SMFOD5 – SMF Daily Top 10 Started Task Jobs
The SMFOD5 inquiry generates several charts.

The charts show the daily top nn (default 10) started tasks, by job name, using CPU, I/O, and central storage (memory) resources on your z/OS systems. For each resource type, one chart set shows the top ten started tasks using the resource over the entire Central Processing Complex (CPC), and another that shows the top ten started tasks for each z/OS system. The inquiry reads detail data from the BAT_ST (System Task Program Activity) file and summarizes the data by job name. The charted data reflects summarized interval and step record information from all job steps for the top ten started tasks.
For CPU, the CPU time that is used by each of the top ten started tasks is displayed using a vertical bar. The bar is segmented by CPU time type (for example, TCB, SRB, I/O Interrupt, zIIP, zAAP, and so on).
Two horizontal lines show the program count (number of unique program executions) and interval count (number of interval records) encountered for the started task. For short running steps, the interval count and program count values have similar values. For long-running programs, the interval count exceeds the program count.
The program count data element (PGMCOUNT) is only set to one (1) for the last interval record for a long-running program. For started tasks with a long-running program step that has not yet ended, PGMCOUNT is zero.
For I/O, I/O Service Units are used to determine the top ten started tasks. Three different chart views are available to display I/O related resource utilization. The first view shows I/O service units for the top ten using vertical bars.
For device connect time for the top 10 by device class (for example, DASD, TAPE, Unit Record, and so on). The device connects time is displayed using a vertical bar, with the bar segmented by the time that is connected to each of the device classes.
For EXCPs, the final view shows EXCPs by device class, again using a segmented vertical bar. As with the CPU chart, the program and interval record count are shown using a horizontal line.
For central storage, the top ten started tasks with the largest average working set size are displayed. The average working set size is the average number of page frames in central storage that is used by the program. The page frame count is shown using a vertical bar and the program and interval record count are shown using a horizontal line.
The average working set size represents the average for all step and interval records that are encountered for each of the top ten started tasks.
The chart sample below shows the CPC level chart that is generated for started tasks executing on an IBM z15 8561-608 CPC. The largest user of CPU time was the started task ‘D11ADBN1’. The chart shows that for the day depicted, the started task only had 8-step completions spanning 101 interval records and consumed just over 11 hours of CPU time. Most of this time was Normalized zIIP CPU time. The normalization of zIIP CPU time is important for this CPC model because the CP engines run slower than the specialty (zIIP/zAAP) engines. When zIIP or zAAP CPU time is normalized, the value is expressed as the CP engine equivalent by multiplying by a normalization factor. For the 2817-615 CPC model, the normalization factor is 1.52734.
Uses
It is important to understand which applications are the biggest consumers of limited and expensive IT resources. This inquiry shows the largest started task consumers running on z/OS systems-at both the CPC and individual z/OS system level. Knowing not only the amount of resource that is consumed but also the frequency of program execution can help you to focus on tuning efforts where potential payback is greatest. Tracking started task utilization by job name may or may not be useful at your installation and is largely dependent on job naming standards.
Data Extracts
The following SMFOD5 inquiry data extracts display the same X- and Y-axis data elements as those elements displayed by the SMFOD2 inquiry. The only difference is that this SMFOD5 inquiry shows that the top nn started task jobs, while the SMFOD2 inquiry output shows the top nn batch jobs. For the data extract chart samples and axis values, see the SMFOD2 inquiry description.
- SMF Daily Top 10 STask Jobs CPU CPCID
- SMF Daily Top 10 STask Jobs CPU SYSID
- SMF Daily Top 10 STask Jobs IO CPCID
- Chart 1 – SMF Daily Top 10 STask Jobs I/O – Service Units CPCID
- Chart 2 – SMF Daily Top 10 STask Jobs I/O – Connect Time CPCID
- Chart 3 – SMF Daily Top 10 STask Jobs I/O – EXCPs CPCID
- SMF Daily Top 10 STask Jobs IO SYSID
- Chart 1 – SMF Daily Top 10 STask Jobs I/O – Service Units SYSID
- Chart 2 – SMF Daily Top 10 STask Jobs I/O – Connect Time SYSID
- Chart 3 – SMF Daily Top 10 STask Jobs I/O – EXCPs SYSID
- SMF Daily Top 10 STask Jobs Memory CPCID
- SMF Daily Top 10 STask Jobs Memory SYSID
Data Source
- BAT_ST at the Detail Timespan
Inquiry Defaults
- Derivations:
Date
DATEPART(ENDTS)
CPCID
%CPCID (macro CPCID generated by sp.MICS.MACAUTOS(CPCIDFMT))
JOBRANK
PUT(COUNT,Z2.) || ' - ' || JOB ;
where COUNT is the rank of resource use (e.g., 01 is the largest resource user)
TOTCPU
SUM(PGMTCBTM,PGMSRBTM,PGMHIPTM,PGMRCTTM,PGMIOITM, PGMSPNTM,PGMZPNTM,PGMISRTM,PGMITCTM) ;
INTVLCNT
INTVLCNT represents the number of observations that were summarized in the chart. In general, every observation in the MICS step level files represents an interval record, but there is no MICS data element that counts the number of intervals. These SMFODx inquiries make use of an accumulated data element that is not needed for charting (PGMCOACT) as a convenient way to summarize the number of observations included in the chart. They do this by assigning a value of one (1) to PGMCOACT.
Run-Time Execution Parameter Overrides
The SMFOD5 inquiry contains the following parameters:
- UNIT
- Select one or moreMICS databaseunits by entering the data base IDs. Enter multiple IDs with a blank following each ID value.
- CYCLE RANGE
- Enter range ofMICSonline file cycles or enter ARCHIVE for archive files.
- SELECT YESTERDAY
- Specify whether to report only on observations with a time stamp from yesterday.
- Available values:
- Y- Yes
- N- No (Default)
- WORKLOADS
- Enter the number of workloads to display on the chart. The default is 10.