Batch Processor Setup: A Step-by-Step Guide

Estimated reading time: 3 minutes

Monarch provides these two programs to assist in the processing of Batch Jobs:

ASNA.QSys.BatchDispatch.exe (BatchDispatch)
ASNA.QSys.BatchHost.exe (BatchHost)

BatchDispatch is a console program that ‘watches’ a job queue and creates a system process to run the program stated in the job queue entry. The new process uses the console program BatchHost as the the entry point for the new job.

Configuring BatchDispatch

See Batch Dispatch.

Configuring BatchHost

The majority of the configuration parameters of the Batch Job comes directly from the job that submitted or started it. However some of the characteristics of the process hosting the batch job can be, or should be, estblished directly on BatchHost. The configuration of BatchHost is done via an appsettings.json file stored in the working directory of the process.

`appsettings.json` File

MonaJobConfig Section

Starting with version 4.0.22 of ASNA.QSys.Runtime, certain attributes of batch jobs can be described in the MonaJobConfig section of the BatchHost appsettings.json. The main aspects that can be established in the MonaJobConfig section relates to directory locations for queues, the IFS and message files.

Here is an example of the MonaJobConfig section:

{
  "MonaJobConfig": {
    "OutputQueueRootPath": "C:/MonarchQueues/OutputQueues",
    "DefaultOutputQueue": "QPRINT",
    "IFSRootPath": "//MyServer/MyShare",
    "DlsRootName": "QDLS",
    "JobQueueBaseQueuesPath": "C:/MonarchQueues/JobQueues",
    "MessageFilePath": "./MessageFiles"
  },
  . . .
}

These are the MonaJobConfig values and their meaning:

Type	Name	Description
String	DefaultOutputQueue	The name of the default Output Queue. Defaults to “QPRINT”
String	DlsRootName	The name of the directory, located within the IFSRootPath, where the Document Library Objects are located. Defaults to “QDLS”
String	IFSRootPath	The directory path where the IFS objects are located in the system.
String	JobQueueBaseQueuesPath	The directory path where the Job Queues are located in the system.
String	MessageFilePath	The directory path where the Message Files are located in the system.
String	OutputQueueRootPath	The directory path where the Output Queues are located in the system.

If the appsettings.json file does not have these values set, then the batch job will inherit those found in the parent job.

A similar MonaJobConfig section can be set for websites.

AssemblyListProfiles Section

The appsettings.json file can also have a section called AssemblyListProfiles. The assembly list profiles section is a dictionary of Assembly Lists. Each list may have one or more directory or file paths pointing to the location of the .NET Assemblies containing the programs used by the batch job. When a batch job is being established, the parent job may set the Profile that should be used when the child batch job is started by providing a value to the MatchOptions.AssemblyListProfile property. If a profile is not set then the profile from the parent job is inherited and if it does not have one either, then the actual assembly list of the (ASP.NET Core or Batch) process is used.

The example below shows two profiles, *Default and REPORTS, each with different AssemblyList.

{
  . . . 
  "AssemblyListProfiles": {
    "*Default": [
      "C:/SomeFolder/SubA/Acme.Lib.Utils.dll",
      "C:/SomeFolder/Acme*.dll"
    ],
    "REPORTS": [
      "C:/OtherFolder/ReportAssemblies/Acme*.dll",
      "C:/OtherFolder/DynamicAssemblies/Acme*.dll"
    ]
  }
}