[Info-vax] OpenVMS - DCL - Data entry filtering

[Paul Sture]

On 2015-03-28, David Froble <davef at tsoft-inc.com> wrote:
> Bob Gezelter wrote:
>> David,
>> 
>> The point is that on modern systems, it is not impossible to get
>> identical filenames with the output of F$CVTIME. 
>> 
>> At the very least, one needs to trap the possibility when creating a
>> file, and take appropriate action (e.g., appending index numbers).
>> 
>> - Bob Gezelter, http://www.rlgsc.com
>
> Yeah, I do that.  But it's rather rare, and if there are additional 
> components to the filespec, it's even more rare.
>
> It also will depend upon the application.  I don't do anything that 
> spins out many files, quickly.  I'm not sure what type of application 
> would do that.

But in the case of splitting the job across members of a cluster, you
might run into the problem Hoff raised.  Yes, we could add the node name
into the mix and that can be handy on its own for problem diagnosis, but
do we really want that?

> Sometimes what's theoretically possible and what's practically possible 
> are far apart.

It's wise to remember that bit of Murphy's Law which says if something
can't possibly happen, it will.

> I personally find the ascending sequence of time stamps very useful.

It's very useful indeed and can give you a head start when diagnosing
problems.

-- 
If you think it's simple, then you have misunderstood the problem 
                                            -- Bjarne Stroustrup