COBOL Manual for TNS/E Programs (H06.08+, J06.03+)

it starts over with 1. If the job number the spooler tries to use is currently being used, the spooler
advances until it finds a job number that is not being used.
Each job has an owner. When an application program opens the spooler collector for output, the
created job is marked as owned by the user number of the application program. Unlike a file, a
spooler job does not have four-fold security; only the individual owner (or a system operator in the
super-group) can print, delete, or otherwise manipulate a job.
Using SPOOLCOM, you can transfer ownership of a job to another user. If one spooler reroutes
a job to another spooler on the same system or on a different system in an Expand network, the
owner of the job on the second spooler is the same as the owner was on the first spooler (typically,
the system operator; therefore, if your spooler reroutes your job to another spooler, you are no
longer the owner of the job.
Jobs have six primary attributes:
• Location
• State
• Number of Copies
• Priority
• Report Name
• How an HP COBOL Program Calls a Non-COBOL Program
Location
A job’s location is the job’s logical destination. Its physical destination is governed by a print
process. A job’s location name consists of a group name and a destination name. The format of
a location name is:
Suppose your installation has 12 printers, of which 4 are stocked with narrow paper. Three of
them are at the other end of the building (in room 145), and one is near your work place (in room
301). Suppose your spooler designates this group of printers as NARROW, and within that group
designates the printers as RM145A, RM145B, RM145C, and RM301. If you do not care which
narrow-paper printer your report is printed on, you can assign the output file to $S.#NARROW.
The spooler directs the job to whichever of the four printers could finish it first. If you want the job
printed on the nearby printer, assign the output file to $S.#NARROW.RM301.
There are two ways that your system manager can configure the spooler to print jobs that have
only a group name but no destination name specified:
• On the printer that can finish the job first
• On all printers in the group
The latter configuration is called broadcast mode.
If you specify a location that is unknown to the spooler, your job sits in the spooler until such a
location is made known to the spooler or you or a system operator changes the job’s location with
PERUSE or SPOOLCOM.
You can send the job to a fictitious location and use PERUSE to examine the contents of a report
before it is printed. If there is any problem with the report, you can delete it from the spooler, fix
the program that produced the report, and re-create the report.
Understanding Spoolers 901