JPH10320360A - Device for job scheduling in distributed processing system and method therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To operate the scheduling of jobs for processing them in a distributed processing system. SOLUTION: An information processing system 122 includes a job scheduler 132 for storing a job to be processed by a distributed processing system in a job queue 130, and operating the scheduling of the jobs in the job queue 130 for processing them by the distributed processing system. The job scheduler 132 can operate the scheduling of the jobs for repeatedly processing them in an arbitrary period by the system, and skip the specific jobs scheduling-processed so as to be processed. Also, the scheduling of the jobs can be attained so that the jobs can be processed by a remote processor in the system.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates generally to distributed processing systems and, more particularly, to systems and methods for job scheduling in distributed processing systems.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A job scheduler is used to schedule jobs to be processed by a CPU of a computer system. The job scheduler provides access to secondary storage, servers and other
It is also used to schedule other resources in the computer system, such as communication links with the system. The job scheduler can also be used to schedule critical positions on assembly lines in a factory, where jobs are tasks required for the assembly being assembled. Thus, the term "job" as used herein should be understood to broadly include any form of work to be performed. The term "job" is used herein to refer to the operating system of a computer.
This is because the term is generally used in the context of the system. But in other environments, the term job is work,
It may refer to procedures, assembly, work instructions, and the like. The term "job" as used in the specification and claims includes all of those terms.

Examples of job schedulers are described in commonly assigned US Pat. Nos. 5,414,845 and 54,845.
No. 42730.

The current job scheduler schedules jobs at an arbitrary cycle, skips jobs scheduled to be processed by the CPU, and schedules jobs to be performed by remote machines in the network. I can't.

In the Windows NT® operating system, jobs can be scheduled from a remote machine, but such scheduling is very limited. For example, such scheduling can only be done by command line input. That is, scheduling using a graphical user interface is not used. In order to schedule a job transmitted from the source machine on the target machine, it is assumed that both the source machine and the target machine use the Windows NT operating system.
You must be using the system. Finally, Wi
The options for the cycle of the windows NT are very limited.

[0006] The current job scheduler includes:
Day of the week cannot be excluded from job schedule, DOS application, Win32 / Win95
(Registered trademark) application, OS / 2 (registered trademark)
Scheduling of various job types such as applications and scheduling with various job types cannot be performed. Current job schedulers are not integrated with network user / group or operating system access controls.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus and a method for scheduling jobs to be processed in a distributed processing system.

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, the present invention includes a plurality of processors, a communication network interconnecting the processors, and a job queue coupled to the network for storing jobs processed by the system. Targets distributed processing systems. The distributed processing system of the present invention further includes a job scheduler coupled to the network for scheduling jobs in the job queue for processing by the system;
The scheduler schedules the jobs to be repeatedly processed by the system at selected intervals.

The present invention also includes a method for scheduling a job for processing in a distributed processing system including a plurality of processors interconnected by a communication network. The method includes the steps of storing a job to be processed by the system in a job queue, scheduling a job in the job queue for processing by the system, and repeatedly processing the job at a selected period by the system. And scheduling.

The present invention comprises providing a local workstation having a first operating system and providing a target workstation having a second operating system.
Interconnecting a local workstation and a target workstation by a communication network, and providing a software program for scheduling jobs, integrating the software program with the first and second operating systems, Enabling the local workstation to schedule jobs for processing on the target workstation.

A first advantage of the present invention is that a job is scheduled to be processed at an arbitrary cycle in a distributed processing system.

Another advantage of the present invention is that it skips jobs scheduled to be processed by the system.

Another advantage of the present invention is a job scheduler for scheduling jobs to be performed on remote machines in a distributed processing system.

Another advantage of the present invention is to provide a job scheduler that integrates two or more different operating systems and allows jobs to be scheduled between workstations having different operating systems. It is.

[0015]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention is implemented in a distributed processing computer environment. This environment consists of several information processing systems linked by a communication network. Each information processing system includes one or more processors.

Referring to FIG. 1, there is illustrated a distributed processing system 100 according to the present invention. Distributed processing system 1
00 is an information processing system 108, 110, 112, 114, 11 connected via the communication network 106.
6, 118, 120, 122, 124, 126, and 128. Network 106 is LAN, WA
Any type of network may be used, including N, ATM, or other networks. Physical network protocols such as Ethernet and Token Ring can be used, including TCP / IP, Netbios,
The network can be controlled by a communication protocol such as Novell Network. Network file system management can be performed by a network operating system, such as a program based on the Sun Microsystems NFS Network Operating System technique or the CMU AFS technique. Other network file systems include Open Group DFS, S
MB (Server Message Block), CIFS (Common Internet File System), or HT
TP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) and the like. Each of these file system programs allows a distributed processor to access and manage data residing on a remote system. These systems create one logical file system for each processor, regardless of the physical location of the individual files.

Referring now to FIG. 2, an information processing system according to the present invention having one or more central processing units 10, such as a conventional microprocessor, and several other devices interconnected by a system bus 12. 10
8 (see FIG. 1) shows a typical hardware configuration;
A representative hardware environment is illustrated. The system 108 shown in FIG. 2 includes a random access memory (R
AM) 14, a read-only memory (ROM) 16, an I / O adapter 18 for connecting peripheral devices such as a disk drive 20 and a tape drive 40 to the bus 12, a keyboard 24, a right mouse button 17 and a left Mouse button 1
9, a user interface adapter 22 for connecting other interface devices such as a mouse 26, a speaker 28, a microphone 32 or a touch screen device (not shown) to the bus 12, and a system 108.
A communication adapter 34 for connecting the
And a display adapter 36 that connects the bus 12 to a monitor or display device 38. Information processing system 11
0, 112, 114, 116, 118, 120, 12
Note that 2, 124, 126, and 128 also have the same hardware configuration as the information processing system 108 described above.

Referring now to FIG. 3, a block diagram illustrating the present invention is shown. The reference numbers in FIG. 3 are the same as the reference numbers used in FIGS. 1 and 2 and indicate the same components. FIG. 3 shows a part of the distributed processor system 100 shown in FIG.
06, an information processing system 110 interconnected via
116, and 122. In this embodiment, information processing system 122 includes a job queue that stores jobs processed by distributed processing system 100. .
Job queue 130 is coupled to network 106 via information processing system 122. Information processing system 122 also includes a job scheduler 132 that schedules jobs in job queue 130 for processing by distributed processing system 100. The job scheduler 132 schedules the jobs to be processed repetitively by the distributed processing system 100 at selected intervals as described in detail with respect to FIGS. As also described below in connection with FIGS. 4 and 5, the job scheduler 132
Jobs scheduled to be processed by 00 can be skipped. Using the job scheduler 132, the information processing system 122 or other information processing systems 108, 110, 112, 114, 1
16, 118, 120, 124, 126, or 128
Can be scheduled to be processed by either of It should be understood that the present invention can incorporate one or more job schedulers and one or more job queues. It should also be understood that the present invention can incorporate a job scheduler and a job queue into each information processing system or any combination of information processing systems.
In this way, a job in the remote information processing system can be scheduled using the job scheduler in the information processing system. For example,
Job scheduler 13 in information processing system 122
2 can be used to schedule jobs in job queue 130 to be processed by information handling system 100. Job scheduler 1
32 is an information processing system 108, 110, 112, 1
It is preferably implemented by a software program stored in memory within 14, 116, 118, 120, 124, 126 or 128. According to the present invention, the information processing systems 108, 110, 112, 1
Preferably, 14, 116, 118, 120, 124, 126 or 128 have different or heterogeneous operating systems. The present invention allows the job scheduler 132 to be integrated with various operating systems and network operating systems, thereby scheduling any jobs originating in one information processing system in another information processing system. , Can be processed.

Referring now to FIGS. 4 and 5, a display screen and a graphical user interface embodying the present invention are shown on a monitor 38. In this manner, a graphical user interface including the monitor 38 can be used to display information about jobs stored in the job queue 130 and can be displayed using a user interface device such as the mouse 26. The information displayed on the monitor 38 can be controlled, and thereby the job queue 1
30 and the job scheduler 132 to control job scheduling.

In the following description of the functions of the graphical user interface according to the present invention and the monitor display in the graphical user interface, the term “workstation” refers to the information processing system 108, 1.
10, 112, 114, 116, 118, 120, 12
2, 124, 126, and 128. The term "local workstation" has a first operating system, a job queue and a job queue.
Refers to an information processing system including a scheduler. The term "target workstation"
Refers to an information processing system having a second operating system that processes jobs assigned by a workstation. All icons are displayed on the monitor 38 and pointed to by the mouse 26. As is well known in the art, pressing the left mouse button 19 twice (ie, "double-clicking") "opens" the icon, displays another view window, or presses the right mouse button 17 Can be used to display a context menu or implement a drag-drop scheduler on an object.

First, the mouse 26 and the left mouse button 19
Double-click the NetSched folder icon using to open two icons, a "Local Workstation" icon and a "Domain Folder" icon. Double-clicking the "Local Workstation" icon opens an icon view containing a "Scheduled Job" icon and a "Job Template" icon. This may be a filtered view, and the title bar of the view indicates when this view was filtered. The filtering criteria can be based on the user, the integrated access control of the person viewing the data, or the job type. Double-clicking the "Scheduled Job" icon opens the "Job Settings" notebook, as shown in FIG. 4, with all input fields containing the current value of the scheduled job. Launching the "Job Template" icon by other means, such as double-clicking, "dragging" or right mouse button 17 "Context Menu" launches the "Job Template Settings" notebook, which allows you to change the default All of the input fields have standard default values entered and displayed. Input fields without default values remain empty (also shown in FIG. 4).

Selecting the local workstation icon settings option from the right mouse button pop-up menu or context menu opens the "Workstation Settings" notebook, shown in FIG. 5, which displays the current view of the local workstation.・ The filter setting value is displayed.

Double-clicking the "Domain Folders" icon opens an icon view containing folders for each available target domain. domain·
Double-clicking on a folder opens an icon view with icons of target workstations available in the selected target domain. Double-click the target workstation icon to open an icon containing the "Scheduled Job" and "Job Template" icons.
The view opens. This may be a filtered view in some cases, and the title bar of the view indicates when this view was filtered. Double-clicking on the "Scheduled Job" icon will open the "Job Settings" notebook, showing all the input fields with the current values of the selected job. Here, the executable object or tab can be inherited from the local operating system. For example, a tab on the "DOS Settings" or "Association" job object can be used because it inherits fields from the Workplace Shell object. Double-clicking a job template opens the "Job Template Settings" notebook, where all input fields (with default values) are populated with standard default values. Input fields that do not take default values are empty. Selecting the Target Workstation Icon Settings option from the right mouse button pop-up menu opens the Workstation Settings notebook, showing all current view filter settings for the selected target workstation .

The user can also schedule an executable from the right mouse button pop-up menu from the desktop (or via the system drive icon).

Hereinafter, the fields displayed in FIG. 4 will be described.

Job Name Field 200 The job name field contains the name of a job selected as an existing scheduled job. This field is blank for a new job on the "Job Template Settings" notebook.

Job ID field (read only 1) 2
02 This field contains the job ID of an existing scheduled job. This field is blank for a new job on the Job Template Settings notebook. This field cannot be updated by the user.

Command Field 204 The command field contains the command text (...) Of the job selected as the existing scheduled job.
exe file and parameters). This field is blank for a new job on the Job Template Settings notebook.

Read-Only 2 206 This field contains the “Machine with Start Date June 1, 1996” for existing scheduled jobs.
X was last requested by USERID in X ". This field is left blank for a new job on the Job Template Settings notebook. This field cannot be changed by the user.

"Job Execution Frequency" Section 208 For an existing scheduled job, if the selected job is a recursive job, selecting the "Interval" button 210 will cause the current field of the selected job to appear in the entry field of this section. Can be put in. If the selected job is a non-recursive job (executed only once), selecting the “execute job once” button 212 will cause the “Interval” input field in this section to be grayed out (unavailable)
And the default value of the new job is displayed.

"Job Template Settings" For a new job on a notebook, the default setting in this section is to select the "Interval" button.

The "interval" button 210 and the "execute job only" button 212 are mutually exclusive. When the "execution of job only once" button 212 is selected, the "interval"
Input fields are disabled. "Interval" button 21
When 0 is selected, it is necessary to input in the spin 1 field and the drop 1 field. "Interval" button 210
When drop is selected, drop 2 becomes available and drop 2 becomes a mandatory input.

A. Spin 1 214 This spin button allows the user to select a range from 1 to 999. For a new job on the "Job Template Settings" notebook, the default value for this item is 7.

B. Drop 1 216 Using this drop down control, the following list will drop down: -Minutes -hours -days of the week -months For new jobs on the Job Template Settings notebook, the default value for this item is the day of the week.

C. Drop 2 218 Drop 2 is disabled unless spin 1 specifies 7 and drop 1 specifies the day of the week or drop 1 specifies the month. When 7 is specified in Spin 1 and the day of the week is specified in Drop 1, the following list is displayed in a drop-down manner by the drop-down control of Drop 2. -Monday -Tuesday -Wednesday -Thursday -Friday -Saturday -Sunday For new jobs on the "Job Template Settings" notebook, the default value for this item is the current day. If the month is specified in drop 1, the following list is displayed in drop down by the drop down control of drop 2. -Start date specified below-From 3rd to end of month-From 2nd to end of month-End of month For new jobs on the "Job Template Settings" notebook, the default value of this item is "Start date specified below" It is.

Using fields 214, 216, 218, any job can be scheduled to run at non-standard intervals, such as every 36 hours 15 minutes or every 34 days.

"Job Start Time" section 220 For an existing scheduled job, if the start date of the selected job is earlier than the current date, selecting the "immediate" button 220 disables the input fields for the following buttons: (The input field contains the current date). If the start date of the selected job is later than the current date, selecting the button 224 in front of the input field will enable the input field and will input the start date data for the selected job.

"Job Template Settings" For a new job on a notebook, the default setting in this section is to select the "immediate" button 222.

The "immediate" button 222 and the (below) start date button 224 are mutually exclusive, and if the "immediate" button is selected, the start date input field is disabled.
If the "immediately" button 222 is not selected, input to the start date input field is required.

A. Year Field (Spin 2) 226 This spin button allows the user to spin in the range from 1970 to a logical maximum. For new jobs on the Job Template Settings notebook, the default value for this item is the current year.

B. Month Field (Spin 3) 228 This spin button allows the user to spin the range from January to December. For new jobs on the Job Template Settings notebook, the default value for this item is the current month.

C. Day Field (Spin 4) 230 This spin button allows the user to spin a range from 1 to 31. For new jobs on the Job Template Settings notebook, the default value for this item is the current day of the month.

If the user specifies in the "Job Execution Frequency" section 208 that the job is to be recursively executed weekly (every 7 days) on a particular day of the week (Monday to Sunday),
The values originally specified for the year, month, and day input fields are automatically adjusted (if necessary) to be the date of the next occurrence of the specified day of the week, after the specified start date. The specified day of the week for a recursively executed job takes precedence over the specified start date.

D. Time Field (Drop 3) 232 This drop down control will drop down the following list for programming languages that use a 12 hour clock. -Midnight -1 -2. . . -12 For languages that use a 24-hour clock, −0 −1. . . -23 "Job Template Settings" For new jobs on notebooks, the default value for this item is the current time.

E. Minute Field (Spin 5) 234 This spin button allows the user to spin in the range 0-59. For a new job on the "Job Template Settings" notebook, the default value for this item is the current minutes of the hour plus 10 minutes.

F. PM field (ck1) 236 This check box allows the user to specify whether the specified time is morning (unchecked) or afternoon (checked)
Can be specified. The default value for this control is enabled if the current time is in the afternoon and disabled if the current time is in the morning. This control is not displayed in languages that use a 24-hour clock.

"When to Delete Job" Section 23
8 If the selected job is a non-recursive job for an existing scheduled job ("Job execution frequency"
If the "Execute job only once" button 212 in section 208 is selected), this section is disabled. If the selected job is a recursive job and no deletion data is specified, the user selects the “Do not schedule deletion” button 240 (the deletion date input fields become unavailable, but the current month, day, and current year + 1) New job default values are entered). If the selected job is a recursive job and a deletion date is specified,
The "deletion date" button 242 is selected, the corresponding input field becomes available, and the deletion date data of the selected job is entered.

For a new job on the "Job Template Settings" notebook, the default setting in this section is the "Do Not Schedule Delete" button 240
Is the choice.

"Do not schedule deletion" button 24
0 and the “deletion date” button 242 are mutually exclusive,
If the “do not schedule deletion” button 240 is selected, the “deletion date” input field becomes unavailable.
If the “do not schedule deletion” button 240 is not selected, it is necessary to input in the “deletion date” input field. a. Year field 244-Same as the previous year field (spin 2) except that for a new job on the "Job Template Settings" notebook, the default value for this item is the next year (current year + 1). b. Month field 246-Same as the above-mentioned month field (spin 3). c. Day field 248-Same as the day field (Spin 4) described above.

Workstation Setting Notebook The fields displayed in FIG. 5 will be described below. This may be a filtered view, and the title bar of the view indicates when the view was filtered. The filtering criteria is
It can be based on the user, the integrated access control of the person viewing the data, or the job type.

Job Name Field 300 This input field allows the user to display only jobs with the specified name text in the icon view. This input field is blank by default.

Command Field 301 This input field allows the user to display only jobs with the specified command text in the icon view. This input field is blank by default, for example, filtering is DO
S, Win16, Win32, OS / 2 16 bit,
It can be based on a command type such as OS / 2 32-bit.

Execution requester 302 This input field allows the user to display only the job requested to be executed by the specified user ID by icon
Can be displayed in the view. The current logon user ID is pre-filled in this input field,
The text is selected and deleted when the user enters another user ID.

"Execution request source" field 304 This input field allows the user to display only the job requested to be executed from the designated workstation in the icon view. This entry field is pre-filled with the current workstation name, the text of which is selected and deleted when the user enters another workstation name.

"Job Execution Frequency" Section 306 The check box controls in this section are all mutually exclusive.

A. "Execute job multiple times" (ck1) check box control 308 This allows the user to view all jobs that are executed multiple times. This control is unchecked (executes the job only once) by default.

B. "Interval" (ck2) check box control 310 This allows the user to view all jobs that run at the specified frequency. This control is unchecked by default. When this control is checked, the corresponding fields below are required.

I. Drop 1 312 This drop down control is pre-populated with "Clear" as the default setting. The list displayed drop-down is as follows. -Exactly-more-less

Ii. Spin 1 314 This spin button allows the user to spin in the range 1-999. In this control, 7 is pre-input as a default value.

Iii. Drop 2 316 This drop down control is pre-filled with "day of the week" as a default value. The list displayed drop-down is as follows. −minute −hour −day of week −month

C. "Execute the job only once" (ck3)
Check Box Control 318 This allows the user to view all jobs that are executed only once. This control is unchecked by default.

"Job Execution Time" Section 320 a. "Use Filter" (ck7) Check Box Control 322 Checking this control makes all other input fields in this section available and requires input. If you do not check this control, all other input fields in this section will be disabled. The default setting for this control is unchecked.

B. Drop 3 324 This drop down control is pre-filled with "After" as a default value. The list displayed drop-down is as follows. -After-On that day-Before

C. Year Field (Spin 2) 326 This spin button allows the user to spin in the range from 1970 to a logical maximum. The pre-populated default value for this item is the current year.

D. Month Field (Spin 3) 328 This spin button allows the user to spin in the range January to December. The pre-populated default value for this item is the current month.

E. Day Field (Spin 4) 330 This spin button allows the user to spin the range 1-31. The pre-populated default value for this item is the current day of the month.

"Job Execution Time" Section 332 a. Filter Available Field (ck7) Check Box Control 334-a. Is the same as

B. Drop 3 336 This drop down control is pre-filled with "after" as a default value. The list displayed drop-down is as follows. -After-On time-Before

C. Time Field (Drop 5) 338 For programming languages that use a 12 hour clock, this drop down control causes the following list to be displayed in a drop down: -Midnight -1 -2. . . In the case of a language using a 24-hour clock, it is as follows. −0 −1. . . -23 In this input field, the current time is pre-input as a default value.

D. Minute Field (Spin 5) 340 This spin button allows the user to spin in the range 0-59. This input field is pre-filled with the current number of minutes as a default value.

E. PM field (ck4) 342 This check box allows the user to indicate whether the specified time is AM (unchecked) or PM (checked). The default settings for this control are enabled if the current time is afternoon and disabled if the current time is in the morning. This control is not displayed for languages that use a 24-hour clock.

"Job deletion time" section 344 "Job execution frequency"
If the "run only once" (ck3) check box control 318 is checked, this entire section is disabled. The two checkbox controls 346, 348 (ck5 and ck6) are mutually exclusive.

A. No deletion date specified (ck5) check box control 346 When this control is checked, recursive jobs for which no deletion date is specified are displayed. The default setting for this control is unchecked.

B. ck6 348 When this control is checked, a recursive job having the specified deletion date is displayed. When this control is checked, all corresponding input fields are required. The default setting for this control is unchecked.

I. Drop 3 350-b. In "Job Execution Time" section. Is the same as

Ii. Year Field (Spin 2) 352-
C. In the "Job Execution Time" section. Is the same as

Iii. Moon Field (Spin 3) 354
D. In the "Job Execution Time" section. Is the same as

Iv. Sun Field (Spin 4) 356
E. In the "Job Execution Time" section. Is the same as

If the required entry field on either panel shown in FIG. 4 or FIG. 5 is left blank, an error message is displayed to the user, indicating the required fields that need to be entered. The panel remains open and the cursor is placed on a required input field that was accidentally left blank.

In summary, the following items are disclosed regarding the configuration of the present invention.

(1) a plurality of processors, a communication network interconnecting the processors, a job queue coupled to the network for storing jobs to be processed by the system, and a job queue coupled to the network and configured by the system. A job scheduler for scheduling jobs in the job queue for processing, the scheduler including means for scheduling jobs to be recursively processed by the system at selected intervals. . (2) The distributed processing system according to (1), wherein the scheduler includes means for skipping a job scheduled to be processed by the system. (3) The distributed processing system according to (1), wherein the scheduler includes means for scheduling a job to be processed by any one of the processors. (4) The distributed processing system according to (1), further including a monitor coupled to the network and configured to display information on a job stored in the job queue. (5) The distributed processing system according to (4), further including a user interface device coupled to the network and controlling information displayed on the monitor. (6) A method for scheduling a job to be processed in a distributed processing system including a plurality of processors interconnected by a communication network, the method comprising: storing a job to be processed by the system in a job queue; Scheduling the jobs to be processed by the system;
Scheduling a job to be repeatedly processed by the system at a selected period. (7) The method of (6) above, further comprising the step of skipping jobs scheduled to be processed by the system. (8) The method of (6) above, further comprising the step of scheduling the job to be processed by any one of the processors. (9) The method according to (6), further comprising the step of displaying information about the job stored in the job queue. (10) The method according to (9), further comprising the step of controlling the displayed information. (11) A method for scheduling a job,
A local operating system having a first operating system
Providing a workstation, providing a target workstation having a second operating system, interconnecting the local workstation and the target workstation by a communication network, and software for scheduling a job. Providing a program and integrating the software program with the first and second operating systems so that the local workstation can schedule a job to be processed at the target workstation. The steps of: (12) The method according to (11), wherein the first operating system and the second operating system are different. (13) The above (11), wherein the local workstation includes a first processor, the target workstation includes a second processor, and the first processor and the second processor are different. The method described in. (14) providing a network operating system for the network; integrating the software program for scheduling jobs with the network operating system so that the local workstation is the target workstation; Allowing the job to be scheduled for processing at. (15) The method according to (11) above, further comprising defining user information and storing the user information. (16) The method according to (11) above, further comprising providing access control to the software program for scheduling a job.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 illustrates a typical distributed processing system to which the present invention is designed.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an information processing system for implementing the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 illustrates a graphical user interface for implementing the present invention.

FIG. 5 shows another graphical user implementing the present invention.
It is a figure showing an interface.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Central processing unit 12 System bus 100 Distributed processing system 106 Communication network 108 Information processing system 122 Information processing system 130 Job queue 132 Job scheduler

 ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued on the front page (72) John M. Garrison, the inventor, United States 78727 Austin, Texas Secluded Hollow, USA 4420 (72) Michael B. Turner, inventor, United States 77450 Kate Copper Creek Drive, Texas 703

Claims (16)

[Claims] A plurality of processors; a communication network interconnecting the processors; a job queue coupled to the network for storing jobs processed by the system; a job queue coupled to the network and processed by the system. A job scheduler for scheduling jobs in the job queue, wherein the scheduler includes means for scheduling jobs to be recursively processed by the system at selected intervals. 2. The distributed processing system according to claim 1, wherein said scheduler includes means for skipping jobs scheduled to be processed by said system. 3. The distributed processing system according to claim 1, wherein said scheduler includes means for scheduling a job to be processed by any one of said processors. 4. The distributed processing system according to claim 1, further comprising a monitor coupled to said network for displaying information about jobs stored in said job queue. 5. The distributed processing system according to claim 4, further comprising a user interface device coupled to said network for controlling information displayed on said monitor. 6. A method for scheduling jobs to be processed in a distributed processing system including a plurality of processors interconnected by a communication network, the method comprising: storing a job to be processed by the system in a job queue; A method comprising: scheduling a job in a queue to be processed by a system; and scheduling a job to be repeatedly processed by the system at a selected period. 7. The method of claim 6, further comprising the step of skipping jobs scheduled to be processed by the system. 8. The method of claim 6, further comprising the step of scheduling the job to be processed by any one of the processors. 9. The method of claim 6, further comprising the step of displaying information about the job stored in the job queue.
The method described in. 10. The method of claim 9, further comprising controlling the information being displayed. 11. A method for scheduling a job, the method comprising: a local operating system having a first operating system;
Providing a workstation; providing a target workstation having a second operating system; interconnecting the local workstation and the target workstation via a communication network; and software for scheduling a job. Providing a program and integrating the software program with the first and second operating systems so that the local workstation can schedule a job to be processed at the target workstation. The steps of: 12. The method of claim 11, wherein said first operating system and said second operating system are heterogeneous. 13. The local workstation includes a first processor, the target workstation includes a second processor, and the first processor and the second processor are heterogeneous. 11
The method described in. 14. Providing a network operating system for said network and integrating said software program for scheduling jobs with said network operating system so that said local workstation Enabling the job to be scheduled for processing at a workstation. 15. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: defining user information; and storing the user information.
2. The method according to 1. 16. The method of claim 11, further comprising providing access control to the software program for scheduling a job.