Process groups

Process groups allow you to define a set of procedures that must be completed in a designated order, without interruption from another process. This allows a group of related procedures, such as those used to post transactions, to be processed or deleted as a single group. To set up a process group, use the begingroup and endgroup statements. These statements define the beginning and ending points of a process group. The basic syntax for a process group is shown below:

begingroup group_name assign to group_ID;
	call {background|remote} Procedure_2 {, parameter_list};
	call {background|remote} Procedure_3 {, parameter_list};
	call {background|remote} Procedure_4 {, parameter_list};
endgroup group_ID;

In this example, the procedures Procedure_2, Procedure_3 and Procedure_4 will be processed as a single item in the process queue. Individual procedures and process groups sent to this queue will then be completed in the order in which they’re sent to the queue:

To view items in the process queue at a workstation, display the Process Monitor window by choosing the Process Monitor menu item.

Background and remote process groups

Process groups can be set up for either background processing or remote processing.

• Background processes are completed at the client workstation’s process queue and are designated by using the call background statement for each procedure when you define the process group.
• Remote processes are sent to a workstation running the Process Server and are called using the call remote statement for each procedure when you define the process group.

Process group guidelines

The following general guidelines apply when using process groups with remote and background procedures.

• Once in a process group, all procedures in the process group are treated as a single unit. Actions made to the group, such as moving, deleting and so on, affect all procedures in the group.
• If a procedure in a process group calls a procedure and includes the background keyword, the procedure called is placed at the end of the process group in the process queue. The procedure called in the background must then run to completion before the process group is considered completed.
• If a procedure in a process group calls a procedure but doesn’t include the background keyword, the called procedure will be processed immediately in the background. It must run to completion before processing of the other procedures in the process group will continue.
• Prior to being executed, a process group can be deleted only if the deletable keyword is included in the begingroup statement for the process group. A process group marked as deletable can be deleted from the process queue using the Remove button in the Process Monitor window. A single procedure can be deleted from the process queue only if it’s defined as a process group for which the deletable keyword was included.

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