Re: [U2] Logging program execution in Unidata?

We use Unidata and we globally catalog our programs.

A previous poster was correct that a 'touch" of the program does update the _MAP_ file. We have weekly backups that 'touch'  every file and so the _MAP_ information becomes worthless. So to work around it, this is what I did.

1. I created a new Unidata Data file ( LAST.REF ) that will contain the _MAP_ information when a 'touch' has not happened.
2. I created a program called "DO.NOT.CALL.THIS.PROGRAM". Nobody should ever call this program and if they do, it sends me an email indicating such. Only the backups touch this program.
3. I then wrote a program ( that runs daily ) that runs MAKE.MAP.FILE and then updates the LAST.REF record if the last referenced date is not when a backup was done ( the date DO.NOT.CALL.THIS.PROGRAM was touched ).
* We then use the LAST.REF file instead of the _MAP_ file.

There are some weaknesses but it is really helpful and 99% accurate.
Weakness 1 : A administrator " touch" of a program on a date where a backup was not run, could cause the last referenced date to be invalid. But our admins generally do not do this. 
Weakness 2 : If a program only runs on exactly the same days as backups, they will never have a "LAST.REF" record. But the backups do not run on a consistent day of the week, so this is usually not an issue.

We also took over the SB.PROCESS which I think almost all SB+ processes run through. We trap when a SB+ process is run to the LAST.REF file ( key = Module*ProcessName ). We also trap who last ran the process, last run date,  last run time, first date used, and number of times used. This has helped us see who uses which SB+ processes and how often. Also by taking over the SB.PROCESS, we have built some cool real time debugging, process displaying and even dual session debugging. It really helps with SB+ trouble-shooting and narrowing down what process changes a common variable, what processes are called,...

It is also good to make sure your last referenced data is trapped through any year end processing to get those "once a year" reports/updates.

I hope that helps.
George




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