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Recently, I stumbled onto a message board where a

fellow reader was struggling with work management.
It reminded me just how complex work management
is. If you don't think so, just print out IBM's 573-page
manual and take a look at it. But don't let the manual
intimidate you. It's not imperative you understand
every single page of the work management guide,
and it's not my intention to explain every single
aspect of work management in this article. That
would be impossible. However, if you simply
understand the basic flow, you can then build on
your work management knowledge. Understanding
the basic flow enables you to troubleshoot and set
up your systems much more efficiently. For now, just
put the manual down. If you take a step back from
the enormity of it and simply use some analogies,
understanding the basics of work management can
be achieved. Since I'm a big picture person, I want
to give you a simplistic view of how jobs are
processed on the iSeries.

Simply put, work enters the system, gets processed,

and leaves. I think of it like a mall, full of stores that
have stuff in it that we want. We go to the
appropriate store. We pick out our items. We go
home. The key is entering the store first. After all, we
can't leave the store first, then enter the store, and
then pick out our items. That wouldn't make any
sense. Although this analogy is somewhat silly, it
does stress the point that there is a logical
progression to work management. Now, let's build
on this simplistic view.

Keeping with our "store" analogy, we have to

address some key components:
Who Is Going to the Store?
This would be our customer. Each user has a unique
user profile (Userid) that identifies him on the
system. The user profile is set via the Create User
Profile (CRTUSRPRF) command. A key parameter
of the user profile is thejob description. Figure 1
shows an example of how to set the job description
parameters.

Figure 1: The Additional Parameters screen of

CRTUSRPRF lets you set up the job description.
What Store Is the Customer Going To?
Most people don't just blindly go to the store. They
have a plan. If they need golf balls or a 60" TV, they
need a specific store. This plan is determined by a
job description. A job description describes the work
coming into the subsystem and contains pieces of
information such as Userids, job queues, and routing
data. From a basic work management flow, the job
queue and routing data are the key components.
Job queues point to the desired subsystem. Routing
data is a compare value that will help dictate how
the job is processed. The job description is set up
via the Create Job Description (CRTJOBD)
command. If a job description exists, you can display
it via the Display Job Description (DSPJOBD)
command. The key to remember with this command
is to press the F10 function key. Only then will you
see the routing data parameter. See Figures 2 and
3.
Figure 2: Notice the Job queue (JOBQ)
parameter.

Pressing F10 allows you to set the routing data.

Figure 3: Set a job description's routing data
(QCMDI) from this screen.

In our example, QCMDI is the routing data. This

exact value will need to be set up in the subsystem
description as a routing entry.
Where in the Store Does the Customer Go?
A store can have multiple departments, and the
iSeries or AS/400 uses the same concept. It uses
routing entries to differentiate various types of
processing. The combination of routing entries and
routing data (from the job description) determines
how your job will be handled. The routing entry can
be set up via the Create Routing Entry
(CRTRTGE) command or changed via the Change
Routing Entry (CHGRTGE) command. Figure 4
shows the routing entries that are already set up in
IBM's QINTER subsystem.

Figure 4: The Display Subsystem Description

screen shows the routing entries in QINTER.

Pressing 7 brings up the Display Routing Entries

screen, as shown in Figure 5.
Figure 5: Note the Compare Values on the
Display Routing Entries screen.

Remember the QCMDI routing data from the job

description in Figure 3? It is an exact match with
routing entry sequence number 10 (QCMDI). This
means that, upon entering this subsystem, we will
use this routing entry to help process our job. Next,
we need to display the routing entry details.
What Kind of Service Will the Customer Get?
Customers have individual characteristics and
needs. Consequently, they require different
attention. Likewise, not every job is processed the
same way. In fact, key run attributes are determined
by an object called a class. The class can be set up
via the Create Class (CRTCLS) command or
changed via the Change Class (CHGCLS)
command. What's interesting about the class is how
it's referenced. Remember our routing entry in the
previous section? Class is determined when there is
an exact match between the job description routing
data and the compare value within the routing data.
Since we had an exact match, we will use that
routing entry. Pressing F9 (or simply entering a 5
and pressing Enter) displays the routing entry
parameters. In Figure 6, we will see the class that is
referenced.

Figure 6: This screen shows the routing entry

points to the class object QINTER.

Finally, we can see class screen in Figure 7.

Figure 7: The Display Class Information screen
shows class object parameters.

We just were hit with a lot of work management

terms. The table in Figure 8 reviews them,
continuing with the "store" analogy.
Store iSeries or AS/400
Customer User Profile (Userid)
iSeries or AS/400
Store System
What the customer needs Job
Individual store Subsystem
Job Description &
Plan (what store?) Routing Data
Where in the store does the
customer go? Routing Entry
What kind of service does Class
the customer get?

Figure 8: This cross-reference "store" analogy

helps to explain work management terminology.

Another way to look at things is via a pictorial view,

as shown in Figure 9. Again, we will add in our
relative work management objects.

Figure 9: Pictorial view of our "store" analogy.

Notice the iSeries and AS/400 objects.

The flow in Figure 9 is as follows:

Our customer (Userid) has a plan (Job D & Routing

Data) and needs to go to the store (Subsystem).

Her plan (Job D) dictates that she go to the shoe

store (her desired subsystem). Because she needs
shoes, she ignores the sports and electronics stores
(our user doesn't need those subsystems).

Her plan also specifies that she needs red shoes

(routing data).

Within the shoe store, the store has two options--

black shoes and red shoes. These options represent
routing entries. Her red shoes request (routing data)
is compared to what is in the store (red shoes and
black shoes). Since our request of red shoes
matches exactly to the type of shoes in the store
(red), we can continue with our purchase (AS/400
processing).

The class indicates that the transaction will happen

a certain way. In this case, she gets the shoes on
sale.

From an iSeries or AS/400 standpoint only, a basic

work management flow would be as shown in Figure
10.
Figure 10: This flowchart represents basic
iSeries and AS/400 work management.

Figure 10 shows us the following:

The user profile is set up. It contains a parameter

called the job description.

The job description object contains the job queue,

which, when active, is attached to an active
subsystem. Additionally, the routing data is specified.
F10 (Additional Parameters) must be pressed.

Upon entering the subsystem, the routing data from

the JOBD is compared with the subsystem routing
entry compare value. If it matches, the processing
will occur.
Finally, the routing entry points to the class. This
determines what priority our job will run in.

So now that you know a few basics, look at your

own user profile (DSPUSRPRF). Note the job
description it references. Display your job
description (DSPJOBD) and note the job queue and
routing data. Take it to the next step and look at
subsystem description (DSPSBSD). Choose option
7 (routing data) and press F9. Note the compare
value parameter and the class it references. Finally,
display the class (DSPCLS) and note the priority.

Only the Beginning

The goal of this article was to teach people the
basics, not to teach people all facets of work
management. I know I barely scratched the surface.
How