Seven Jobs Every Documentum Developer
Should Know
and Use
Introduction
If you’re like me, you’re pretty rough on your development
environment. Regardless of whether your
development environment is physical or virtual, it takes a beating during
development. It is often subjected to
mass imports and deletes, abandoned workflows, types and DocApps that are
altered and re-altered, failed logic and logic unsuccessfully reversed. All these activities build up over time to
produce a messy, inconsistent, fragmented, slow and sometimes dysfunctional
Docbase. Fortunately, there are some
pretty simple things you can do to make sure your development environment stays
healthy. The simplest is to run the
housekeeping jobs Documentum provides.
Most developers probably consider jobs to fall in the Documentum administrator
realm, but in a development environment, that responsibility could very well be
yours. And even it isn’t, it can’t hurt
to know a little something about housekeeping.
This paper introduces seven jobs that every developer
should know about, and provides recommendations on how often they should be
run. The seven jobs are:
|
|
Job
|
Description
|
|
1.
|
DMClean
|
The
DMClean job removes deleted and orphaned objects from the Docbase.
|
|
2.
|
DMFilescan
|
The
DMFileScan job removes deleted and orphaned content files from the file
system.
|
|
3.
|
LogPurge
|
The Log
Purge job removes server and session logs from the Docbase and file system.
|
|
4.
|
ConsistencyChecker
|
The
Consistency Checker job runs 77 referential integrity checks on the Docbase.
|
|
5
|
UpdateStats
|
The
Update Stats job updates database table statistics and repairs fragmented
tables
|
|
6.
|
QueueMgt
|
The
QueueMgt job deletes dequeued Inbox items from the Docbase.
|
|
7.
|
StateOfDocbase
|
The State
of the Docbase job produces a report of the repository environment and
statistics about object types.
|
There are two reasons why you should not only know about
these jobs, but also how to configure and run them:
1. Some of these jobs are not configured to automatically run in
the out-of-the-box configuration. Out of
the box, Documentum has not enabled any jobs that delete objects or require
user customized parameters.
2. The jobs that are configured to automatically run may execute at
a time when your development environment is not online (especially if you
develop in a virtual environment).
The remainder of this paper will discuss these seven
important jobs, what they do, how to run them, and why they are important to
you.
All About Jobs
Jobs are programs, or scripts, that run automatically on
the Content Server without any user intervention or initiation. These programs are usually diagnostic or
housekeeping in nature. Jobs do
everything from reporting on free disk space, to synchronizing users and groups
with an LDAP server, and from removing orphaned files, to replicating
content. In general, a job is scheduled
by prescribing the desired day, time and frequency (daily, weekly, monthly,
etc.) you would like it to run using the Documentum Administrator (DA)
client. A special part of the Content
Server, the agent_exec process, continually checks the Docbase for
jobs that are ready to run (i.e., they are active and their scheduled execution
time has arrived).
Implementation
Jobs on the Content Server are implemented as two
objects: the job (dm_job)
and the job method (dm_method). The
job object holds the scheduling information and job method arguments. The method object holds reference to the
actual code that implements the functionality of the job.
Arguments
When the agent_exec process launches a job, it passes four
standard arguments to the job’s method:
|
Standard Argument
|
Description
|
|
docbase_name
|
Name of
the Docbase
|
|
user_name
|
Name of
the user executing the job (usually the Docbase owner)
|
|
job_id
|
ID of the
job object
|
|
method_trace_level
|
Trace
level (default is 0, no trace)
|
In addition, the method can access additional arguments
defined in the job object’s method_arguments attribute. When the method runs, it uses the job_id
to retrieve these arguments from the job object. Two common arguments passed using this
technique are:
|
Method Argument
|
Description
|
|
queueperson
|
The user
name who should receive email and notifications from the job. If the argument is blank, the job uses the
user name defined in the operator_name attribute of the server config object (usually the
Docbase owner).
|
|
Method Argument
|
Description
|
|
window_interval
|
Defines (in minutes) a
window on either side of a job’s scheduled execution time in which it can
run. If the Content Server is down
during the scheduled execution time of a job, the agent_exec
will try
to run the job when the Content Server restarts. If the
current
time is within the window defined by window_interval, the job
will run. If it is not, it will be
rescheduled to run at the scheduled time on the following day/week/month.
This
variable can be frustrating and confusing because if you manually try to run
a job outside of its window_interval, the server will not let it
run. Because we are discussing a
development environment, and running these jobs is more important than
performance, I recommend setting this value to 1440 (24 hours).
This value
guarantees the job will run.
|
Execution
There are three easy ways to manually run jobs:
1. Documentum Administrator
(DA)
•
Click Job
Management | Jobs.
• Select a job to run by clicking its selection check box.
• Choose Tools | Run from the menu.
2. API Editor
• apply,c,NULL,DO_METHOD,METHOD,S,<job name>, ARGUMENTS,S,'<list of arguments>'
3. DQL Editor
• EXECUTE
do_method WITH method = '<method
name>', arguments = '<list of
arguments>'
Tools and Tips
Finally, here are a few DQL statements and other things you
can use to status and manipulate jobs:
• To change the trace level of a job, use DQL:
o
update dm_job object set
method_trace_level = <trace level>
where object_name = '<job name>'
• To determine which jobs are currently running, use this DQL:
o
select object_name, r_object_id,
a_last_invocation from dm_job where a_special_app = 'agentexec'
o
First, determine the job’s
process id (PID) with DQL:
ƒ select
object_name, r_object_id, a_last_invocation, a_last_completion,
a_last_process_id, a_current_status from dm_job where a_special_app =
'agentexec' order by a_last_process_id
o
Then, terminate the job’s
PID in the Window’s Task Manager.
o
After you terminate the
job, you will need to manually reset the status attribute of the dm_job
object. Use DQL like this:
ƒ update
dm_job object set a_special_app = '', set a_current_status = 'ABORTED', set
a_last_completion = DATE(TODAY) where object_name = '<job name>'
• If you find that the DMClean and DMFilescan jobs are running
very slowly, one remedy to try is deleting outdated registry keys (This can
also speed up UCF downloads if you are experiencing delays with data
transfers). The keys to delete are:
o
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Documentum\Common\LocalFiles o HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Documentum\Common\ViewFiles o HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Documentum\Common\WorkingFiles
Documentum will automatically recreate these keys when it
needs them.
The Seven Jobs
The following sections introduce the seven jobs of
interest. Of the seven, four (DMClean,
DMFilescan, Log Purge and QueueMgmt) delete obsolete objects from the Docbase
and clean up. One runs a battery of
integrity checks to ensure your Docbase is referentially healthy (Consistency
Checker). Another (Update Stats) updates
the statistics associated with each database table and repairs fragmented
tables. The last job, State of the
Docbase, produces a snapshot report that highlights the configuration and
content of the Docbase.
1. DMClean
The first job, DMClean (dm_DMClean), is the workhorse of
the housekeeping jobs. It looks for and
deletes orphaned content objects (dm_sysobject), ACLs (dm_acl),
annotations (dm_note) and SendToDistributionList workflow
templates. Orphaned objects are objects
not referenced by or do not hold reference to any other objects in the Docbase
and are just cluttering things up.
By default, the DMClean job is Inactive and
therefore never runs. In a development
environment that is subject to a high degree of volatility, it is critical to
run this job to keep the Docbase clean and uncluttered. Therefore, I recommend enabling this job and
running it on a weekly basis. In
addition to cleaning up the Docbase, running this job will preserve disk space,
which can be at a premium in a development or virtualized environment.
When the DMClean job runs, it generates an API script in %DOCUMENTUM%/dba/log/
<docbase ID>/sysadmin named <job
object ID>.bat and then executes the script
to delete the objects.
The deletion of content objects from the Docbase also removes their
associated content files on the files system.
The job can be configured to generate the script but not run it if you
prefer.
|
Job Name:
|
dm_DMClean
|
|
Recommended
Schedule:
|
Weekly
|
|
Method
Name:
|
dm_DMClean
|
|
Method
Body:
|
%DM_HOME%/install/admin/mthd1.ebs
|
|
Method Entry Point
DA Method Arguments:
|
DMClean
|
|
Argument
|
Recommended
Value
|
Remarks
|
|
queueperson
|
|
The
person to receive notification when the job runs
|
|
clean_content
|
TRUE
|
Include
content objects.
|
|
clean_note
|
TRUE
|
Include
note objects
|
|
clean_acl
|
TRUE
|
Include
ACLs.
|
|
clean_wf_template
|
TRUE
|
Include
SendToDistributionList workflow templates.
|
|
clean_now
|
TRUE
|
TRUE
executes the generated API script, FALSE does not.
|
|
clean_castore
|
FALSE
|
Clean
orphaned objects from Content Addressed (CA) storage.
|
|
window_interval
|
1440
|
The
window on either side of the scheduled time that the job can run.
|
|
clean_aborted_wf
|
TRUE
|
Include
aborted workflow templates.
|
Method
DMClean’s method (dm_DMClean) code is located in %DM_HOME%/install/
admin/mthd1.ebs. Yes, this is a
Docbasic file. This code will probably
be ported to a Java class in the near future, but until then, browse through
it. You will discover that DMClean and
DMFilescan actually call the same method code.
Upon further inspection, you will discover that each of these methods
call a built-in utility via the APPLY
API command. The utility called by
DMClean is %DM_HOME%/bin/dmclean.exe.
Execution
You can manually execute the DMClean job using the API or
DQL like this:
|
API
|
apply,c,NULL,DO_METHOD,METHOD,S,dmclean,
ARGUMENTS,S,
'-clean_aborted_wf
-clean_now'
|
|
DQL
|
EXECUTE
do_method WITH method = 'dmclean', arguments =
'-clean_aborted_wf
-clean_now'
|
Note that jobs are still constrained by the window_interval
argument set on the dm_job object when run manually.
Outputs
In addition to the API script, the DMClean job generates a
report of its activity and saves it to /System/Sysadmin/Reports/DMClean
in the Docbase. The report is not
versioned.
2. DMFilescan
The DMFilescan job (dm_DMFilescan) scans the file
stores looking for content files that have no associated objects in the Docbase
(i.e., the files have been orphaned). It
sort of takes the opposite approach from DMClean to achieve a similar
result. Like DMClean, when the
DMFilescan job runs, it generates a script in %DOCUMENTUM%/dba/log/<docbase
ID>/sysadmin named <job object ID> and
executes the script to delete the files.
The job can be configured to generate the script but not run it if you
prefer.
By default, the DMFilescan job is Inactive and
therefore never runs. In a development
environment that is subject to a high degree of volatility, it is important to
run this job to keep the file system clean and reclaim space. If the DMClean job runs regularly, this job
does not need to run very often, since DMClean should keep orphaned files under
control. That being so, this is a
development environment subject to frequent abuse and uncertainty; I therefore
recommend enabling this job and running it once a month.
Job
Name: dm_DMFilescan
Recommended Schedule: Monthly
Method Name: dm_DMFilescan
Method
Body: %DM_HOME%/install/admin/mthd1.ebs
Method Entry Point Filescan
DA Method Arguments:
|
Argument
|
Recommended
Value
|
Purpose
|
|
queueperson
|
|
The
person to receive notification when the job runs
|
|
s
|
|
Storage
area to scan (no value indicates scan all).
|
|
from
|
|
Subdirectory
from which to start scan.
|
|
to
|
|
Subdirectory
in which to end scan.
|
|
scan_now
|
TRUE
|
TRUE
executes the generated script, FALSE does not.
|
|
Argument
|
Recommended
Value
|
Purpose
|
|
force_delete
|
TRUE
|
Delete
orphaned files younger than 24 hours old.
|
|
window_interval
|
1440
|
The
window on either side of the scheduled time that the job can run.
|
Method
DMFilescan’s method (dm_DMFilescan) code is located in
%DM_HOME%/install/
admin/mthd1.ebs. This is the same
file that contains the DMClean method code.
In fact, you will discover that DMClean and DMFilescan call the same
method code. Upon further inspection,
you will discover that each of these methods call a built-in utility via the APPLY API command. The utility called by DMFilescan is %DM_HOME%/
bin/dmfilescan.exe.
Execution
You can manually execute the DMFilescan job using the API
or DQL like this:
|
API
|
apply,c,NULL,DO_METHOD,METHOD,S,dmfilescan,
ARGUMENTS,S,
'-scan_now
-force_delete'
|
|
DQL
|
EXECUTE
do_method WITH method = 'dmfilescan', arguments =
'-scan_now
-force_delete'
|
Note that jobs are still constrained by the window_interval
argument set on the dm_job object when run manually.
Outputs
In addition to the API script, the DMFilescan job generates
a report of its activity and saves it to /System/Sysadmin/Reports/DMFilescan
in the Docbase. The report is versioned.
3. Log Purge
The Log Purge job (dm_LogPurge) deletes system
generated log files on the file system and in the Docbase that are older than a
user specified age. Specifically, the
following eight types of log files are deleted:
|
Log File
|
Remark
|
|
Server log files
|
Log files
maintained by the Content Server on the file system
(%DOCUMENTUM%/dba/log).
|
|
Connection broker log files
|
Log files maintained by the Connection Broker on the
file system (%DOCUMENTUM%/dba/log).
|
|
Agent Exec log files
|
Logs the activity of the
process responsible for executing jobs on the Content Server (%DOCUMENTUM%/dba/log/
<Docbase ID>/agentexec).
|
|
Session log files
|
Log files
that record the start and end of every session
(%DOCUMENTUM%/dba/log/<Docbase
ID>/<user name>).
|
|
Log File
|
Remark
|
|
Result log files
|
Log files generated by
methods when their SAVE_RESULT parameter is set to TRUE. These files are saved in the Docbase at /Temp/Result.<method
name>.
|
|
Job log files
|
Log files
generated by jobs. They are saved in
the Docbase at
/Temp/Jobs/<job
name>.
|
|
Job reports
|
Reports
generated by jobs run by the Content Server.
These reports are saved in the Docbase at /System/Sysadmin/
Reports.
|
|
Lifecycle log files
|
Log files generated by
lifecycle operations (e.g., promote, demote).
These files are stored on the file system at
%DOCUMENTUM%/dba/log/<Docbase ID>/bp and
named bp_*.log,
depending upon the operation.
|
By default, the Log Purge job is Inactive and
therefore never runs. In a development
environment, log files can quickly chew up disk space, especially if you run
heavily instrumented code or traces for debugging. I recommend you run this job at least monthly
to recover disk space.
|
Job Name:
|
dm_LogPurge
|
|
Recommended
Schedule:
|
Monthly
|
|
Method
Name:
|
dm_LogPurge
|
|
Method
Body:
|
%DM_HOME%/install/admin/mthd2.ebs
|
|
Method Entry Point
DA Method Arguments:
|
LogPurge
|
|
Argument
|
Recommended
Value
|
Purpose
|
|
queueperson
|
|
The
person to receive notification when the job runs
|
|
cutoff_days
|
30
|
Log age
(delete logs older than this value).
|
|
window_interval
|
1440
|
The
window on either side of the scheduled time that the job can run.
|
Method
Log Purge’s method (dm_LogPurge) code is located in %DM_HOME%/install/
admin/mthd2.ebs. This method is
also written in Docbasic. Unlike the
previous two methods, this method does not create an API file to do its
deleting; it does all the work itself in real time. This method is largely undocumented and not
terribly interesting, but it is worth browsing to get a feel for how limiting
Docbasic can be.
Execution
You can manually execute the Log Purge job using the API or
DQL like this:
|
API
|
apply,c,NULL,DO_METHOD,METHOD,S,dm_LogPurge,ARGUMENTS,S,
'-cutoff_days
30'
|
|
DQL
|
EXECUTE
do_method WITH method = 'dm_LogPurge', arguments = '-cutoff_days 30'
|
|
|
|
Note that jobs are still constrained by the window_interval
argument set on the dm_job object when run manually.
Outputs
The Log Purge job generates a report of its activity and
saves it to /System/Sysadmin/ Reports/LogPurge in the Docbase. The report is versioned.
4. Consistency Checker
The Consistency Checker job (dm_ConsistencyChecker) runs a
battery of 77 separate checks on the repository looking for inconsistencies,
corruptions and data integrity problems.
The job does not fix the problems it finds, but does report the problems
using a unique number for each type of error it discovers. The job’s report indicates the error number,
provides a brief description of each problem, and indicates its severity (Error
or Warning).
The specific areas checked and the number of tests run are:
|
Consistency Checks
|
Number of Tests
|
|
Users and Groups
|
9
|
|
ACLs
|
14
|
|
SysObject
|
8
|
|
Folder and Cabinet
|
9
|
|
Document
|
3
|
|
Content Object
|
3
|
|
Workflow
|
7
|
|
Object Type
|
4
|
|
Data Dictionary
|
7
|
|
Lifecycle
|
6
|
|
Full Text Index
|
2
|
|
Object Type Index
|
4
|
|
Method Object Consistency
|
1
|
The Consistency Checker job is configured, out-of-the-box,
to run automatically every night at
9:40pm. This is a
good thing, provided your Content Server is up and running every night at
9:40pm. If your development environment
is virtualized on your local workstation or laptop, and your turn your computer
off at night, the Consistency Checker may never get a chance to run. Therefore, adjust the execution time
accordingly.
|
Job Name:
|
dm_ConsistencyChecker
|
|
Recommended
Schedule:
|
Daily
|
|
Method
Name:
|
dm_ConsistencyChecker
|
|
Method
Body:
|
%DM_HOME%/install/admin/
consistency_checker.ebs
|
|
Method Entry Point
|
ConsistencyChecker
|
|
DA Method Arguments:
|
None
|
Method
The Consistency Checker’s method (dm_ConsistencyChecker)
code is located in %DM_HOME%/install/admin/consistency_checker.ebs. Yes, this is a Docbasic
file also. I suspect
this code will be ported to a Java class in the near future, but until then,
browse through it. The file contains
detailed instructions for adding your own tests to the battery of tests, as
well as instructions for running the script manually. I also suggest browsing through the code; it
holds a good collection of interesting and useful DQL statements.
Execution
You can manually execute the Consistency Checker job using
the API or DQL like this:
|
API
|
apply,c,NULL,DO_METHOD,METHOD,S,dm_ConsistencyChecker
|
|
DQL
|
EXECUTE
do_method WITH method = 'dm_ConsistencyChecker'
|
Note that jobs are still constrained by the window_interval
argument set on the dm_job object when run manually.
The Consistency Checker method can also be run manually and
independent of the job. The syntax is:
|
Cmd
|
dmbasic
-f%DM_HOME%/install/admin/ consistency_checker.ebs
-e
Entry_Point -- <repository name> <superuser ID>
<superuser
password>
|
The output is written to standard out (stdout)
when the method is run from the command line.
Outputs
The Consistency Checker job outputs a report to /System/Sysadmin/Reports/
ConsistencyChecker in the Docbase. If the job runs successfully, meaning there
are no Errors (sever inconsistencies), the report is overwritten. If the job finds Errors (sever
inconsistencies) the report is versioned.
5. Update Statistics
The Update Statistics job (dm_UpdateStats) scans all the
database tables used by the repository and updates the statistics for each
table. It will also reorganize tables to
optimize performance if it determines that they are fragmented. If you are running Documentum on Oracle or
Sybase, the Update Statistics job uses an external file to tweak the query
optimizer.
The file is %DOCUMENTUM%/dba/config/<docbase
name>/custom_<database
name>_stat.sql.
You can add additional commands to this file if you know what you are
doing, if you don’t know what you are doing, you can negatively affect query
performance.
The Update Statistics job is configured, out-of-the-box, to
run automatically once a week at 8:30pm.
This is a good thing, provided your Content Server is up and running
when the job is scheduled to run. If
your development environment is virtualized on your local workstation or
laptop, and your turn your computer off at night, the Update Statistics may
never get a chance to run. Note that
this job is CPU and disk-intensive; adjust the execution time accordingly.
Though the job is configured to run out-of-the-box, it is
configured in READ mode, meaning the
job generates a report, but the statistics are not actually
updated and the tables are not reorganized.
To take full benefit of this job, it should be run in FIX mode.
Job
Name: dm_UpdateStats
Recommended Schedule: Weekly
Method Name: dm_UpdateStats
Method
Body: %DM_HOME%/install/admin/mthd4.ebs
Method Entry Point UpdateStats
DA Method Arguments:
|
Argument
|
Recommended
Value
|
Purpose
|
|
queueperson
|
|
The
person to receive notification when the job runs
|
|
server_name
|
|
The name
of the database server. The
documentation says this is a required parameter for SQL Server and Sybase
installations. However, reviewing the
code does not obviously reveal where this parameter is ever used.
|
|
dbreindex
|
FIX
|
Setting
this parameter to FIX will cause the job method to update statistics and
reorganize fragmented tables. Setting
it to READ will only produce a report.
|
|
window_interval
|
1440
|
The
window on either side of the scheduled time that the job can run.
|
Method
The Update Statistics’ method (dm_UpdateStatistics)
code is located in %DM_HOME%/ install/admin/mthd4.ebs. This method is a really interesting method
that contains some pretty cool SQL statements.
It is sufficiently documented, so I encourage you to browse through it
to understand how the statistics are updated.
Execution
You can manually execute the Update Statistics job using
the API or DQL like this:
|
API
|
apply,c,NULL,DO_METHOD,METHOD,S,dm_UpdateStats,ARGUMENTS,
S, '-dbreindex FIX'
|
|
DQL
|
EXECUTE
do_method WITH method = 'dm_UpdateStats', arguments = '-dbreindex FIX'
|
Note that jobs are still constrained by the window_interval
argument set on the dm_job object when run manually.
Outputs
The Update Statistics job generates a report of its
activity and saves it to
/System/Sysadmin/Reports/UpdateStats in the Docbase. The report is versioned.
6. Queue Management
The Queue Management job (dm_QueueMgt) deletes dequeued
Inbox items
(dmi_queue_item).
Tasks in a user’s Inbox are marked for deletion and dequeued whenever
they are forwarded, completed or deleted from the Inbox. However, the underlying objects in the
Docbase are not really deleted. In a
development environment--that may include the testing of workflows and other
activities that generate Inbox items--the build up of undeleted objects can
impact performance.
The Queue Management job deletes queue items based upon age
of the objects and a custom
DQL predicate passed to it.
The job automatically creates a base predicate of delete_flag
= TRUE AND dequeued_date = value(<cutoff_days>).
Any custom predicate provide is ANDed to the base predicate.
By default, the Queue Management job is Inactive
and therefore never runs. I recommend
you run this job at least weekly (perhaps daily depending upon your application
and use of queue objects). Running this
job will help keep your Inbox performing well.
|
Job Name:
|
dm_QueueMgt
|
|
Recommended
Schedule:
|
Weekly
|
|
Method
Name:
|
dm_QueueMgt
|
|
Method
Body:
|
%DM_HOME%/install/admin/mthd2.ebs
|
|
Method Entry Point
DA Method Arguments:
|
QueueMgt
|
|
Argument
|
Recommended
Value
|
Purpose
|
|
queueperson
|
|
The
person to receive notification when the job runs
|
|
cutoff_days
|
30
|
Queue
item age—delete objects older than this value.
|
|
custom_predicate
|
|
Additional
qualifiers ANDed to the base predicate.
|
|
window_interval
|
1440
|
The
window on either side of the scheduled time that the job can run.
|
Method
QueueMgt’s method (dm_QueueMgt) code is located in %DM_HOME%/install/
admin/mthd2.ebs. This method is
also written in Docbasic and largely undocumented. This method is straightforward in its
construction and execution and therefore not particularly interesting as far as
examining the code for tips and tricks.
Execution
You can manually execute the LogPurge job using the API or
DQL like this:
|
API
|
apply,c,NULL,DO_METHOD,METHOD,S,dm_QueueMgt,ARGUMENTS,S,
'-cutoff_days
30'
|
|
DQL
|
EXECUTE
do_method WITH method = 'dm_QueueMgt', arguments =
'-cutoff_days
30'
|
Note that jobs are still constrained by the window_interval
argument set on the dm_job object when run manually.
Outputs
The Queue Management job outputs a report to /System/Sysadmin/Reports/
QueueMgt in the Docbase. The
report is versioned.
7. State of the Docbase
The final job, State of the Docbase (dm_StateOfDocbase),
generates a report covering ten essential areas of a Docbase’s configuration
and state. This report comes in very
handy when troubleshooting problems, preparing for migrations or if you just
want to review the status of the Docbase.
The ten areas covered by this report are:
1. Docbase configuration (from the docbase config object)
2. Server configuration (from the server.ini file)
3. OS, RDBMS, and environment info
4. Registered tables
5. Types
6. Formats
7. Storage info
8. Rendition info
9. Users and groups
10. ACLs
The State of the Docbase job is configured, out-of-the-box,
to run automatically every night at 8:45pm.
This is a good thing, provided your Documentum Content Server is up and
running every night at 8:45pm. If your
development environment is virtualized on your local workstation or laptop, and
your turn your computer off at night, the State of the Docbase may never get a
chance to run. Adjust the execution time
accordingly.
Job
Name: dm_StateOfDocbase
Recommended Schedule: Nightly
Method Name: dm_StateOfDocbase
Method
Body: %DM_HOME%/install/admin/mthd4.ebs
Method Entry Point StateOfDocbase
DA Method Arguments:
|
Argument
|
Recommended
Value
|
Purpose
|
|
window_interval
|
1440
|
The
window on either side of the scheduled time that the job can run.
|
Method
The State of the Docbase’s method (dm_StateOfDocbase)
code is located in
%DM_HOME%\install\admin\mthd4.ebs. This is a Docbasic file that contains a
collection of methods used by the Content Server. Though most of this code is undocumented,
browsing through it can be enlightening.
Execution
You can manually execute the LogPurge job using the API or
DQL like this:
|
API
|
apply,c,NULL,DO_METHOD,METHOD,S,dm_StateOfDocbase
|
|
DQL
|
EXECUTE
do_method WITH method = 'dm_StateOfDocbase'
|
Note that jobs are still constrained by the window_interval
argument set on the dm_job object when run manually.
Outputs
The State of the Docbase job outputs a report to /System/Sysadmin/Reports/
StateOfDocbase in the Docbase.
The report is always versioned.
Conclusion
To recap, there are seven important jobs that you, as a
developer, should have configured and running in your development
environment. These jobs work to keep
your Docbase lean and clean, and can alert you to any developing problems
before they get out of control.
Four of these jobs (DMClean, DMFilescan, LogPurge and
QueueMgt) delete obsolete objects from the Docbase and clean up. The Consistency Checker runs a battery of
integrity checks to ensure your Docbase is referentially healthy. The last job, State of the Docbase, produces
a snapshot report that highlights the configuration and content of the Docbase.
I bring these jobs to your attention for two reasons:
• First, I’ve been there. I
have trashed my development environment in the middle of an iteration and had
to rebuild it. This activity can set you
back a day or two and frustrate you to no end.
Often these situations can be avoided by keeping your environment
healthy by running the housekeeping and maintenance jobs discussed here.
• Second, four of these jobs are not configured to run in the
out-of-the-box configuration, so to benefit from their capabilities you must
enable them. Additionally, enabling them
is not enough. You need to configure
their parameters, and most importantly, schedule them to run when your
development environment is up and running.
For more information about these and other jobs, I
encourage you to read the Content Server
Administrator’s Guide and visit the Documentum Developer Forums on the EMC
Developer Network (EDN).
[1] I suppose you can use the
same methodology with the ps and kill commands on a UNIX system, though I have not tested
it.
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