Auto-restart processing in an IMS batch application

1. A method for performing restart processing on a computer system for a batch application, said method comprising:

intercepting a transfer of control to said batch application wherein a batch front-end routine receives control in place of said batch application and performs initialization processing, said initialization processing comprising:

determining a supported language of said batch application, determining the support language further comprising examining a Program Specification Block (PSB) associated with said batch application;

issuing a DLI restart call;

issuing a DLI checkpoint call;

repositioning one or more databases associated with said batch application if said DLI restart call returns a checkpoint ID;

resuming said transfer of control to said batch application, whereby said batch application restarts from said checkpoint ID, if said checkpoint ID was returned by said DLI restart call, in a manner transparent to said batch application;

intercepting a transfer of control to a system DLI routine, wherein a DLI intercept routine receives control in place of said system DLI routine and issues a checkpoint with an associated checkpoint ID; and

freeing resources and working storage obtained during the initialization processing of the batch front-end routine.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein said repositioning of one or more databases utilizes repositioning data from a checkpoint save area returned from said DLI restart call.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein said repositioning data is saved in said checkpoint save area by said DLI intercept routine.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein said batch application is an IMS application selected from the group consisting of a BMP batch application, a DLI batch application and a DBB batch application.

5. The method of claim 1 further comprising bypassing said repositioning of one or more databases based upon testing a restart reposition global indicator.

6. A computer system for performing restart processing for a batch application, said computer system comprising:

a computer;

a batch front-end routine, wherein said batch front-end routine receives control in place of said batch application and performs initialization processing comprising:

determining a supported language of said batch application, determining the support language further comprising examining a Program Specification Block (PSB) associated with said batch application;

issuing a DLI restart call;

issuing a DLI checkpoint call;

repositioning one or more databases associated with said batch application if said DLI restart call returns a checkpoint ID;

resuming said transfer of control to said batch application, whereby said batch application restarts from said checkpoint ID, if said checkpoint ID was returned by said DLI restart call, in a manner transparent to said batch application;

a DLI intercept routine, wherein said DLI intercept routine receives control in place of a system DLI routine and issues a checkpoint with an associated checkpoint ID; and

said batch front-end routine is configured to free resources and working storage obtained during the initialization processing of the batch front-end routine.

7. The computer system of claim 6 wherein said repositioning of one or more databases utilizes repositioning data from a checkpoint save area returned from said DLI restart call.

8. The computer system of claim 7 wherein said repositioning data is saved in said checkpoint save area by said DLI intercept routine.

9. The computer system of claim 6 wherein said batch application is an IMS application selected from the group consisting of a BMP batch application, a DLI batch application and a DBB batch application.

10. The computer system of claim 6 further comprising bypassing said repositioning of one or more databases based upon testing a restart reposition global indicator.

11. An article of manufacture for use in a computer system tangibly embodying computer instructions executable by said computer system to perform a process for restarting a batch application, said process comprising:

intercepting a transfer of control to said batch application wherein a batch front-end routine receives control in place of said batch application and performs initialization processing, said initialization processing comprising:

determining a supported language of said batch application, determining the support language further comprising examining a Program Specification Block (PSB) associated with said batch application;

issuing a DLI restart call;

issuing a DLI checkpoint call;

repositioning one or more databases associated with said batch application if said DLI restart call returns a checkpoint ID;

resuming said transfer of control to said batch application, whereby said batch application restarts from said checkpoint ID, if said checkpoint ID was returned by said DLI restart call, in a manner transparent to said batch application;

intercepting a transfer of control to a system DLI routine, wherein a DLI intercept routine receives control in place of said system DLI routine and issues a checkpoint with an associated checkpoint ID; and

freeing resources and working storage obtained during the initialization processing of said batch front-end routine.

12. The article of manufacture of claim 11 wherein said repositioning of one or more databases utilizes repositioning data from a checkpoint save area returned from said DLI restart call.

13. The article of manufacture of claim 11 wherein said checkpoint ID is associated with a checkpoint issued from a DLI intercept routine.

14. The article of manufacture of claim 12 wherein said repositioning data is saved in said checkpoint save area by said DLI intercept routine.

15. The article of manufacture of claim 11 wherein said batch application is an IMS application selected from the group consisting of a BMP batch application, a DLI batch application and a DBB batch application.

16. The article of manufacture of claim 11 further comprising bypassing said repositioning of one or more databases based upon testing a restart reposition global indicator.