HP 3000 Manuals HP 3000 Manuals
Chapter 6 Utilities
The Spoolfile Interface Facility (SPIFF)
The spoolfile interface facility (SPIFF) allows you to list, manipulate,
and transfer spooled device files (spool files) that are created and
maintained by MPE/iX. SPIFF is an MPE/iX replacement for the MPE CM
SPOOK5 program.
SPIFF supports many (but not all) of the commands of the SPOOK5 program.
Several existing features have been enhanced, and new features have been
added. Wherever this has been done, the default is the closest
approximation to SPOOK5 behavior. Where differences exist, they are
described here.
SPIFF commands summary
These are the commands you can use with SPIFF:
ALTER Alters the priority, number of copies, target
device, or any combination of these attributes, of
one spool file or many spool files.
APPEND Appends all or part of one or many spool files to a
new spool file. The first spool file processed by
the command creates the new spool file. Subsequent
spool files are appended to it.
BROWSE Invokes the HPBROWSE utility, if it is available.
COPY Copies all or part of one or many spool files to a
new spool file.
DEBUG Invokes the MPE/iX DEBUG facility if the SPIFF user
has Privileged Mode (PM) capability.
EXIT Terminates SPIFF, returning control to its parent
process.
FIND Locates a specified pattern in a specified range of
the current spool file.
HELP Displays information about SPIFF and its commands.
INPUT Inputs one or more spool files from a tape created
by SPOOK5 or SPFXFER.
LIST Lists a line range of the currently TEXTed spool
file to SPIFFOUT.
MODE Controls the width and format of the displayed
output of the LIST and FIND commands.
OUTPUT Outputs one or more spool files to a tape in
SPOOK5/SPFXFER format.
PURGE Deletes one or more spool files from the system.
QUIT Terminates SPIFF, returning control to its parent
process.
SHOW Displays information about one or more spool files.
STORE Stores one or more files to tape using the MPE/iX
STORE subsystem.
TEXT Accesses an output spool file for use by the ALTER,
APPEND, BROWSE, COPY, FIND, LIST, PURGE, and SHOW
commands.
XPLAIN Displays a summary of SPIFF commands.
Operation notes
To run SPIFF, enter this:
SPIFF
or this:
RUN SPIFF.PUB.SYS
SPIFF displays an identifying banner and its > prompt.
SPIFF A.00.00 (C) COPYRIGHT HEWLETT-PACKARD CO. 1992
>
SPIFF is now ready to accept any of the commands listed above.
All user input is case-insensitive (except for the default case of quoted
search strings in the FIND command). In addition, non-SPIFF commands are
passed to MPE/iX as entered--there is no up- or down-shifting.
Major differences between SPIFF and SPOOK5
SPIFF represents an enhancement of SPOOK5. SPIFF supports most, but not
all, of the commands accepted by SPOOK5. In addition, SPIFF accepts new
commands not available to SPOOK5.
New or changed features.
* File equations for SPIFF's $STDINX.
* Opens $STDINX rather than $STDIN; entering a leading colon (:)
does not cause end-of-file..
* MPE/iX command interface with or without a leading colon (:).
* The INFO string on the command line.
* Single letter command recognition of most commands.
* Native mode output display.
* Two new commands: STORE and BROWSE.
* Enhancements to the PURGE, MODE, FIND, and HELP commands.
File equations and formal file designators.
SPIFF opens the formal file designator SPIFFIN as its $STDINX and the
formal file designator SPIFFOUT as its $STDLIST. You may redirect these
files as desired with a file equation. However the record width of any
redirected SPIFFOUT should not be less than 80 bytes; otherwise displays
and messages may generate an error when SPIFF directs them to SPIFFOUT.
Do not specify a REC= parameter in a file equation for any tape file.
The wrong combination of values may be rejected with an error message.
End-of-file on $STDINX.
Because SPIFF opens $STDINX (SPIFFIN), a colon in column one does not
produce an end-of-file condition. Entering :EOD, however, does produce
an EOF.
When SPIFF encounters a colon in column one, it strips the colon and
passes the result to the CI for processing. If the result is a valid
MPE/iX command, the command is executed; otherwise, an error message is
returned.
SPIFF A.00.00 (C) COPYRIGHT HEWLETT-PACKARD CO. 1992
>:listf
FILENAME
MYFILE
>
The colon is not necessary with SPIFF. If it is not present, SPIFF
processes a candidate command in the same way SPOOK5 did (local
dictionary first, then the CI).
MPE/iX command interface.
Any command not recognized by SPIFF, or any command preceded by a colon (
: ), is passed to MPE/iX's Command Interpreter through the HPCICOMMAND
intrinsic, which will execute the command whether it is an MPE/iX
command, UDC, command file, or program file. The RUN command is allowed
by HPCICOMMAND.
Because some commands are not executed by HPCICOMMAND, SPIFF will not
execute the following commands:
Commands Not Executed within SPIFF
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| |
| ABORT DO HELLO SETCATALOG |
| |
| BYE EOD JOB SHOWCATALOG |
| |
| CHGROUP EOJ LISTREDO REDO |
| |
| DATA EXIT OPTION RESUME |
| |
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Command line INFO string.
You may specify one command in the INFO string (for example,
SPIFF;INFO="SHOW @.@"). SPIFF executes the specified command before
displaying the first command prompt. One and only one command is allowed
in the INFO string. The entire INFO string is parsed. If it contains a
syntax error, an error message is displayed and the command is ignored.
You may slso specify the file name of a file containing SPIFF commands
(...INFO=^filename) and SPIFF will read (FREAD) the the file, one record
at a time, and execute the commands. You may specify any number of SPIFF
commands, but each command must be a separate record.
NOTE You cannot concatenate commands in the INFO= string or in the file
of SPIFF commands.
Command recognition.
With two exceptions, SPIFF recognizes the first letter or the full form
of the command (for example, F or FIND). The two exceptions are APPEND
and STORE. The abbreviations for these two commands require two letters
(AP, ST) to distinguish them from the ALTER (A) and SHOW (S)
abbreviations, respectively.
This differs from SPOOK5, which recognized commands by any leftmost
subset of characters. For example, F, FI, FIN, and FIND all executed the
FIND command in SPOOK5,.
Output display.
SPIFF uses Native Mode Spooler (NMS) display routines and displays its
output through the MPE/iX LISTSPF or the SPOOLF command. For example,
the SHOW command executes through a LISTSPF display. SHOW;@ executes as
LISTSPF;DETAIL.
Also, when you invoke MODE CONTROLS=ON, a subsequent LIST displays data
using the MPE/iX PRINTSPF format.
New commands.
* STORE interfaces to the MPE/iX STORE facility.
* BROWSE invokes the HPBROWSE utility, if it has been installed on
the system.
Enhancements to FIND.
* Case-insensitive FIND (F ^ "string"). You may set this as the
default by MODE ^ = ON.
* Column-insensitive FIND without F@. You may set this as the
default by using MODE @ = ON.
* FIND and display all occurrences of a string in the specified
range. For FIND + "ERROR"'' (the range defaults to ALL, as in
SPOOK5). You may set this as the default by using MODE + = ON.
* Unprintable characters, such as ESC and Shift are converted to
dots by default (for compatibility with SPOOK5). This can be
overridden with the MODE command. Note that such characters can
cause unpredictable display operation if sent to an output device
in their raw form. You may set non-conversion as the default by
using MODE DOTS = OFF.
* Entering CtrlY during a search aborts the search or the display,
depending upon which is occurring when you enter CtrlY.
Other enhancements.
* Several other commands have been enhanced. For example, COPY and
APPEND now support selection equations in determining their
working fileset.
* The HELP command operation has been changed to resemble that of
the MPE/iX help facility. Entering HELP (or its abbreviation, H)
with no parameters displays an introductory screen and places you
in an interactive mode until you exit the help facility. The
X[PLAIN] command operation has not been changed.
Error and warning messages.
SPIFF error and warning messages roughly parallel the corresponding
SPOOK5 messages, although the text has been changed. In many cases the
error or warning number has also changed.
Control-Y.
Entering CtrlY affects the operation of the COPY, APPEND, FIND, HELP,
XPLAIN, LIST, and PURGE commands (refer to the entries for each of these
commands).
At other times (and with other commands), entering CtrlY has no effect.
Retained (SPOOK-like) features
The command line syntax of all retained (SPOOK5) commands has also been
retained. However, any displays that result employ the NMS command
formats.
Features not retained (from SPOOK)
* KILL command.
SPOOK5's KILL command, used to terminate child SPOOK5 processes,
is not supported, because SPIFF supports process creation with the
MPE/iX's RUN command.
* LOCKED state.
The Native Mode Spooler does not support a LOCKED state for spool
files. As a result, TEXTing in a file, or OUTPUTting it to tape
does not change its state. If you TEXT in a spool file in the
READY state, then issue the SHOW * command, the file state
continues to be displayed as READY.
Security
Console user.
The SPIFF console user can access any spool file on the system,
regardless of capabilities. This is consistent with the spool file
access rights of MPE/iX commands.
By contrast, a SPOOK5 user at the console gained no additional spool file
access rights by using the console. A user having neither SM nor AM
capability could access only those files that she or he had created.
Other users.
With SPIFF, a non-console user has spool file access rights that vary
with the user's capabilities:
* An SM or OP user can access any spool file on the system.
* An AM user can access any spool file created by a user in the same
account.
* A user with none of these capabilities can access only spool files
she or he has created.
Private spool files.
Access rights to private spool files are the same as for non-private
spool files. However, you can modify only the priority attribute of such
spool files. A user with SM capability can also modify the target
device.