You can define a monitor for just about anything. When you define a monitor, you are creating a monitor object. The monitor object identifies the:
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Event class
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Information that defines the event
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Programs to call when the event occurs
Event classes are predefined conditions that trigger running programs associated with a monitor. Each monitor object identifies an event class (EVTCLS parameter) and a set of parameters that defines the event. This set of parameters that define the event is referred to as the predefined condition. For example, the predefined condition for a time monitor includes the time of day and the day or date to run the specified programs.
MIMIX Monitor supports monitor objects based on the following event classes: *INTERVAL, *JRN, *EXDJRN, *MSGQ, *TIME, *GROUP, and *PREDFN. For more information, see Event classes.
In addition to the event class and the parameters that define it, each monitor object must have one or more of the following programs:
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Condition program
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Event program
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Interface exit program
Although each type of program is optional, every monitor must have either a condition program or an event program before the monitor can be started. If you create a monitor to use only an interface exit program, your program needs to control all operations of the monitor, including running the monitor.
The condition program defines the system or program activities to be performed and is called when the predefined conditions are met. The condition program can be used to check additional conditions before the event program is run. Any additional conditions to check that are included in the condition program are referred to as user-defined conditions. If you do not specify a condition program, the monitor will call the event program without any further conditional checking.
The event program defines the event or action to initiate when the conditions (both predefined and user-defined) occur. An event program is used to handle the triggered event by taking some user-defined action.
When you use a monitor in a switching scenario, the event program contains your switching commands and program calls.
The interface exit program provides an optional way of associating additional programming or information with a monitor. Except where noted, the interface exit program is called before (pre-exit) and after (post-exit) each requested operation for a monitor object. In effect, an interface exit program can determine which operations (either selecting an option on a display or running a command) will be processed for a monitor and what activities will occur before and after the requested option is processed. Additional displays that may require a response could be programmed to appear before or after you see the display for the selected option.
For more information, see the following topics in the chapter Programming for monitors