JobPak Support Information
Deleting Saved Spoolfiles
A customer recently had an issue where they required a file that was saved in JobRescue to be deleted. We thought
that perhaps other JobPak customers may be faced with the same situation. This document discusses the PURGEF.JPAK.NSD
program, which is used to delete one or more spoolfiles that have been saved by the JobPak software.
PURGEF (PURGEF.JPAK.NSD) is used to delete a copy of a spoolfile that has been
saved by JobRescue or ElectroPage, usually for online viewing purposes or for easy
reprinting. It may be used to delete a saved $STDLIST or a report.
Oftentimes, JobRescue or ElectroPage saves a spoolfile that is undesireable. It
may contain incorrect data, it may take up too much disk space, or you may just
wish it wasn't there. Please do not be tempted to lookup the POSIX pathname and
just delete the file using the MPE :PURGE command, as that leaves the file’s index information
behind, and the STATUS program thinks it should still be there. And, although it no longer
exists, users may still attempt to open it, and when they try to they receive an
error message. It is better to use the PURGEF program to perform this deletion task,
which deletes the physical file, removes its index information from
the STATUS program, and reduces the generation count.
Whenever performing JobPak maintenance, it is best to sign on as MGR.NSD.
The 6.1D version of PURGEF can delete by specifying the POSIX pathname of the file
to be deleted, or by specifying a pattern match related to the job or session that
created the original spoolfile. The 6.1F version of PURGEF additionally allows deleting
by specifying the file number of the spoolfile as displayed by the STATUS program.
Because of how the MPE operating system parses arguments or parameters that are
passed on the command line to a program, PURGEF.JPAK.NSD is executed from the PURGEF.PUB.NSD
command file. Some programs, such as PURGEF.JPAK, require that all arguments be passed as
a single quoted value, and this can get confusing when individual arguments on the
command line also require quoting due to embedded spaces. The examples shown here
use the PURGEF.PUB.NSD command file.
Command Forms
- PURGEF.PUB -s -f <pathname>
- PURGEF.PUB -r -f <pathname>
- PURGEF.PUB -s -p <pattern>
- PURGEF.PUB -r -p <pattern>
6.1F Only
- PURGEF.PUB -s -status <filenumber>
- PURGEF.PUB -r -status <filenumber>
Where
-s indicates a saved $STDLIST is to be deleted,
-r indicates a saved report is to be deleted.
-f indicates the deletion is to be performed by specifying the file's POSIX pathname
,
-p indicates any file matching the specified <pattern> is to be deleted,
-status performs the deletion by the <filenumber> as displayed by the the
STATUS program’s SHOW or SHOWALL command.
Deleting by Pathname
The pathname of a file saved by JobRescue or ElectroPage may be determined by using
the STATUS program’s SHOW or SHOWALL command with the ";FINFO" argument. Remember,
POSIX pathnames are case-sensitive. In the case of a non-$STDLIST report,
use ";FINFO,REPORT". As in
>>SHOW @;FINFO,REPORT
File# Job# JobName User.Account Pathname
25 J309 PARTREPT MGR.USWIDGET files0/R.16490.1240953903
24 J308 PARTREPT MGR.USWIDGET files8/R.16488.1240953874
23 J307 PARTREPT MGR.USWIDGET files6/R.16486.1240953587
22 J306 PARTREPT MGR.USWIDGET files4/R.16484.1240953547
21 J305 PARTREPT MGR.USWIDGET files2/R.16482.1240953410
12 J301 SREPMAST MGR.USWIDGET files6/R.16476.1240942155
11 J302 SOREPT MGR.USWIDGET files8/R.16478.1240942145
>>
And then to delete one of these files
PURGEF.PUB -r -f files0/R.16490.1240953903
Deleting by Pattern
When deleting by specifying a pattern, multiple saved files may match. If PURGEF
is run from a session, each matching file requires a confirmation (Y/N) before deletion
occurs. If PURGEF is run from a job, no confirmation is requested, and all matching
saved files are deleted.
The pattern takes the form of
spoolfilename:jobname,username.accountname,device
Where
- spoolfilename is the name of the spoolfile as it appears in the spool system.
- jobname is the name of the job or session that created the file.
- username is the name of the user that created the file.
- accountname is the account name the file was created under.
- device is the name of the device that the file was originally spooled to.
To delete all of the $STDLISTs created by the FINANCE account, you would use:
PURGEF.PUB -s -p $STDLIST:@.FINANCE,@
To delete the ACCTLIST report created by FRED’s session:
PURGEF.PUB -r -p ACCTLIST:FRED,@.@,@
The wildcard characters @, # and ? are allowed in any of the character positions.