Organizing Requests with Stages

Organizing Requests with Stages

Request sets are divided into one or more stages which are linked to determine the sequence in which your requests are run. Each stage consists of one or more requests that you want to run in parallel (at the same time in any order). For example, in the simplest request set structure, all requests are assigned to one stage. This allows all requests to run in parallel.

To run requests in sequence, you assign requests to different stages, and then link the stages in the order you want the requests to run.

The concurrent manager allows only one stage in a request to run at a time. When one stage is complete, the next stage is submitted. A stage is not considered complete until all of the requests in the stage are complete. One advantage of using stages is the ability to run several requests in parallel and then move sequentially to the next stage. This enables you to create more versatile and efficient request sets.

Defining Request Sets

By defining request sets, you can submit the same set of requests repeatedly using a single transaction. Use the Request Set window to create and edit request sets.

1. Navigate to the Request Set window.

2. Enter a Name for your request set.

3. Enter a Short Name for your request set. This name is used internally to reference your request set.

4. Enter the Application with which you want to associate your request set.

5. Enter a Description of your request set if you like.

The Owner field defaults to your username and can only be changed by your system administrator.

6. Enter the Active Dates From and To fields to define an effective period when you and others can run the request set. If the current date is outside the range you define, the request set will not be available in the Submit Requests window.

7. Check the Print Together check box to send all your requests to the printer together when they complete, or uncheck the check box to send each request one at a time to the printer as it completes.

8. Check the Allow Incompatibility check box to allow your system administrator to specify programs that this request is incompatible with (may not run with). Leave Allow Incompatibility unchecked to specify that this request set may run with all other concurrent requests or request sets.

9. Choose Define Stages or Link Stages if you have finished defining your stages. See Defining Stages or Linking Stages.

Defining Stages

The value for the Display Sequence is defaulted in sequence as you enter your stages. You may change the display order of the stages by modifying the field.

1. Enter a name for the stage.

2. Enter a Description for your stage.

3. Enter a Short Code for the stage. This code is used internally to reference the stage.

4. Use the LOV in the Function field to select a function. The default value for this field is the Standard Stage Evaluation function. This function bases its completion status on the normal completion status of the requests it contains.

5. Use the Return Value of this Stage Affects the Set Outcome check box if you want to ensure that the request set’s completion status is equal to the completion status of this stage.

Note: If you select this box for more than one stage, the completion status of the request set will equal the completion status of the last of these stages to run in the set.

6. Use the Allow Incompatibility box as described above, to determine if this stage is incompatible with other concurrent processing programs.

7. Click Requests to display the Stage Requests window.

Adding Requests to a Stage

In this window you define which requests you want to include in this stage.

1. Select the report or program you want to include in your request set. Note that the description of the request you choose and its associated application appears in the Description and Application fields.

2. Specify the number of Copies of output to print, the Style to print, the Printer to print to, and whether to save the output to an operating system file.

3. Use the Allow Stage Function to Use This Program’s Result’s check box to indicate which programs or reports should be included.

4. Click Parameters to display the Request Parameters window.

Request Parameters Window

The Request Parameters window lets you customize the parameter values of a specific request in a request set. The fields at the top of the Request Parameters window list general information about the current request set and the request for which you can customize the parameter values.

The multi-row portion of the window lists the parameters for that request.

How to Define Parameters for the Requests

1. The Sequence field displays the order in which each request parameter appears when you run the request in the Submit Requests window (lower numbers appear before higher numbers). Only your system administrator can change a parameter's order.

The Prompt field is a display-only field that shows the request parameter's prompt.

2. Check the Display check box to specify that you can see a request parameter at submission time, or uncheck the check box to specify that a parameter should not be displayed at submission time.

3. Check the Modify check box to specify that you can insert or change the value for a request parameter at submission time, or uncheck the check box to specify that a parameter cannot be changed at submission time.

4. Use the Shared Parameter field to set a default value for a parameter that occurs in more than one report or program of a request set. Once you enter the same parameter label in the Shared Parameter field for each occurrence of the same parameter, the value that you assign to the first occurrence of the parameter becomes the default value for all subsequent occurrences of the parameter. The shared parameter label simply enables you to set an initial default value for all occurrences of the same parameter so you can avoid typing the same value all over again for every occurrence of the parameter.

5. Optionally enter a Default Type and Value for the parameter.

6. Save your work.

7. Go back to the Stage Requests window to add more requests to the request set stage.

8. You can select a request more than once if you want to run the same request with different default parameter values.

9. To start a new stage, return to the Stage window and choose New Record from the File Menu.

Linking Stages

Now that you have defined your stage or stages, you will need to link them in the order that you want them to run.

How to Link the Stages

1. Navigate to the Requests Sets window.

2. Enter the Start Stage. The stage you enter here is the first stage submitted for the request set.

3. Enter the stages you want to run following the first stage in the Success, Warning, and Error columns. To ensure that a particular stage follows the preceding stage regardless of the completion status, enter the desired stage in all three columns. To stop the request set if a stage ends in Error, leave the Error column blank. Any time you do not specifically indicate which stage should follow for a completion status, the request set will exit on that completion status. In the following example, the request set will always exit if any stage returns a completion status of error. In addition, stages C and D will terminate the request set regardless of their completion status. If Stage A returns a status other than Error, Stage B will be submitted. Finally, when Stage B completes with a status of Success, it is followed by Stage C, or if the status is Warning, Stage D will follow.