Understand IFS path names correctly
IFS (Integrated File System) is a collection of file systems that your Power Systems can use to store and retrieve information. Depending on which file system you choose to use, data can be stored locally on your Power Systems system or remotely on another system on your network.
If you specify a pathname in the OUTPFILE parameter, tell i-effect® the name of the file you want to create. You can also specify explicitly or implicitly in which file system and directory the file should be stored.
| The path consists of four elements: | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The extension | If you enter a name that ends with a period (.), followed by a string, you have specified an extension.
Windows and other operating systems can use this extension to determine the file type created. For example, if you double-click a file with the extension .prn in Windows, it is likely to open in Word. This makes it all the more important that you use a suitable extension for the file type you create. For example, if you use RTVSPLDTA to create a file, specify a name that ends in an extension such as .prn, which is often used to identify a printer stream file. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The file name | The part of the path name that precedes the extension is the name of the file itself. i-effect® does not observe any restrictions other than the limit of 1024 bytes for the maximum length of the path name. Please note, however, that the syntax and rules to be applied to the name depend on the target file system used. The QDLS file system (shared folders), for example, does not allow file names longer than 8 bytes, plus an optional extension of up to 3 characters, which corresponds to the 8.3 naming convention of the old DOS. Also note that in some file systems file names are case-insensitive (e.g. root file system), while in other file systems file names are case-sensitive (e.g. QOpenSys). | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The directory path | Optionally, you can specify a directory or list of subdirectories in which the file will be stored. For example, if you have named a "Sales" directory with subdirectories for each region, including year and month, the path to specify might look something like this:
To indicate that the directory in which the created file is to be stored is the November subdirectory in the 2010 subdirectory of the Northern Region subdirectory within the Distribution directory. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The file system | Optionally, you can specify a file system at the beginning of a path to indicate which file system the path refers to. Below is a list of common file system names that can be used at the beginning of a path name. Note that each file system starts with a / (forward slash) and that the root file system is displayed by a single / only:
You should also learn the difference between an absolute and a relative pathname. An absolute pathname is one that explicitly defines the complete location of a file. For example, the pathname is
However, if you do not set a slash (/) at the beginning of the path, your power system will interpret this as a relative pathname. Relative pathnames are interpreted relative to the current job directory. (This is similar to the current Windows / DOS directories). For example, if your current directory has already been set to /Distribution, the path
(without prefix /) relative to /Sales and refers to exactly the same location as the absolute path
The current job directory can be set with the commands CHGCURDIR or CD. Often the current directory is also set automatically for you when you log on to Power Systems, based on the HOMEDIR (home directory) attribute of your user profile. Provided your user profile in the HOMEDIR attribute contains the /home/john entry, this indicates that the current john directory should be set as a subdirectory within the home directory of the root filesystem when you log on. If you have not changed this with CHGCURDIR or CD, a relative pathname relative to your current /home/john directory. For example, the relative path "reports" is interpreted as a subdirectory within /home/john. You must put pathnames in quotation marks (''') in the OUTPFILE parameter if they contain slashes or other special characters. For example:
can be recognized by OS/400 without quotation marks, but your power systems will insist that:
is entered within quotation marks. When prompting the command with the F4 function key, the Power Systems will enclose the pathname in quotation marks if you have not already done so! More information about the IFS can be found here: | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| user friendliness | How easy is it to save and open files from a particular IFS file system? Are the naming conventions for the file system complex or restrictive? |
| performance | How fast is working with the file system? Are data storage and retrieval fast and efficient or slow and labor-intensive? |
| reliability | Is the file system always available or could it become inaccessible in certain situations when trying to store or retrieve data? |
| access | What options do you have with regard to data access? How easy is it to retrieve data from the file system of your choice in an application? For example, how easy is it to open a file in a PC application? |
| handling | How easy is it to perform administrative operations on files in the file system, such as backup, archiving, compression, or cleanup? |
| Safety and security | Is it safe that only authorized persons have access to the documents? |
| scalability | Are there problems growing the amount of data? |
Let us now look at those of the many different IFS file systems that are most relevant to you in terms of these criteria:
root file system | The root file system is in many respects the standard IFS file system and also the file system that most i-effect® users choose to store their output files. You store an i-effect® file in the root file system if you specify a path name in the OUTPFILE parameter that does not refer explicitly or implicitly to another file system. Client Access network drives allow users to access files created in the root file system of a Power System. For example, if a user has connected his K: drive as a network drive to the root file system of a Power System, he can open the sales_report.prn file in the Sales directory in Word or similar by opening K:/Sales_report.prn. |
| user friendliness | Excellent. The simplest file system in operation and application. Long file names are supported. Upper and lower case are ignored. |
| performance | Good. Local data writing keeps file creation time small. The speed of the query from a PC depends on your network and other factors such as processor power and system load of your power systems. |
| reliability | Excellent. Storing data locally means independence from network availability and other systems. |
| access | Good Easy access under Windows with client access network drives. |
| handling | Good. Can be secured with the Power Systems. Can be secured via Power Systems command line or from Windows via a client access network drive. |
| Safety and security | Excellent. Power Systems security is applied. |
| scalability | Good. Scalable as required. |
| comment | Recommended as long as other factors do not force the change. |
| QDLS file system | The QDLS (shared folders) file system implements a DOS-like method of storing PC files and other documents on the hard disks of the Power Systems. It is a compatibility oriented file system that ensures backward compatibility to older applications written for S/38 systems or versions of OS/400 before the introduction of IFS (with OS/400 V3R1M0). You save an i-effect® file in the QDLS file system if you start a path name entered in the OUTPFILE parameter with /QDLS, or if you use a relative path name and your current directory starts with /QDLS. Client access network drives allow users to access created files in the QDLS file system of a Power System. For example, if a user has connected his K: drive as a network drive to the QDLS file system of a Power System, he can access the sales_report.prn file in the Sales directory in Word or similar by opening K:/QDLS/Vertrieb/sales_report.prn. |
| user friendliness | Good. Known by long-term users of S/38 and AS/400 applications. Does not distinguish between upper and lower case. Naming convention corresponds to the old DOS 8.3 format, which is why too long file names cause errors. |
| performance | Bad in relation to the root file system. |
| reliability | Excellent. Storing data locally means independence from network availability and other systems. |
| access | Good. Easy access under Windows with client access network drives. |
| handling | Good. Can be secured with the Power Systems. Can be secured via Power Systems command line or from Windows via a client access network drive. |
| Safety and security | Excellent. Power Systems security is applied. |
| scalability | Good. Scalable as required. |
| comment | Instead, use the root file system wherever possible. |
| QNTC file system | The QNTC file system is the Power Systems implementation of a neighboring Windows network. It allows you to write and read data stored on a Windows server running NT 4.0 or later. This is also not limited to IXA (Integrated xSeries Adapters, formerly known as Integrated Netfinity Servers, Integrated PC Servers, or FSIOP). Please note that you need OS/400 V5R2M0 or higher to read and write files under Windows XP. You save an i-effect® file in the QNTC file system if you start a path name entered in the OUTPFILE parameter with /QNTC, or if you use a relative path name and your current directory starts with /QNTC. The file system name /QNTC should be followed by the name of the server, then the name of the shared resource (e.g. network share), and finally the path within that resource. Provided you have a Windows server logged on to the network as "server1". On this server, there is a "Distribution" directory that has been shared as "Distribution" for the network. Within this share, there is a 2010 subdirectory. If you have configured QNTC and your security settings allow this, you can save a file "november.prn" in this subdirectory by specifying the following path name:
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| Configuring and managing the QNTC file system can be quite difficult, but once it runs, it provides a very effective way to generate i-effect® output directly to a Windows server on your network. Please note in particular that the Power Systems user profile of the job accessing QNTC must have the same name and password as a user ID known and authorized on the Windows network. For more information about QNTC, see: http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/iseries/v5r4/topic/ifs/rzaaxqntcfs.htm Once i-effect® files have been created on a Windows server in your network, you can access them with the standard Windows network. |
| user friendliness | Once set up, access is very easy! |
| performance | Creating files over a network on a PC server may be slow. Once a file has been created, it should be opened very quickly, but it depends on the server and the network load. |
| reliability | The creation of files over a network on a PC server requires the accessibility of both the server and the network. |
| access | Simple and convenient via the Windows network. |
| handling | Good. Data backup must be done via the Windows server. |
| Safety and security | Good. Windows security is applied. |
| scalability | Very good. Inexpensive PC hard disks can be used. |
| comment | If you prefer to store your files on a Windows PC server rather than on a Power System, this is an ideal solution if you have overcome the setup problems and the network and PC server are available at the time of file creation. |
Typical solutions When implementing i-effect® it is important to make the right choice for storage location and access mode of the files to be created.
Below are a few typical approaches that users have successfully implemented in the past:
Saving Files in the Power Systems Root File System
This is a very simple and reliable method.
You store an i-effect® file in the root file system if you specify a path name in the OUTPFILE parameter that does not refer explicitly or implicitly to another file system. If you specify an absolute path name, simply start it with a /.
Using client access network drives, users can access files created in the root file system of a Power System directly from PC applications such as Acrobat, Word, Excel, etc., as if they were located locally on your PC or on a Windows or Unix server in the network.
The only small disadvantage of this approach is that the files occupy space on the expensive hard disks of your Power Systems compared to PC hard disks.
For more information about configuring Power Systems to access from PCs via Power Systems Client Access network drives, visit: http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/iseries/v5r4/topic/rzaij/rzaijconnetas.htm
For information on how to configure your user PCs to access Power Systems via Power Systems Access network drives, see: http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/iseries/v5r4/topic/rzaij/rzaijnetserverpc.htm Save the files directly to a Windows server with QNTC
As explained above, the QNTC file system allows direct writing to a Windows PC server from a Power System.
If QNTC is configured, you can use i-effect® to create your files directly on a suitable Windows server by prefixing the path name in the OUTPFILE parameter of the i-effect® command with /QNTC.
If your files have been created on your Windows server, they can be accessed by any authorized user who can connect to this server.