This entry provides operational instructions on the use of DFTERM on NOS 2.8.7. See “NOS Version 2 Analysis Handbook” for more information on using DFTERM and associated utilities.

During normal operations, NOS writes information to the following dayfiles. In a production system, the information in these files is used for problem investigation and system performance reviews. The file types are:

1. System Dayfile
2. Account Dayfile
3. Error Log
4. Binary Maintenance Log File

Eventually a dayfile will exceed the threshold size defined for the file. When this happens, you will see an “*A, Operator” alert, and on the A, Operator screen, a message similar to the following:

Use the DFTERM utility to terminate a dayfile, write file contents to a permanent file, and start a new one.

There are a number of ways to invoke the DFTERM utility – the following is one of the most concise methods. At the operator console, enter the following commands.

This method starts DFTERM, brings the DFTERM jsn into the K display, and performs a GO to truncate the System Dayfile, then immediately STOPs DFTERM.

Use the FT={type} in the last command to terminate the other dayfiles (ACCOUNT, ERRLOG, or MAINLOG), e.g.,

DFTERM copies the selected dayfile to a permanent file in the SYSTEMX account and restarts the file. The SYSTEMX file names are in the format xxxddmm, where xxx is ACA (Account), DFA (System), MLA (Main Log), or ERA (Error Log), and ddmm is the current day and month.

You should periodically delete the old dayfiles from SYSTEMX. To delete old dayfiles, use the following to send a CATLIST of SYSTEMX to a printer:

Then, purge the old dayfile(s) by using the following, repeating the PURGE statement for each dayfile from CATLIST:

Updated 2022-07-22.