Never Get Locked Out Again

by Alex Woodie

Do your jobs get hung up every now and then? Do you think it's because OS/400 or DB2/400 is applying locks to objects or records? If so, you might want to check out a new utility from Centerfield Technology, the Rochester, Minnesota, company that specializes in performance enhancement tools. lock/DETECTOR, announced last week, will detect job locks and provide the information you need to take corrective action and get things sailing smoothly again.

Locks are important for preventing certain changes from being made and for ensuring the integrity of data, says Mark Holm, Centerfield's executive vice president and chief technical officer. However, locks also cause their share of conflicts among jobs. An example Holm noted is when one job has to wait for another job to end before it can access the first job's record, because the first job has an exclusive lock on that record. The user will often conclude that his or her job has hung, when in reality the job is just waiting its turn. In most cases, the job does not finish as planned.

lock/DETECTOR addresses this problem by identifying the cause of locking conflicts, notifying the operator, and providing assistance in resolving the conflicts. The utility works by scanning the system for jobs that are waiting for a lock. When it detects a lock, it drills down to identify which job is waiting for the resource and which job is currently holding that resource. lock/DETECTOR also comes with source code samples that help operators customize their applications to avoid the specific job locks.

The utility is available in both stand-alone green-screen and GUI versions. The GUI version includes expanded diagnostics and is available as an integrated bundle with ClientServer/MONITOR, another Centerfield product. Pricing for lock/DETECTOR is based on processor groups and ranges from $875 to $3,375. For more information, go to www.centerfieldtechnology.com.

Sponsored By PROFOUND LOGIC SOFTWARE

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