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150 Geac System21 commerce.connect: Implementation on the iSeries Server
This can be useful for monitoring log files in real time. The session in which you use this
command remains in use. When you are finished, use System Request 2 to stop the
command as shown here:
tail –f /OrderManagement/log.stdout.txt
This command shows the last few lines of the standard output file of the Order Management
application. If more lines are written, they are output. This is mentioned in 5.4.3, Verbose
garbage collection on page 126.
6.2.4 Qshell scripts
It is possible to save Qshell commands in stream files for later execution. This is similar to
script programming in UNIX and to DOS batch files. The concept is similar to CL programs,
but the details are different.
This is a complex subject considering that there are some powerful programming techniques
available. We only briefly describe a few simple abilities. Familiarity with DOS batch file
programming can help, but there are quite a few differences.
Qshell scripts are stored in stream files in the IFS. You can create and edit them using any of
the editing techniques described earlier such as a PC editor against a mapped drive or the
OS/400 EDTF command. If you create the script with EDTF first, then it may be given an
EBCDIC CCSID and you wont be able to edit it from the PC later.
The names, or even the extensions of the names, of scripts are not restricted as DOS batch
files are. There are two common conventions. Names without any extension may be used, for
example StartSalesApplication, but some PC editors and tools may have problems with such
files. The extension .sh is often used, but this is required when the script is executed, unlike
DOS where the .bat extension is not required when executing the file. The file names are not
restricted to 10 characters and may be very long. Unlike UNIX, case is not significant. It is
common to use all lowercase or all uppercase letters for the initial letter of each word of the
name to make it easier to read.
At their simplest, script files are one or more Qshell commands that are executed in
sequence. Each command should be typed on its own line. Lines that begin with # may be
used for comments. The scripts do not need to be compiled, which is like UNIX and DOS but
unlike CL.
You execute scripts from Qshell by typing their name. If an extension, for example, .sh, was
used, then you must include this as well. You should either be in the directory containing the
script, fully qualify its name, or use the PATH facility. You may also execute the script from an
OS/400 command display by using QSH with its optional parameter as shown in an example
later in this section.
The name of the script may be followed by one or more values that will be available to the
script as parameters. The parameters should be separated by spaces. If the parameter
values include spaces, then they should be enclosed in single quotation marks. The
parameters may be used inside the script using the special variables $1 for the first
parameter, $2 for the second, etc. This is similar to DOS, except that in DOS, the variables
are %1, %2, etc.
You can define additional variables within the program. A variable is set simply by choosing a
name and writing a line with that name followed by = and then by the desired value as shown
in the following example. If the value contains spaces or certain special characters, then it
should be in quotation marks.
DIRECTORY=/OrderManagement