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Tech Tip: How to Configure the Automatic Purging of CA Spool Files

  • 1.  Tech Tip: How to Configure the Automatic Purging of CA Spool Files

    Posted Oct 27, 2015 10:06 AM

    To configure the automatic purging of CA Spool files, use the following settings in your ESFPARM definition:

    • PURGE works as follows:
      • PURGE=YES (the default) specifies that the node purges printed files immediately after they are printed, regardless of the value of any other parameter in this list.
      • PURGE=NO specifies that the node purges printed files after the number of hours specified by RETAIN and FILELIM later in this list.
      • For both PURGE=YES and PURGE=NO, the node purges unprinted files as explained in the PURGELIM bullet.
    • RETAIN works as follows:
      • When PURGE=NO, RETAIN specifies the number of hours that the node retains printed files before it purges them. See the FILELIM bullet for more details about the use of RETAIN in the automatic purge of printed files.
      • When PURGE=YES, RETAIN specifies the number of hours that the node retains unprinted files before it purges them. See the PURGELIM bullet for more details about the use of RETAIN in the automatic purge of unprinted files.
    • FILELIM specifies the number of hours to retain printed files when both PURGE=NO and no RETAIN is specified. Afterwards, the files are automatically purged.

    FILELIM is a general setting for all nodes. FILELIM is ignored on any node that specifies either PURGE=YES or a RETAIN value.

    If FILELIM=0, no automatic purge occurs for both the printed and unprinted files, unless RETAIN overrides FILELIM.

    See the PURGELIM bullet for more details about the use of FILELIM in the automatic purge of unprinted files.

    • PURGELIM and either RETAIN or FILELIM work together to specify the number of hours to retain unprinted files, as follows:
      • If a node specifies a RETAIN value, the sum of PURGELIM and RETAIN determines when to purge unprinted files. (FILELIM is ignored.)
      • However, if RETAIN is not specified, the sum of PURGELIM and FILELIM determines when to purge unprinted files.

    If PURGELIM=0, unprinted files are not purged, no matter what the value of RETAIN or FILELIM is.

    • PURGINT specifies the number of seconds between each scan of the file queue for files to purge.

    If PURGINT=0, neither printed nor unprinted files are automatically purged, no matter what the value of RETAIN or FILELIM is.

    Note: You can optionally specify a RETAIN value for each print file when you create it. This option is seldom used. However, if it is used, it overrides all the RETAIN settings for ESFPARM in the previous list.

    A sample ESFPARM definition follows:

    FILELIM=12

    PURGELIM=24

    PURGINT=180

    NODE PRT1,TCPIP,GROUP=1,TCPHOST=some.ip.address,PURGE=NO

    NODE PRT2,TCPIP,GROUP=1,TCHOST=some.ip.address,PURGE=NO,RETAIN=6

    NODE PRT3,TCPIP,GROUP=1,TCHOST=some.ip.address,PURGE=YES,RETAIN=8

    These settings result in the following actions every 180 seconds (PURGINT=180):

    • Printed files in the PRT1 queue are purged 12 hours after they were printed.

    No RETAIN is specified, so FILELIM is used.

    • Unprinted files in the PRT1 queue are purged 36 hours after they were queued. PURGELIM + FILELIM = 24 + 12 = 36.

    No RETAIN is specified, so FILELIM is used.

    • Printed files in the PRT2 queue are purged 6 hours after they were printed.

    RETAIN is specified, so it overrides FILELIM.

    • Unprinted files in the PRT2 queue are purged 30 hours after they were queued. PURGELIM + RETAIN = 24 + 6 = 30.

    RETAIN is specified, so it overrides FILELIM.

    • Files printed on PRT3 are purged immediately after they are printed.
    • Unprinted files in the PRT3 queue are purged 32 hours after they were queued. PURGELIM + RETAIN = 24 + 8 = 32.

    RETAIN is specified, so it overrides FILELIM.

    This post is adapted from TEC600742 originally written by Carlos Mario Filho and updated by Cesar Molina Contreras, with contributions from Len Middleton and Niels Andersen.

    For more information about the parameters in this post, see the CA Spool 12.0 bookshelf, especially the Customization Guide.