Idea Delivered

This is being delivered in XPP 9.6.

Update xychange default message

Idea Details:  Whenever xychange uses default trans tables found in Lsysib (because it is unable to locate job ticket specified tables in the local JOB or the master xychange library), I'd like to see the message reported for logging to be changed so that it more clearly states that "sys" trans tables were used in place of the job ticket tables.

Currently we get this message for this scenario (where Table1 and Table2 are listed in the job ticket, the xychange library referenced in the Job Ticket is named "example", but Table1 and Table2 do not exist in Lexample):

Pass 1, Transformation table: Table1
Transformed … bytes
…
Pass 2, Transformation table: Table2
Transformed … bytes
…
>>> Successful completion of XyChange <<<

This message misleads the user into thinking that the tables listed in the job ticket were used when, in reality, they were not used.

A suggestion for a more accurate message would be something like the following:

"Input table 'Table1' in Lexample not found - using input table 'sys' in Lsyslib instead"

OR maybe a more generic message like this:

"Input tables in Job Ticket not found in xychange library - using default 'sys' table in Lsyslib"

I think both of these more clearly convey what happens during xychange.

Release Info:  I am using XPP 9.3.1.0.

Business process:  Users submit jobs where XML files are sent to XPP for composition using a combination of Linux shell scripts and Perl.  We execute a xychange command before running a compose command.

Gap and benefits:  This will allow our log files to report more accurately why expected xychange rules are not being called during import.  This will allow for more effective troubleshooting by our engineers.

Thank you.

Clifton Parsons

  • And, BTW, I did also discover that if you use the -X option (verbose messages) for xychange it does put out a message showing the exact translation table that was used (and its location).

    So that will make it visible that a "sys" table was used for the translation (without causing the xychange to exit with an error as is the case if the -e, exact match, option is used).

  • Don't know if this might help with your situation, but did you know about the -e option for xychange that will prevent it from chasing to and using the 'sys' spec?

    If you add this option to your xychange command(s), then there has to be an exact match on the specified name(s) (but it will still do a lookup in the JOB and xychange library locations) or else the program will exit with a message.

    See the on-line help file or the xychange section in the Command Line Utilities manual for more information about the -e option.

    Jonathan Dagresta
    RWS XPP Engineering