Scripting and the Automation Engine Scripting Language

The Automation Engine, which is the backend of Automic Automation, provides a proprietary scripting language called the Automation Engine scripting language. You can use it in your scripts to automate a wide range of activities, execute arithmetic operations, add functional logic to executable objects, control and handle various processes, modify objects, and so on.

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Overview

Scripts help eliminate repetitive manual tasks and human error:

Automatically read, import, modify and load data or files
Create, read, update and delete values in objects and object attributes
Create and delete certain types of objects
Verify settings and conditions before carrying out other steps
Customize settings and behavior for particular target systems or applications

The Automation Engine scripting language provides a comprehensive set of statements and functions for automating a broad range of activities. For example, you can write scripts that carry out the following actions:

Perform arithmetic functions
Loop processes
Activate objects
Define conditions
Output data in reports
Send notifications
Create user dialogs
And many more

See Automation Engine Script Reference for lists of all available script elements.

Permissions

You can write scripts in any object that you have write permission for. If your script starts any other objects, you also need permission to execute those objects. For more information about permissions, see Granting Automation Engine Authorizations.

Where to Include Scripts

Write scripts in the Process pages of any executable object. All executable objects include a Process page, and Job objects additionally include Pre-Process and Post-Process pages. Some types of objects also include other pages where you can store statements and functions.

In the Process pages of Job objects, you can include commands in the Job Control Language of the target system in addition to Automation Engine scripting language.

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Script Limitations

Each Process page can contain up to 32767 lines. However, script generation is canceled if the script generates more than 1000 JCL lines. If your script generates more JCL lines, you can use the MAX_JCL_LINES parameter in a :PUT_ATT script statement to change the limit.

Script Objects

You can write scripts for any executable object, but there is also a dedicated Script object (SCRI) that lets you store scripts that contain internal processing instructions. The Script object has no other purpose than to store and reuse such scripts. Scripts in Script objects are executed in the Automation Engine itself, and not on a target system. For more information, see Scripts (SCRI).