Tasks

Tasks are the units of work of a Ianus job. The following summarized the supported Ianus tasks and the correspondint XML elements defining the tasks.

Element	Task	Description
tablecompare	Table Compare	Compare two database tables
spcompare	Stored Procedure Compare	Compare the output of two stored prcoedures
filecompare	File Compare	Compare two files
tablecopy	Table Copy	Copy/Convert a database table
tableunload	Table Unload	Export a table to a file
tableload	Table Load	Import a table from a file
tablescan	Table Scan	Scan a table
filecopy	File Copy	Copy/Convert a database file
filedump	File Dump	Display the raw content of a file
fileedit	File Edit	Copy, filter and edit file
fileformat	File Format	Display the formatted content of a file
generate	Generate	Generate template based files
imsconv	IMS/DB Data Conversion	Split and validate IMS/DB export
log	Log	Log user messages
jclsubmit	JCL Sumbit	Submit a job to a JES region
foreach	Foreach	Iterate other tasks
userscript	User Script	Execute custom tasks (coded in .NET languages)
powershell	PowerShell	Execute a Powershell script
sql	Sql	Execute SQL commands against a data source
excel	Excel Import/Export	Import/Export RDBMS data to Excel files
setenv	Set Environment Variable	Set environment variable
copycheck	Copycheck	Check COBOL layout (copybook)
listcat	Listcat	Extracts file info from LISTCAT reports

The following attributes are available to configure all tasks:

Attribute	Type	Purpose	Default
name	string	Task name
enabled	bool	Task enablement condition	true
thread	bool	Multi threading strategy, when job runs in multi-threading mode. Refer to Multi Threading Strategy for possible options.	multi

The following elements configure all tasks:

Element	Purpose
pre	Defines the pre-execution actions
post	Defines the post-execution actions

Task Enablement Condition

Task execution can be enabled/disable depending on conditions. The following conditions are supported:

Syntax	Description
true	Task is always enabled (default).
false	Task is always disabled.
ifdef <ENV>	Task is enabled if the environment variable <ENV> is defined.
ifndef <ENV>	Task is enabled if the environment variable <ENV> is not defined.

Example

	<setenv enabled="true" name="VAR1">ACME</setenv>	
	<setenv enabled="ifndef OUTDIR" name="OUTDIR">.</setenv>
	<generate name="generate.tablecopy">
		<collection type="excel" file="sample.xlsx"/>
		<output multi="true">%OUTDIR%/tablecopy/${Object Name}.xml</output>
		<template>
			<include type="text">templates/tablecopy.xml</include>
		</template>
	</generate>

Multi Threading Strategy

When job runs in multithreaded mode, it indicates the multithreading management strategy.

Value	Description
single	Task runs alone
first	Task starts alone
multi	Task runs in parallel

For further information on multithreaded tasks, please refer to Multi-Threaded Jobs.

Pre and Post actions

Every task can be have a set of actions defined to be executed before (pre) or after (post) the task specific function is performed.

Note

Actions perform operations that can be performed also by using specialized task. The latter have a wider spectrum of options to control the operation than actions. But the advantage of using actions over specialized task is that actions form part of the task itself, affecting its result and, most important, guarranteeing the correct execution sequence. This is particularly useful when dealing with multi-threded jobs.

Action are defined with corresponding elements. The following actions are supported:

Element	Purpose
jcl	Submit a JCL to a JES region.
powershell	Execute a Powershell script
sql	Execute a SQL statement against a database

The following attributes configure the actions:

Attribute	Type	Purpose	Default
minrc	integer	Minimum success RC threshold	0
maxrc	integer	Maximum success RC threshold	0
source	string	If defined, the action command/script is loaded from the specified file
region	string	For JCL action, the region to submit the JCL
db	string	for SQL action, the database to run the SQL command

Actions are always executed sequentially in the order they are defined in the task.

Actions wait for the corresponding command to be completed (i.e. the JCL is completed once the JCL has run).

Action return codes are defined as follows:

Element	Return code
jcl	JCL status code
powershell	Value of the variable $ActionReturnCode
sql	SQL Query execution return code

Actions are considered successful is their own return code is between the MIN and MAX return-codes defined. If an action fails, the task execution is terminated with errors.

Example

<tablecompare name="TESTOK" mode="key" left="QS" right="QS">
	<pre>
		<jcl region="MFESCLASSIC" source="TSTIAN0K.jcl"/>
		<jcl region="MFESCLASSIC">
//EMBEDDED  JOB 'EMBEDDED',FC,CLASS=A,MSGCLASS=X
//DELPS    EXEC PGM=IEFBR14
//*
		</jcl>
		<powershell>
		echo "I am PowerShell $($PSVersionTable.PSVersion) in job $($Job.Name) and task $($Task.Name)"
		$ActionReturnCode = 10;
		</powershell>
		<sql db="QS">
			select count(*) from dbo.TEST01
		</sql>
	</pre>
	<left>dbo.TEST01</left>
	<right>dbo.TEST01</right>
</tablecompare>
<!-- post actions will fail here -->
<tablecompare name="TESTERR" mode="key" left="QS" right="QS">
	<left>dbo.TEST01</left>
	<right>dbo.TEST01</right>
	<post>
		<jcl region="MFESCLASSIC">
//EMBEDDE2  JOB 'EMBEDDE2',FC,CLASS=A,MSGCLASS=X
//DELPS    EXEC PGM=IDCAMS
//SYSPRINT DD SYSOUT=*
//SYSIN    DD *
  DELETE NON.EXISTING.FILE
  SET    MAXCC=4
/*
		</jcl>
	</post>
</tablecompare>