OS/2 Shareware BBS: 8 Other/08-Other.zip/jobq110.lzh/jq.doc

Text File | 1993-10-13 | 6KB | 207 lines

    Job Queue system for OS/2 2.xx  Version 1.10       (C) Ola Garstad 1993



    WHAT IS JQ?

    JQ is a job queue system for OS/2 2.xx. Job queues are found on mini-and
    mainframe machines. It allows the user to put jobs into a queue for
    processing. Multitasking is a nice thing, but running many programs at
    once eats up your CPU time causing more important programs to run slowly.

    JQ works almost like the OS/2 command "Start" that lets you start a job
    (program) in the background, but each time you use Start a new session
    starts using more and more of the CPU. JQ lets you put several jobs in the
    background, and they are run one after the other.

    I use JQ on my BBS to make filelists, statistics, check new files for
    virus, import/export echomail, reindex messages areas etc.



    SOME SHORT LEGAL STUFF

    Copyright (C) Ola Garstad 1993.

    This program is not public domain, but it may be used freely. You are not
    allowed to sell this program in any way. You must give it away.

    Nobody ever pays for shareware, so why bother with asking people to pay?
    However, if you like this program I will not deny you to pay me some
    money.

    All rights belong to Ola Garstad.

    Parts of the code are copyrighted by Borland International.



    DISCLAIMER

    The Software is provided as is and comes with no warranty of any kind,
    either expressed or implied. In no event will the author be liable for any
    damages resulting from the direct or indirect use of this Software.

    The user of this Software bears all risk as to its quality and perfor-
    mance.

    To put it simple: If this Software destroys your machine or data then
    that's your problem. You have been warned.

    Batteries are not included.







    SHORT ABOUT THE FILES

    JQ.EXE          Used to put jobs into the queue
    JQS.EXE         The job queue server program.
    RUNJQ.CMD       Used to start the server in a FS session.



    USING JQ

    Run RUNJQ to start the server and wait a few seconds for it to start.

    Now you can use JQ to insert jobs into the queue.

    Syntax: JQ  -p#   -q#   -t   -s   -lfilename  commandline

    -p    sets the queue priority of the job.

          The priority may be 0 - 15. Default is 7.
          Jobs with higher priority are processed before jobs with lower. Jobs
          with equal priority are processed as first-in first-out.
          Example: To set priority to 10, use -p10 (no spaces!).

    -q    sets the queue number to use. Default is queue #1.
          Example: To use queue #2, use -q2 (no spaces!).

    -s    causes the job to be run with server CPU priority.
    -t    causes the job to be run with time-critical CPU priority.

          Used for communications and other time critical applications.

    -l    sets a local logfile for THIS command entry.
          Example: -lmylog.log (no spaces!).
          When the job is run, this will be logged in this logfile in addition
          to the normal logfile.

    Note: All parameters are optional.


    E.g. to start the program "make" with the arguments "-fjq.mak":

    JQ make -fjq.mak

    To start the program "fileget" with queue priority 9:

    JQ -p9 fileget

    Most errors cause the programs to stop with errorlevel 2.

    If JQ is started, and the server is not running, JQ will stop with error-
    level 3. This can be used in a batch file to start the server if it isn't
    already running.







    SPECIAL COMMANDS

    JQ will accept some special commands. Special commands always start with
    "::" and are processed by the queue server program.

    Allowed special commands are:

    ::beepThe server will beep. Can be used to tell you when a job is done.

    ::cls Clear the screen on the server.

    ::nop Do nothing. Used together with the errorlevel to check if the queue
          server is running.

    ::stopStop the server.


    For the latest information about available switches use the "-?" switch on
    JQ.EXE and JQS.EXE.


    HOW TO INSTALL

    Copy JQ.EXE, JQS.EXE and RUNJQ.CMD into your favorite directory (it should
    be in the PATH).

    Copy C2.DLL into your DLL directory. (mostly C: OS2 DLL)



    CONTACTING THE AUTHOR

    The author, Ola Garstad, may be contacted at:

    Home 5 BBS [phone]
    Fidonet 2:210/15

    Email: Ola_Garstad f15.n210.z2.fidonet.org (preferred)
       or: Ola_Garstad no5.fidonet.bbs.no      (still under test, but quicker)


    THANKS TO:

    Kjetil Larsen for beta testing and comments.

    My cats for laying on the monitor and teaching me patience during
    debugging sessions.








    Version history:

      1.00 2 july 93  First release.

      1.10Added queue numbers. This makes it possible to run several queue
          servers at the same time.

          Possible to set time critical and server priority on JQ (-t & -s
          switches). Possible to set the default priority class that JQS will
          run with (prtyc).

          JQ now reads the real command line from the OS/2 API (not the C
          runtime library). This enables use of quote characters in the
          commands. Totally rewrote the command line phraser.

          Changed "PRIORITY" in header message of JQS to "QUEUE PRIORITY".

          If no command is entered on the command line the program will stop
          without entering anything in the queue. This used to cause an empty
          item in the queue.

          Changed help syntax.

          JQS shows queue number and default priority class in heading.

          Changed log format because of priority class logging.