Batch Mode

Batch Mode

A process executes either in the default mode, sometimes referred to as Interactive Mode (this is unrelated to user interaction), or in Batch Mode. Batch Mode should be used only for special circumstances where no better tool is available.

A process that will access large portions of a database may be set as a Batch Mode process to limit its impact on other (non-batch) processes running on the system. Specifically, a Batch Mode process is prevented from overwhelming the database cache with the database blocks that it reads or modifies. For example, a data compaction utility might appropriately run in Batch Mode.

A Batch Mode process is not the same as a jobbed process. A jobbed process is generated using the JOB command. A jobbed process is a non-interactive process running in background.

You can use the %SYSTEM.Process.BatchFlag()Opens in a new tab method to establish the current process as executing in batch mode. BatchFlag() takes a Boolean argument: 0=direct mode (the default), 1=batch mode. BatchFlag() with no argument returns the current mode setting.