Introduction

Welcome to the Dollar Universe Reference Guide! This guide describes the concepts used by Dollar Universe, the characteristics of the objects that can be used to automate operations, internal operation of the engine and the main operating functions.

The main objectives of Dollar Universe are:

• to reduce the constraints weighing upon the technical organization in charge of managing computer operations,
• to ensure optimum reliability in the operations cycle.

As a means towards these objectives, Dollar Universe offers:

• Functions covering the essential part of the central operations process, through which it allows, at any given time, precise supervision and overall control of operational coherence.
• Automation of all batch operations, removing the need for human presence during the daily execution of the operations cycle and allowing automatic management of recovery processing sequences when incidents are encountered.
• A structured applications environment adaptable to the norms and standards of each site.
• Increased stability and flexibility of the operations process regarding changes in both the physical configuration and the applications environment. The possibilities offered by Dollar Universe reduce the number and scope of maintenance operations and increase the resulting quality of the operations process.

The following figure illustrates chronologically the main stages in the life cycle of a computer application.

Figure 1: Stages in the life cycle of a computer application

Dollar Universe proposes a series of functions for managing each of the themes presented in the above figure.

The managers, the supervision, the editions functions represent modules that are independent from the automation module discussed in this Reference Guide. The interfaces are explained in specific guides.

Scheduling and Sequencing

Batch procedures are scheduled using calendars; these are generated semi-automatically, one for each logical entity managed.

Scheduling can be performed procedure by procedure, or alternatively, defined for a group of procedures. Dollar Universe provides procedure sequencing models called Sessions. In addition to their specific advantages, Sessions afford the possibility of defining a single schedule for a group of procedures.

Execution dates can be expressed by specifying the desired dates and times of execution (explicit scheduling) or by defining algorithms used for automatically deducing the intended dates (implicit scheduling).

To avoid possible redefinition of these algorithms, they can be stored in "scheduling rules" managed individually by Dollar Universe.

Finally, for exceptions to the algorithm without alteration of the algorithm, exception dates can be defined. Each of these dates allows the invalidation of a date calculated by application of a rule, or the forcing of another.

Batch Queues

Dollar Universe is based on the batch queue manager: DQM (distributed queue management).

This module provides a technical organization of the production process, above and beyond the functional organization provided by Dollar Universe, while dissociating the management of associated constraints.

On Open VMS, jobs are launched on a DQM batch queue (i.e. SYS$BATCH) and are then submitted to the VMS Queue Manager when the job has the status “running”.

Job Monitoring

Dollar Universe proposes a group of functions that allow dynamic tracking and intervention in the operations process.

Built around a screen displaying current processes, the job monitoring function represents a veritable work station, allowing the operator to monitor all his jobs without ever losing sight of the overall operations scenario.

The operation can be performed by procedure or job chain, the latter solution provides an applicative production view.