DCL change of behaviour with 8.4.

[The Brit]

I am opening this thread to highlight an issue which was brought up in a previous thread, and which I have not heard discussed in this, or any other forum,(although I may have just missed it). The change of behaviour relates to the "Name" and "Log" qualifiers, when used in the context of the Submit command.

As I read the Help on SUBMIT,

1. The default "Job-Name" for a batch queue entry is the filename of the first file in the submitted job.
2. If the "Log" qualifier IS NOT specified, then "Job-Name" is also used as the default log file name, and therefore, in this case, the Job-Name string needs to be (syntactically)a valid VMS FileName.
3. If the "Log" qualifier IS specified, then the Job-Name is just a text string (double-quoted if it contains special characters or spaces).

On OpenVMS 8.3-1H1, providing that "/Log=" is defined, then the following command will result in the job executing without a problem (with the Job-Name specified);

$ submit/queue=sys$batch/name="(DET) Job"/Log=Testjob.Log Testjob.com

however, it will fail to execute on OpenVMS 8.4. (see attachment).

I dont know the details of why certain characters are allowed or disallowed, however it is interesting that "(" and ")" are NOT allowed, while "[", "]", "<" and ">" are OK. (I assume that most of the allowed characters are acceptable components in a full file specification.)

I guess that my point is that, If a Log File is correctly specified, then all characters should be acceptable, as appears to be the case on 8.3-1H1, e.g.

TABBUD$SYSTEM>> submit/que=sys$batch/Name="#@!/|\$%^&*-+"/log=sys$manager:testjob.log/noprint TESTJOB
Job #@!/|\$%^&*-+ (queue SYS$BATCH, entry 68) started on SYS$BATCH
TABBUD$SYSTEM>> show queue sys$batch
Batch queue SYS$BATCH, available, on TABBUD::

Entry Jobname Username Status
----- ------- -------- ------
68 #@!/|\$%^&*-+ SYSTEM Executing
TABBUD$SYSTEM>>

In my opinion, if the behaviour of a command changes between one version and the next, and it is not documented, then it should be considered a Bug.

Does anyone know if HP is aware of this, and whether they intend to do anything about it.

I will make a report anyway.

Dave.

[P Muralidhar Kini · Accepted solution]

Hi Dave,

HP has is aware of this issue reported against the SUBMIT command. This issue is present in OpenVMS 8.4 version (not prior versions) and is root caused to be with RMS. This issue has been fixed and the RMS image with fix would be included in the next release of UPDATE kit for V8.4.

The test cases that you have provided, namely
1) $ submit/queue=sys$batch/name="(DET) Job"/Log=Testjob.Log Testjob.com
2) submit/que=sys$batch/Name="#@!/|\$%^&*-+"/log=sys$manager:testjob.log/noprint TESTJOB

works fine with the fixed image in place.
In case customer has a immediate need for a side build image with fix then please get in touch with HP via Office of OpenVMS programs
i.e. send a mail to OpenVMS.Programs@hp.com.

Also please let us know if there are any more test cases for which you have observed a failure, we can do a quick test and check if thats fixed or not.

Hope this helps.

Regards,
Murali

[Duncan Morris]

Dave,

I reported this issue about 3 weeks ago on the forum, and can confirm that the remedial images work.

http://h30499.www3.hp.com/t5/General/Batch-job-execution-issue-with-IA64-V8-4/m-p/5277771#M27802

Duncan

[Shael Richmond]

I can confirm that. I opened the original case and it has been fixed as of 4/8/2011. Supposed to be in the next UPDATE patch.

Also > was the character that didn't work for me.

[The Brit]

Thank you guys.

Duncan: dont know how I missed your thread.

Shael: Strange thing is that " Job1" worked OK for me.

This is not an immediate issue for us, i.e. we can wait until the patch arrives.

Dave.

[Mike Kier]

"<" ">" are valid alternatives for "[" "]" in file names - a legacy from much earlier times.