How are special resources used?

IBM® Z Workload Scheduler just keeps a record of the state of each resource and its allocation. The product does not know that PAYROLL.DATABASE is a database, and it is unaware that TAPES resources are tape drives. Only you know this, and you have the responsibility of making sure that the product knows the true availability of the objects that the resources represent.

VSAM will not tell IBM® Z Workload Scheduler when the payroll database is opened, and z/OS® is not going to tell IBM® Z Workload Scheduler when you vary a tape drive offline. This is your responsibility.

The best way to tell IBM® Z Workload Scheduler about changes in special resources is through the RODM interface. System components such as Automated Operations Control (AOC) inform RODM about changes to their resources. You can subscribe to RODM updates by setting the RODMTASK keyword on the OPCOPTS initialization statement, and using the RODMOPTS initialization statement. Refer to Customization and Tuning for details of initialization statements.

If you do not have RODM installed, and for resources that RODM does not know about, you can automatically notify IBM® Z Workload Scheduler about changes in resources by intercepting messages, for example, and issuing the IBM® Z Workload Scheduler SRSTAT command, or calling the EQQUSIN subroutine. If you cannot automatically notify IBM® Z Workload Scheduler of a change in resource status, use the Special Resource Monitor.