compares the request's priority to other requests it is eligible to process, and runs the request with the highest priority.

When choosing between requests of equal priority, the concurrent manager runs the oldest request first.

Parent requests and Child requests
Often, several programs may be grouped together, as in a request set. Submitting the request set as a whole generates a request ID, and as each member of the set is submitted it receives its own request ID. The set's request ID identifies the Parent request, and each of the individual programs' request ID identifies a Child request.

LIFE CYCLE OF A CONCURRENT REQUEST
A concurrent request proceeds through three, possibly four, life cycle stages or phases:

Pending Request is waiting to be run
Running Request is running
Completed Request has finished
Inactive Request cannot be run

Within each phase, a request's condition or status may change. Below appears a listing of each phase and the various states that a concurrent request can go through.

Concurrent Request Phase and Status

PHASE STATUS DESCRIPTION
PENDING Normal Request is waiting for the next available manager.
Standby Program to run request is incompatible with other program(s) currently running.
Scheduled Request is scheduled to start at a future time or date.
Waiting A child request is waiting for its Parent request to mark it ready to run. For example, a report in a report set that runs sequentially must wait for a prior report to complete.

RUNNING Normal Request is running normally.
Paused Parent request pauses for all its child requests to complete. For example, a report set pauses for all reports in the set to complete.
Resuming All requests submitted by the same parent request have completed running. The Parent request is waiting to be restarted.
Terminating Running request is terminated, by selecting Terminate in the Status field of the Request Details zone.

COMPLETED Normal Request completes normally.
Error Request failed to complete successfully.
Warning Request completes with warnings. For example, a report is generated successfully but fails to print.
Cancelled Pending or Inactive request is cancelled, by selecting Cancel in the Status field of the Request Details zone.
Terminated Running request is terminated, by selecting Terminate in the Status field of the Request Details zone.

INACTIVE Disabled Program to run request is not enabled. Contact your system administrator.
On Hold Pending request is placed on hold, by selecting Hold in the Status field of the Request Details zone.
No Manager No manager is defined to run the request. Check with your system administrator.

OVERVIEW OF CONCURRENT PROGRAMS AND REQUESTS
A concurrent program is an executable file that runs simultaneously with other concurrent programs and with online operations, fully utilizing your hardware capacity. Typically, a concurrent program is a long-running, data-intensive task, such as posting a journal or generating a report.

Request Groups and Request Sets

Reports and concurrent programs can be assembled into request groups and request sets.

· A request group is a collection of reports or concurrent programs. A System Administrator defines report groups in order to control user access to reports and concurrent programs. Only a System Administrator can create a request group.

· Request sets define run and print options, and possibly, parameter values, for a collection of reports or concurrent program. End users and System Administrators can define request sets. A System Administrator has request set privileges beyond those of an end user.

Standard Request Submission and Request Groups

Standard Request Submission is an Oracle Applications feature that allows you to select and run all your reports and other concurrent programs from a single, standard form. The standard submission form is called Submit Requests, although it can be customized to display a different title.


· The reports and concurrent programs that may be selected from the Submit Requests form belong to a request security group, which is a request group assigned to a responsibility.

· The reports and concurrent programs that may be selected from a customized Submit Requests form belong to a request group that uses a code.

In summary, request groups can be used to control access to reports and concurrent programs in two ways; according to a user's responsibility, or according to a customized standard submission (Run Requests) form.