Batch job return codes explanations

The following table lists the system batch job return codes that the common batch container uses. Do not confuse the batch job return code with either the JobStatusConstants (see the com.ibm.websphere.longrun.JobStatusConstants API) or the JobSchedulerConstants (see the com.ibm.websphere.longrun.JobSchedulerConstants API). The JobStatusConstants represent the status of the job such as submitted, ended, restartable, canceled, or execution failed.

The JobSchedulerConstants represent operating conditions returned by the job scheduler on requests involving multiple jobs. For example, int[] cancelJob( String[] jobid )). These conditions include:

Job does not exist
Job is in an invalid state
Database exception has occurred.

Table 1. Return codes and explanations
Return code	Explanation
0	Job ended normally
-4	Job was suspended
-8	Job was canceled
-10	Job was forcibly canceled
-12	Job failed and is in restartable state
-14	Job failed and is in execution failed state**
** This return code value does not apply in the case where the application returns BatchConstants.STEP_COMPLETE_EXECUTION_FAILED from the processJobStep method. In this case, the return code is determined by the application.

There are two options that are used to report an error in a batch application. The first option is for the application to throw an exception when an error is encountered. This results in termination of the job with a batch job return code of -12 and a batch job status of restartable. The second option is for the application to return a BatchConstants.STEP_COMPLETE_EXECUTION_FAILED return code (see the com.ibm.websphere.batch.BatchConstants API) from the processJobStep method and return an application-specific error return code from the destroyJobStep method. This results in termination of the job and a batch job status of execution failed. The step return code set in the destroyJobStep method is passed to any results algorithm specified on the job step and is used to influence the return code of the job to indicate the specific cause of the failure.