[comp.os.vms] idle job killing

U0012@DGOGWDG5.BITNET ("GWDGV1::MOELLER") (07/27/88)

Many people have described various ways to find out how long
a terminal or process has been idle. What I never saw mentioned
was the PCB$L_WAITIME longword, which records the time a process
has given up the CPU for the last time. I find that information
much easier to use than obscure device-dependent TTDRIVER timestamps.

Everything has its drawbacks, of course:
while terminal-related timers will be updated by BROADCASTS (I guess),
PCB$L_WAITIME is updated by special kernel ASTs, typically generated by
the curious system manager doing $GETJPI to obtain the name of the current
image (note that neither MONITOR nor SHOW SYSTEM use it!).

Anyway, it is a neat conservative estimate; I use it routinely
to manually kill really obsolete processes.

Wolfgang J. Moeller, GWDG, D-3400 Goettingen, F.R.Germany | Disclaimer ...
Bitnet/Earn: U0012@DGOGWDG5         Phone: +49 551 201516 | No claim intended