DataStage Designer client receives the following error after a period of inactivity:
Error calling subroutine DSR_EXECJOB (Action=5); check DataStage is set up correctly in project MY_PROJECT (The connection is broken (81002))

Answer

Error 81002 means that the user's connection to server was lost and a new session must be started.

Action=5 for DSR_EXECJOB is a status check. If a job was running then the client failed on a status check, either due to an idle user timeout, or due an error occurring while processing user request.

The most common causes for error 81002 are:

1. User was inactive for longer than the defined idle user timeout period. A timeout period is defined in the DataStage Admin client; If a user is inactive for longer than that time. If the timeout period is set to 0 then DataStage will disconnect idle users.
   
   To confirm what your setting is, you can login to the DataStage Admin Client and on the first panel after login you should either see a timeout period specified, or the "do not timeout" checkbox marked.
   
   Another method to check the timeout period is to look in the following file on the DataStage server:
   .../InformationServer/Server/DSEngine/dsrpcservices
   
2. Another network component (usually a firewall) severs the client connection after a period of inactivity. Network/Firewall timeout period is often set to 60 minutes at some sites, so if the failure frequently occurs after 60 minutes (and the DataStage timeout is not set to 60 minutes), then a network timeout is the most likely cause. If this is the case then you need to discuss with your network or firewall administrator the possibility of increasing the network timeout interval.
   
   Additionally, a DataStage enhancement request, documented in APAR JR34227, has been document to requst a "keepalive" function (so that idle clients will generate automated activity to prevent network disconnecting them as inactive users):
   http://www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=swg1JR34227
   
   A target release for when this might be implemented has not yet been determined.
   
3. Any interruption in network connection. Simply unplugging and replugging the network cable from your client computer will usually case the 81002 error. But the connection interrupt does not necessarily need to be a physical connection problem. Any temporary issue with network communications could also cause this effect.
   
4. An exception in DataStage client or server process results in broken connection. From the client side, this is typically a re-creatable scenario. On the server side, you can check for a core file at time user lost connection to confirm if there was a server exception. In general, these type exceptions are related to a specific scenario rather than occurring after periods of inactivity. You should collect details for the failing scenario including any error messages, error logs, and related files. You can then perform a search on the Information Server / DataStage support page linked below to determine if this is a new problem or if a support call is needed:
   InfoSphere Information Server Support Page