Using the special resource monitor

Operations hold and release special resources automatically according to their descriptions in the current plan and the resources are available and connected to workstations as scheduled in the current plan. So why do you need to monitor them?

Resources represent something, such as tape drives, and the current plan is built assuming that a certain number of tape drives will be available. If one breaks down and you do not use RODM or otherwise automatically notify HCL Workload Automation for Z, HCL Workload Automation for Z no longer has a true picture of the real world—HCL Workload Automation for Z continues to allocate the broken tape drive to a job that needs one. The job will wait, because z/OS knows that the tape drive is offline. To avoid HCL Workload Automation for Z starting a job that will only wait and use operating system resources, use the SPECIAL RESOURCE MONITOR panel to reduce the number of tape drives by one. You specify a deviation of -1 (minus one) to show that the quantity is reduced. When the engineer hands it back and you vary it online again, reset the deviation.

If a job is waiting with extended status X, it is waiting for a resource. Use the SPECIAL RESOURCE MONITOR panel to check its availability, and see what other operations are using the resource.