capturing opcom output from REPL/STA

[Jock7]

Apologies if this has already been asked before. 

What is the best way to capture the output from a REPL/STA command and write into a file ?  or even use the PIPE command on ?

I have a situation where a system generates multiple OPCOMS from different environments, but I am only concerned with the OPCOMS generated by one user.  Therefore I want to write a simple com file to filter out the opcoms that I want to look at.

Any assistance would be gratefully appreciated.

[Hoff · Accepted solution]

The easiest approach is to rework the user involved in the unspecified actions to perform a different notification scheme, and to avoid using something as primitive and ill-integrated as OPCOMs.  

To more directly trigger whatever the necessary activity is, from within cooperating code in the user environment that you're interested in.

If the application details here require the continued use of archaic and ancient and unfortuately weak OPCOM mechanism (eg: you can't or won't modify the monitored-user's environment), then you can periodically scan the operator log, or you can dig around in the Freeware archives for existing OPCOM-catching tools, or you can roll your own broadcast-trapping tool.  

One such example tool is here:

http://www.eight-cubed.com/downloads.html

There are third-party packages which can convert OPCOM messages into SNMP traps, too.

http://www.comtekservices.com/vms_nmopcom.html

PIPE or Unix-style I/O redirection will get you exactly nowhere with the OPCOM interface, as this horridly antique and arcane OPCOM mechanisms. as the messages are broadcasts, and not command output.  They're not I/O generated in-line, but are built on $brkthru-like mechanism.

You would be correct in your other supposition here, too; that I don't hold the OPCOM subsystem in particularly high regard.  It was a weak design back at its inception around 1978 (and there were better tools available on other DEC operating systems back then) and it has not seen particular improvements to its API or capabilities in the ensuing years or so.

[Jock7]

Hoff, thanks for great reply. Very useful indeed.

Yes, this is a legacy system, which I dont have that much control over. Everything else feeds into BMC Patrol, apart from this application.