Extraction, Split User Exits, and Split File Time Processing › Setting up for Split File Time Processing › Establish the Breakpoint Times

Establish the Breakpoint Times

Up to four breakpoint times can be specified in the TIME operand that is indicated on the SPLIT statement. It is important that the times that are set up match the business needs of the organization.

Note: When setting up times for the SPLIT statements, there is not an automatic switch of split files at midnight. In order to switch the split files at midnight, 8 AM and 4 PM, the TIME operand must be coded as TIME(0000,0800,1600).

The TIME operand must appear on each individual SPLIT statement that is to be processed with the TIME operand.

If interval data is being managed by a TIME-based SPLIT file, you may need to adjust the times that an SMF switch is issued to ensure that the interval data is available in a timely fashion. When CA SMF Director writes TIME-based SPLIT files, it will not indicate that a file is ready for processing until a record for that split file shows up in the next interval that the TIME statement indicates.

Note: To ensure that the data is available, make sure that the scheduled times for SMF switch operations are set to the times mentioned in the TIME operand plus the value of the INTVAL in the active SMFPRMxx member, plus one minute. Doing this ensures that data falls into the next interval.

For example, assume a SPLIT statement has the following TIME operand:

TIME(0000,0800,1600)

This provides three iterations of the SPLIT file per day:

• One has data from midnight to 8 AM.
• One has data from 8 AM to 4 PM.
• One has data from 4 PM to midnight.

Assume also that the active SMFPRMxx member has INTVAL(15) coded so that interval data is generated every 15 minutes.

In this example, you should set the automated SMF switch commands (I SMF) to be issued at 00:16, 08:16, and 16:16 every day. That way, once the dump is completed from the switch, the data from the previous portion of the day will be available right away.