Understanding the Gantt Chart

The following topic describes the Gantt chart, the timeline of the job runs and their relationships, on the Gantt view. When you open a Gantt view for a jobstream run, the Gantt chart is the main part of the page, right under the toolbar. When you open the table, is opens below the chart, which is always under the toolbar.

The Gantt chart in its most basic structure is made up of two sections:

  • The Jobstream Tree in the left pane

  • The Gantt timeline graphic on the right and the main pane

These two are synchronized when you navigate through the job runs, and when you show and hide certain types of jobs.

This page includes the following:

Understanding the Jobstream Tree

The left pane of the Gantt View contains the Jobstream Tree. The tree contains the jobs that are part of the jobstream run. The jobs are listed in the order of execution, according to the jobstream definition, and shows the child jobs nested under parent jobs. You can expand or collapse parent jobs to show or hide the child jobs below it.

The Gantt timeline is coordinated with the Jobstream Tree

Each job on the tree has a respective execution bar on the timeline that you see on the same horizontal line as the job in the tree. When you expand or collapse jobs with child jobs, the timeline also expands and collapses the bars to be in sync with the tree.

You expand/collapse parent jobs from the tree

In general, you expand and collapse parent jobs from the Jobstream Tree. You do this by clicking the arrow next to the icon of the higher-level job (the parent job) to show and hide child jobs. To expand and collapse only critical path jobs, you use the related toolbar button.

Expand full critical path in one click

To expand all container jobs that have at least one critical path in it at one time, click the Expand Critical Path button in the header of the Jobstream Tree.

icons on Gantt chart , icons on Gantt timeline, icons on Jobstream tree

Icons next to job names show type and function

Icons to the left of each job name identify the job type and indicate key functions or characteristics of certain jobs in the structure of the jobstream. In general, job types can be either a container job or a simple job. Key functions and characteristics of jobs include the following:

  • The icon shape identifies the job type.
  • The target job is marked with a bull's-eye icon next to the job type icon.
  • Container jobs (parent jobs) are marked with a folder icon that is open or closed depending on whether the container is expanded to show the child jobs or not. On the Gantt chart, the execution bar for a container job is yellow. A container job that is also on the critical path has a red border
  • Critical path jobs have red exclamation point on their icons.   On the Gantt chart their execution bars are pink.
  • Jobs at trim points or are descendents of trim points are flagged.
  • Missing jobs, no-run jobs, and unlinked jobs are noted in parentheses after the job name on the Jobstream Tree and with an icon next to the job's execution bar on the Gantt timeline.  
  • A placeholder line appears in the job sequence in the Jobstream Tree to mark where there are "additional jobs not shown." The Gantt timeline marks this with a light beige execution bar.

    This happens when the jobs in a jobstream are part of a larger workload process which includes other jobs that are irrelevant to the jobstream at hand. For example, the process branches in two directions based on a decision tree and only one of the options is relevant to the current jobstream and its SLA. (On the Gantt timeline this is represented by a light grey bar.)

Job names are interactive to provide more details

The job name on the Jobstream Tree is interactive to give you details about the job run and the job properties, as follows:

  • When you mouseover a job name, a tooltip appears with details about the job run. The frame that pops up shows the job name, the job's parentage path (when relevant), and the scheduler of this job run.

  • When you click a job name, its Job Details page appears. This page contains several tabs of information covering all the properties and execution statistics for the job. For more information, see Job Details.

Job Actions on the Jobstream Tree

You can take actions directly on any job in the Jobstream Tree. Click the three-dot, vertical ellipses () to the right of any job name to open a menu with the actions that you can take on that job. The available actions fall into roughly the following groups:

Actions for Navigating and Understanding the Current Run

predecessor job, successor job, predecessor, successor

The actions in the top part of the job actions menu are useful for anyone investigating a jobstream whether as part of daily monitoring or jobstream analysis. They help you navigate the Gantt timeline in relation to a specific job.

The following list describes all the possible actions that can appear on the menu. When you open the menu from a job, only the actions that are relevant to that job are on the menu.

  • Open Job in New Tab:

    Click this to open the Job Details page for the job in a new browser tab. For information, see Job Details.

  • View Properties:

    Click this to open the Job Properties pane in the right of the Gantt timeline. You see the job properties for whichever job is currently selected. If the job runs more than once within this jobstream run, you see the properties for each run in columns next to each other. Selecting this has the same effect as clicking the toggle button among the Job tools in the toolbar for the timeline on.

  • Copy Job Name:

    Use this to copy the name of the job to the clipboard of your device. You can then paste the name into another application or window, such as emails, chats, search fields, and so on. Copying ensures accuracy in your references.

  • Expand:

    Use this to fully expand the container to show all subordinate jobs at all levels. This option is available when you select a container job for which the subordinate jobs are partially or fully collapsed.

  • Collapse:

    Use this to collapse all jobs in the container into one line. This option is available when you select a container job for which the subordinate jobs are partially or fully expanded.

  • Expand Critical Path:

    Click this to expose all subordinate critical path jobs in a container job. This is available only on container jobs that are on the critical path, which means that one or more of the jobs in the container are on the critical path.

    You can then use the Critical Path tools in the toolbar to show the connecting lines and move between the previous and next jobs. These are particularly helpful for complex container jobs.

  • Collapse Critical Path:

    Click this to hide all subordinate critical path jobs in a container job. This is available only on container jobs that are on the critical path, which means that one or more of the jobs in the container are on the critical path.

  • Go to Predecessor (available only when a job has predecessor jobs):

    Click this to open a list of predecessor jobs for the selected job. Click a job name on the list to position the list and timeline to the job. Opening this sub-menu without selecting anything is a quick way to see a list of predecessor jobs for the job you selected.

    Opening this sub-menu without selecting anything is a quick and handy way to see a list of successor jobs for the job you selected.

  • Go to Successor (available only when a job has successor jobs):

    Click this to open a list of successor jobs for the selected job. Click a job name on the list to position the list and timeline to the job. Opening this sub-menu without selecting anything is a quick way to see a list of successor jobs for the job you selected.

    Opening this sub-menu without selecting anything is a quick and handy way to see a list of successor jobs for the job you selected.

Actions for Optimizing and Creating Jobstreams

The following actions allow you to modify the jobstream definition directly from a Gantt view of one of its runs. Often, when you see the jobstream in the context of a real run, you can more easily recognize how best to refine its jobstream definition for more targeted monitoring and optimal SLA compliance.

add trim point from Gantt, set start job from Gantt, set predicted duration from Gantt

  • Add Trim Point: When you select this, the Trimming tab of the jobstream definition opens and you are in edit mode.

    The selected job is proposed as a trim point. Select whether to exclude only the predessor jobs or also the selected job. Make any further changes and then click Save.   For more information, see Adding/Editing Jobstreams: Trimming.

    Note:

    You can select more than one job to set as trim points. To do that, select one of the jobs from the Jobstream Tree and then click the checkbox that appears to its left. Checkboxes will appear next to all the jobs in the tree. Click the checkboxes for all the jobs you want to include, then open the action menu for any of the selected jobs and select Add Trim Points.

  • Set Start Job: When you select this, the Start Jobs tab of the jobstream definition opens and you are in edit mode.

    The selected job is listed on the table of start job candidates. Check the job name to set it as a start job for the jobstream you started in—optionally make any other changes to the jobstream definition in any of the other tabs—and then click Save. For more information, see Editing Jobstreams: Setting the Start Job. . 

    Note:

    You can select more than one job to set as start jobs as possible start jobs for monitoring the jobstream. To do that, select one of the jobs from the Jobstream Tree and then click the checkbox that appears to its left. Checkboxes will appear next to all the jobs in the tree. Click the checkboxes for all the jobs you want to include, then open the action menu for any of the selected jobs and select Set Start Jobs.

  • Remove Start Job: This appears only when the job is defined as a start job for the jobstream. Select this to remove the job from the start jobs list. Use this when you determine that the predecessor jobs to the start job are important to be considered in the jobstream predictions and statistics.

  • New Predicted Duration: Use this to define a fixed run duration to be used when forecasting or predicting run times for jobstreams that include this job. Note that this is a predicted duration for this job only, not the jobstream.

    When you select this menu option, the Add Predicted Duration dialog appears with the relevant job properties included, such as the scheduler name, job name, and runtime averages. You can use the runtime averages as guidance when you define the predicted duration in the following fields:

    • Predicted Duration: This is the duration to be used for forecasts and predictions instead of the calculated averages.

    • Description: This optional field gives a place to explain the reasons for the entered duration or other information that can be helpful to you or anyone who later tries to understand this job's run behavior.

    • Expiration Information: Select whether the new Prediction Never Expires or specify a date and time that the Prediction Expires On. Of course, the prediction can be changed again at a future date and these options can be redefined.

Note:

Anytime that a jobstream definition is changed in a way that affects how the run times or SLA compliance is calculated, the jobstream is rebuilt, its forecasts and predictions are re-calculated, and its historical statistics are reset. This can take quite a few minutes. 

  • Create Jobstream: Select this to create a new jobstream where the selected job is the target job.

    The Add Jobstream dialog opens on the Definitions tab. Read-only, key data about the jobstream (scheduler, parentage, and basic statistics) based on the target job is already provided. Add a name for the jobstream and then define the rest of the specifications on each tab of the Add Jobstream dialog. When you are done, click Save. For more information, see Adding and Editing Jobstreams. Remember to define the SLA specifications after AAI creates the jobstream.

Custom Actions

custom actions on Gantt

If custom actions are defined, they appear at the bottom of the list on the job actions menu. Custom actions can be anything that affects something in AAI itself, that is a change on the workload scheduler, or that is carried out on an external program or a third party system, for example, a "Submit Ticket" action that would open your company ticketing system and have job and run details already filled in the proper fields.

Such custom actions are created by an AAI administrator or jobstream administrator to provide additional tasks that you or other AAI users in your organization can conveniently invoke from the job actions menu. Depending on how an action was defined, you might need to be authorized to use them. Contact your AAI administrator if you need access to an action.

If you are an administrator and want to create a custom action, see Custom Actions.

 

Understanding the Gantt Timeline

The Gantt Timeline in the right pane of the page visualizes the process flow of the jobstream. Here you see which job leads to which other jobs and how long each job runs to make up the overall jobstream run from start to finish and whether it finished within the SLA deadline .

How to read the Gantt timeline

The Gantt timeline for a jobstream execution is rich with information that you can see at a glance. The following are the basics of how to read the timeline:

The timeline is in a horizontal bar graph. The vertical axis shows the jobstream jobs listed in their order of execution and nested in their parent-child hierarchies (the Jobstream Tree). The horizontal axis measures the execution date and time of the jobs over the whole jobstream run. Columns of the timeline mark the time intervals.

Use the horizontal and vertical scroll bars to move across and up and down the timeline.

Each job run is represented by an execution bar. Each execution bar starts and ends at the start time and end time of the respective job's run. Jobs that need more time to complete have longer execution bars. For

The execution bars are visually coded. The fill color and border style of a bar shows the primary characteristic of the job run with the jobstream run. For example.

  • Container jobs are filled in yellow and critical path jobs are filled in red.
  • A container job on the critical path is filled in yellow and outlined in red.
  • A solid border show a job that has completed running, whereas a dotted border indicates a predicted run for a job that has not yet run. For jobs that are currently running, the portion that has completed has a solid line and the portion still to run has a dotted line, and it is bisected by the Now flag.
vertical lines on Gantt, meaning of vertical lines on Gantt,

Vertical flags mark milestones and the current time. There are three vertical lines that mark significant milestones and times. They run the full length of the jobstream and have labeled flags, as follows:

  • Avg End Time flag in green marks the average end time for the jobstream based on all historical run data in the AAI database.
  • SLA Time flag in red marks the SLA deadline time for the jobstream run. The target job must end before or on this flag to be in time to meet the SLA criterion. When the target job ends after this flag, the jobstream run is late and fails to meet the SLA.
  • The Now flag in purple marks the current time. You see the Now flag only on timelines for jobstreams that are still running or are forecasted.

These milestone flags work together to help you understand how well the jobstream is performing and what to expect. For example, if you see that the jobstream has passed its SLA deadline but is within the average end time, then you know that a problem probably lies in the jobstream definition or resourcing, rather than in the individual run.

Container jobs are boxed together. When you expand a container job, its subordinate, child jobs appear indented below it on the Jobstream Tree. On the Gantt Timeline, the container job run, a yellow bar, expands and you see the child job runs below it. A dotted-lined box outlines the borders of the container job and its child jobs. The first job to run starts on the left border and the last job to run ends on the right border.

Example 1: Container job with an expanded sub-container job

Notice that each expanded container job on the Gantt timeline is outlined by a dotted-lined box. Also notice that the subordinate container job is also outlined with its own box.

Example 2: Container job with a collapsed sub-container job

Notice here that the subordinate parent job is collapsed, and therefore it has no box around it.

Tooltips with job details appear on mouseover. When you mouseover a job execution bar, a tooltip appears with some basic details about the job run. The frame that pops up shows the job name, its run status, the average duration, the start and end times of the run, and the External Run ID, which is the run ID on the workload scheduler.

See also: