KnowledgeBase Archive

An Archive of Early Microsoft KnowledgeBase Articles

View on GitHub

Q101403: PC WSPlus: Running SCHDIST.EXE as Idle Process in Dispatch

Article: Q101403
Product(s): Microsoft Schedule+ for Windows
Version(s): WINDOWS:1.0,1.0a
Operating System(s): 
Keyword(s): 
Last Modified: 17-DEC-1999

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The information in this article applies to:

- Microsoft Schedule+ for Windows, versions 1.0, 1.0a 
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY
=======

Versions 1.0 and 1.0a of Microsoft Schedule+ for Windows use the Schedule
Distribution (Schdist) program (SCHDIST.EXE) to distribute a user's free and
busy times to other postoffices. You can run the Schdist program as an idle
process in the Dispatch program (DISPATCH.EXE).

The Dispatch program carries out directory synchronization (Dir-Sync) requests on
the network. The Dispatch program polls the postoffices to determine when a
Dir-Sync event is scheduled to take place. When Dispatch is running, the
External Mail program (EXTERNAL.EXE) must also be running.

Schdist takes advantage of Dispatch polling the postoffices, and runs as an idle
process. Schdist runs while External is not active.

MORE INFORMATION
================

The following examples show commands and batch files for using SCHDIST.EXE and
EXTERNAL.EXE as idle processes in DISPATCH.EXE for two different scenarios:

1. If you want Dispatch to contain the IdleProcessMinPeriod (-TL) and
  IdleProcessMaxPeriod (-TU) parameters, use the following command line

        DISPATCH -Dmp -I"file.bat" -TL30 -TU60 -Lc:\logs\mail.log

  where -Dxx specifies the direct drives, -I specifies the idle program, and -L
  specifies the log file path and filename. To have Schdist running as an idle
  process, include SCHDIST.EXE in a batch file. For example:

  DISPATCH -Dmp -I"file.bat" -TL30 -TU60 -Lc:\logs\mail.log

  The FILE.BAT batch file would look like the following:

        <path>SCHDIST.EXE -Dxx -I1 -Lc:\logs\schdist.txt
        <path>EXTERNAL.EXE -Dxx -A -Lc:\logs\external.txt %1

  NOTE: Refer to Q101752 "PC Ext: Dispatch Cannot Spawn Batch File
  Without COMMAND.COM" for information if you are having problems running this
  batch file against Microsoft Mail for PC Networks postoffices with MS-DOS
  5.0.

  NOTE: In this setup, the -TU time in the Dispatch command line is passed to
  the External command line. This parameter essentially becomes the -BR (break
  relative) time that exits out of External and passes control back to
  Dispatch.

2. If you want the batch file to control the time for exiting out of the idle
  process, use the following command line:

        DISPATCH -Dxx -I"<batchfile>.bat" -L<path\filename>

  For example:

  DISPATCH -Dmn -I"file.bat" -Lc:\logs\mail.log

  The FILE.BAT batch file would look like the following:

        <path>SCHDIST.EXE -Dxx -I1 -Lc:\logs\schdist.txt
        <path>EXTERNAL.EXE -Dxx -A -Lc:\logs\external.txt -BRdd:hh:

  Notes

  In this setup, the -BR (break relative) time determines when External exits
  and passes control back to Dispatch.

  You must remove the -A parameter in the External command line if you are using
  a modem. You should only use <path> placeholder if the SCHDIST.EXE and
  EXTERNAL.EXE files are not in the current directory. It is best if you copy
  the following files to a directory on the dedicated machine that will run
  this process (MS-DOS only):

     DISPATCH.EXE     NSDA.EXE           REQMAIN.EXE
     SRVMAIN.EXE      REBUILD.EXE        IMPORT.EXE
     EXTERNAL.EXE     ASYNC.OVL          EXTERNAL.HLP
     EXTERNAL.ERR     X25EICON.OVL       X25ATLAN.OVL
     SCHDIST.EXE

REFERENCES
==========

For more information on SCHDIST.EXE, see pages 12-15 of the Microsoft Schedule+
for Windows "Administrator's Guide."

For more information on DISPATCH.EXE, see pages 14-16 of the Microsoft Schedule+
for Windows "Administrator's Guide," and pages 287-307 of the Microsoft Mail
version 3.2 "Administrator's Guide" or pages 257-265 of the Microsoft Mail
version 3.0 or 3.0b "Administrator's Guide."

For more information on EXTERNAL.EXE, see pages 13-17 of the Microsoft Schedule+
for Windows "Administrator's Guide," and pages 227-285 of the Microsoft Mail
version 3.2 "Administrator's Guide" or pages 199-245 of the Microsoft Mail
version 3.0 or 3.0b "Administrator's Guide."

Additional query words: schedule plus 1.00 sched scheduler

======================================================================
Keywords          :  
Technology        : kbScheduleSearch kbSchedule100 kbSchedule100a
Version           : WINDOWS:1.0,1.0a

=============================================================================

THE INFORMATION PROVIDED IN THE MICROSOFT KNOWLEDGE BASE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND. MICROSOFT DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. IN NO EVENT SHALL MICROSOFT CORPORATION OR ITS SUPPLIERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER INCLUDING DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, LOSS OF BUSINESS PROFITS OR SPECIAL DAMAGES, EVEN IF MICROSOFT CORPORATION OR ITS SUPPLIERS HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. SOME STATES DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF LIABILITY FOR CONSEQUENTIAL OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES SO THE FOREGOING LIMITATION MAY NOT APPLY.