Conference vaxaxp::vmsnotes

205.0. "VMSIMAGES.DAT not created if end phase is TESTFILES" by CSC32::T_HUTCHIN () Mon Feb 17 1997 16:48

    As of V6.2 OpenVMS for VAX, AUTOGEN no longer creates a new version of
    VMSIMAGES.DAT when the ending phase is TESTFILES.
    
    This is documented in the AUTOGEN HELP file and in the AUTOGEN.LIS
    file:
    
    From AUTOGEN HELP:
    
    4C GENPARAMS
       ---------
       ... Also during this phase, AUTOGEN generates the known image file]
       list (VMSIMAGES.DAT) unless the final phase is TESTFILES.
    
    From AUTOGEN.LIS:
    
    $!      X-70    RLC                     Dick Curtis             30 Jan
    95
    $!              - DOSD refinements:  change error-log file name to
    
    $!                computations.
    $!              - Enforce a ruthless consistency, and refrain from creating
    $!                a new VMSIMAGES.DAT if the ending phase is TESTFILES.
    
    
    The question is: why?
    
    I can see that VMSIMAGES.DAT might not be valid if the start phase was
    GENPARAMS (which is a valid start phase for TESTFILES).  However, the
    usual start phase is GETDATA, not TESTFILES.
    
    I know that the contents of VMSIMAGES.DAT varies (depending on 
    MAXPROCESSCNT) and we can only get that value in GETDATA.  Based on
    MAXPROCESSCNT, AUTOGEN decides if images should be installed with
    global sections and pages.
    
    But if the intent was to insure that VMSIMAGES.DAT is valid (and it
    might not be, if the start phase was GENPARAMS), why not change the
    test?  Instead of saying that we won't create a new VMSIMAGES.DAT if 
    the end phase is TESTFILES, why don't we choose not to create a new 
    file if the beginning phase is GENPARAMS?  This would ensure that
    the GETDATA phase was run and we would have a valid data to build a
    new VMSIMAGES.DAT.
    
    Can someone explain the reasoning behind this code change?  Both VAX
    and Alpha AUTOGENs use VMS_HIGHUSERS and VMS_LOWUSERS, yet this change
    wasn't made in V6.2 AUTOGEN for Alphas.
     
    Thanks,
    
    Terry Hutchin
    AUTOGEN support team
    Colorado Springs
    

    Well, TESTFILES is meant to provide a termination point which *doesn't*
    change system settings.  Creating a new copy of VMSIMAGES.DAT can cause
    a change (when the system is rebooted) -- although quite often the old
    and new versions are identical.
    
    I don't recall whether the 7.0 AUTOGEN on the Alpha platform has that
    change or not (it's hell to get old).
    
    Dick

    The Alpha version doesn't have the change in question, but next week
    it should get the change I checked in today for VAX.
    
    How it will work is that it will always create VMSIMAGES.TMP, but if
    the terminal phase is TESTFILES and there's already a VMSIMAGES.DAT
    to use, then the .TMP file will remain as .TMP instead of being renamed
    to .DAT (and superseding the currently available one).
    
    Dick