Exploring the User Interface

Getting Started Guide

Executing an Object

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Creating an Object

Aim:
- Understanding the object orientation of the Automation Engine
- Creating folders
- Creating a job

Lesson 3

Activities and processes managed with the Automation Engine are shown in the form of objects. This brings about significant advantages:

• Distributed operations
  Complex processes can be handled in simple individual steps.
• Re-usability
  Partial tasks can be integrated in various processes.
• Simple maintenance
  Modifications can easily be assumed.
• Clarity
  Processes have a clear structure.
• Expandability
  New requirements can easily be integrated.

What types of objects are available? Refer to the document Object Classes which lists all object types and briefly describes the tasks for which the particular objects can be used. In this lesson and the following ones, various object types are used to familiarize you with the functioning of the Automation Engine and present some suggestions of how you might structure your own processes.

Let's start creating an extra folder for our examples. Note that objects are created, edited and administered in the Explorer.

1. Highlight the particular folder in the Explorer in which you want to insert a new folder. Highlight the main node if your client does not yet contain any folders at all. The main node's name consists of the AE system's name and the client number.
2. Click the  button in the toolbar. A window listing all the available object types opens.
    The content of your Templates window can look different from the one shown here, as the administrator can influence the object types that should be displayed.
   
3. Select the object type FOLD (Folder).
   
   
4. Assign an appropriate folder name.
    To rename an object, subsequently highlight it in the Explorer and press the F2 key.

The next step serves to create a job. This job is then used as the basis for our future examples. Job objects can be used to execute commands on computers or in Enterprise Business Solutions (SAP, PeopleSoft, Oracle Applications, Siebel). Commands, therefore, are widely used in this object type. Note that there are individual Job objects available for each supported platform.

1. Open the folder created beforehand
2. Re-click the  button in the toolbar.
3. Now select the object type JOBS.WIN (Windows job).
4. As before in the Folder object, you can now assign a suitable name for the Job object.
   
5.  Automic strongly recommends using naming conventions for your objects!
6. Then the object is opened automatically.

The following illustration displays the result in the Explorer:

Now let's focus on the content of the Job object:

1. Open the Job object by double-clicking on it, if its not already opened.
2. Take a look at every individual table. Each object type consists of tabs in which lots of properties can be specified. Some tabs are available in each object type whereas others are only available in particular ones. No worry, the pre-specified default values are suitable in most cases. They only need to be adapted for special cases.
    Note that using the F1 key opens the Automation Engine Documentation at exactly the page at which the tab and its settings are described.   
3. Open the Notification tab
4. Select the computer from "Host" and the appropriate "Login object" required in order to log on to this computer.
    Contact your administrator if questions concerning Login objects arise.      
   
   
    The content of the Attributes tab is the same in all platforms, regardless if it belongs to an z/OS job, SAP job, UNIX JOB etc.
5. Change to the Process tab.
6. The commands that should be processed can be stored here. Enter some Windows commands. The following illustration shows an example.
   
   
7. Store modifications that you have made in objects by using the  button in the toolbar.
8. Close the Job object.