[Info-vax] Error logging on VMS

[Simon Clubley]

I needed to spend some time in the error logging system this weekend
and I now have some questions and comments.

1) On x86-64 VMS, can the default anal/error command once again be
mapped to whatever the default error log display program will be on
x86-64 VMS ? The current command sequence on Alpha is a real pain.

Looking at x86-64 error logs on a x86-64 system is going to be the
most popular requirement on x86-64 VMS. If you want to look at other
format error logs, then _that_ can be selected via a qualifier.

The reason for the current messy command sequence on Alpha is because
the current error logger display program replaced the existing error
log display program and for some reason the new program was placed
on a qualifier instead of making it the default program from now on.

There's no reason for that on x86-64 VMS as there isn't a previous
version of the display program to replace on x86-64 VMS.

2) Errors logged against transient devices (such as network protocol
devices) appear to disappear when the device is deleted.

Should VMS be altered (if possible) to copy those error counters
somewhere permanent so they always show up in "show error" until
the counters are manually reset by the system manager ?

If the device gets deleted before you have a chance to run "show error",
you don't see that an error was logged in the first place unless
you routinely scan through error logs just in case _and_ unless
something was logged in the error logger.

3) It's too late for this now, but it would have been nice if the
only way to increase an error counter on VMS was via an API that
_always_ logged something in the error log so that you could see
there had been an error logged, even if something later happened
such as a system crash.

Simon.

-- 
Simon Clubley, clubley at remove_me.eisner.decus.org-Earth.UFP
Walking destinations on a map are further away than they appear.