Batch Processing

How to do background batch processing.

In order to use background batch processing first look at the init.mac file in the main Felix macro directory  $BIOSYM/macros/felix/menus/mac. You should make a copy of this file and place it in the current directory that you will be using when you run Felix. Then edit this file in your current directory and set the active variable to zero. This line is near the top of the file:

def active 0

This sets background mode. Then farther down in the file is a section that reads DO BACKGROUND PROCESSING ?. Change the definition of yourmac (line 48) from bench1.mac to the name of the macro that you want to execute. Then change the definition of yourdba (line 49) from file.dba to the name of the dba that you want to use. Then close up the file. Make sure that the macro and dba files that you want to use are in your current directory so that they will be found by the program when you run. You should also make a copy of the batch.mac macro that Felix will use to actually execute your macro and place it in your current directory. This file can be found in the main Felix macros directory noted above. This file is executed from init.mac and is the macro that actually starts the users macro. You should edit this file to add in any specific symbol definitions that you might need. You could also define any needed directory locations in this file. At this point you should have an edited init.mac file, an edited batch.mac file and the macro and dba files that you wish to use all in your current directory. Then when you type felix from this directory the program will read your modified init.mac macro and execute the modified batch.mac macro. The batch.mac file then executes your macro which you want to run in the background. The program will then run your macro with no further user input. You can run the program in the background by using the & symbol after the felix executable. If you want to be able to run the program in the background and log out then redirect the output like this:

felix > felix.out &

This should run your Felix macro in the background and save any output that is generated to the felix.out file.
For more information on how this works see the secion The initialization macro in Appendix C. Felix Startup of the Felix User Guide. In particular take a look at the section which describes the function of lines 37-50 of the init.mac macro.



How to do background batch processing.

In order to use background batch processing first look at the init.mac file in the main Felix macro directory $BIOSYM/macros/felix/menus/mac. You should make a copy of this file and place it in the current directory that you will be using when you run Felix. Then edit this file in your current directory and set the active variable to zero. This line is near the top of the file:

def active 0

This sets background mode. Then farther down in the file is a section that reads DO BACKGROUND PROCESSING ?. Change the definition of yourmac (line 48) from bench1.mac to the name of the macro that you want to execute. Then change the definition of yourdba (line 49) from file.dba to the name of the dba that you want to use. Then close up the file. Make sure that the macro and dba files that you want to use are in your current directory so that they will be found by the program when you run. You should also make a copy of the batch.mac macro that Felix will use to actually execute your macro and place it in your current directory. This file can be found in the main Felix macros directory noted above. This file is executed from init.mac and is the macro that actually starts the users macro. You should edit this file to add in any specific symbol definitions that you might need. You could also define any needed directory locations in this file. At this point you should have an edited init.mac file, an edited batch.mac file and the macro and dba files that you wish to use all in your current directory. Then when you type felix from this directory the program will read your modified init.mac macro and execute the modified batch.mac macro. The batch.mac file then executes your macro which you want to run in the background. The program will then run your macro with no further user input. You can run the program in the background by using the & symbol after the felix executable. If you want to be able to run the program in the background and log out then redirect the output like this:

felix > felix.out &

This should run your Felix macro in the background and save any output that is generated to the felix.out file.
For more information on how this works see the secion The initialization macro in Appendix C. Felix Startup of the Felix User Guide. In particular take a look at the section which describes the function of lines 37-50 of the init.mac macro.