6. DATA SOURCES › 6.5 Batch Turnaround/Response Time › 6.5.2 Batch Response Considerations

6.5.2 Batch Response Considerations

If the classic definition of turnaround time is the only
measure desired, it can be calculated simply from the type 26
record by subtracting the job purge time stamp from the job
submission time stamp.  This assumes that job purge time
stamp is the time when the output is available.  However,
variations of turnaround time are often desired, as well as
the components of that turnaround time.  The calculations can
therefore be more complex.

Using the diagram shown in Section 6.5.1, the determination
of meaningful batch response measurements may be performed
using any of the CA MICS time stamp and duration variables.
The following special cases fail to comply with the normal
batch job life cycle.

JOBS THAT DO NOT EXECUTE

Many jobs in an MVS system do not have any initiation, step
termination, or job termination records produced.  These
include JCL syntax errors, jobs with TYPRUN=SCAN or
TYPRUN=COPY, jobs that are transmitted to other NJE systems
for execution, and jobs that execute via an execution batch
monitor.  These jobs only have a type 26 and possibly a type
6 record produced.  More important than missing time stamps
is the fact that job accounting information is either missing
or incomplete for jobs without an initiation or job
termination record.

JOB RESTARTS

A job that is restarted has an additional SMF type 30 subtype
5 job end record produced for each restart.  Algorithms for
calculation of input queue time must determine whether or not
to add the time spent waiting for re-execution.

PARTIAL TIME STAMPS

The fields for device allocation and problem program load are
only given as a time, not a date and time.  CA MICS assumes
that the enqueue and device allocation does not exceed 24
hours.  These time stamps are calculated from step initiation
time with due considerations for crossing midnight.

MISSING RECORDS

There are a number of conditions where not all of the
time stamps required for calculating the timings of a job are
available.  Besides the condition of the records not being
produced as explained in non-execution jobs above, various
records may not be available for any one of the following
reasons:

  o  The job is still executing when the records are being
     post-processed.

  o  The job produced output that has either not been
     processed or is being held for viewing under TSO.  In
     either of these cases, the job purge record may not be
     available yet.

  o  SMF options have been selected or exits established to
     suppress the recording of the necessary records.

  o  Data has been lost through procedural error, tape or
     media failure, SMF terminating recording, or a cold
     start being performed on JES.

In all of these circumstances, turnaround time algorithms
must take into consideration alternate time stamps if
available.  The CA MICS suspend limit is the number of days
CA MICS will hold SMF records waiting for the SMF type 26
purge record.  If the type 26 record is still not available
and the suspend limit has been reached, CA MICS will
construct the duration and time stamp elements from the
available SMF records.

NJE

The unique job identification of reader start time stamp and
job name is transmitted with a job throughout an NJE network
and can be used to calculate turnaround time.  However, the
time zones where the job is read in and where it executes
must be taken into consideration when calculating turnaround
time.

MULTI-ACCESS SPOOL OR JES3 GLOBAL/LOCAL COMPLEX

In a multi-access spool environment, records for an
individual job may be produced by different systems in the
complex.  The simplest example is a job executing on one
system and the print occurring on the other.  The SMF files
for multi-access spool systems must be processed together.

CPU clock synchronization is essential to meaningful batch
response measurement in this environment.  See Section 6.2.2
for information about clock synchronization.

DYNAMIC DEALLOCATION

The normal calculation for printer queue time is from the
termination of the job (assuming it executed) until the start
of print for the first SYSOUT data set.  With dynamic
deallocation via the FREE=CLOSE JCL keyword or the FREE
command in TSO, print may start before the termination of the
job.

TIME CHANGES

When the life of a job crosses a change in the system time,
either following an IPL with a new time or a SET command
being issued, the timings can be invalid.

PRINTER TIME

One of the components of job turnaround may be the time taken
to print the job.  CA MICS does not sum the print time
durations from the SMF type 6 records because, in a system
with multiple printers, the output can occur simultaneously.
Instead, CA MICS uses the start of the first printout and the
end of the last printout as the JOBPRNTM data element value.