I've done this circular file trick.  A 1-record file works great for capturing
the output of :showdev or :spoolf n;show.  Count this as a glowing endorsement
of this trick whenever you KNOW you can toss all but the end of the program's
output.

The big problem with this approach in this case is -- can he afford to throw
away all the potentially thousands of lines of other output from the program.

The original post said he did not favor redirecting output to a temp file, but
if overhead & disc space are not fatal flaws, this can be a really cool trick.
If you also want to see the output of the program in the $stdlist, just :print
the temp file back in.

I can post working examples of either trick if anyone wants.

----- Original Message -----
From: "Mike Hornsby" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Thursday, September 09, 2004 10:47
Subject: Re: [HP3000-L] What did you just say?


> >Since fixing the problem with the program would require quite a bit more
> >work, I am looking at trying to have the job read the line with the
> program's last
> >message from its own stdlist. Presumably, the program's last message will
> >be some small number of lines from the end of the stdlist, skewed by
> whatever
> >code I add around the execution of the program. This program produces
> thousands
> >of lines of messages, so redirecting the output into a temp file is not a
> favored
> >solution.
>
> You could try using a using a circular file to limit the size of the stdlist
> redirect file without
> missing the *interesting* events at the end. From help build all 'A CIR, or
> circular, file
> acts as a normal sequential file until full.  When full, the first physical
> block is deleted
> when the next record is written, and remaining blocks are logically shifted
> to the
> front of the file.  A circular file cannot be simultaneously accessed by
> readers and writers.'
>
> :build listout;rec=-80,,f,ascii;cir;disc=100
> :file listout,old;dev=disc
> :run pwbigstd >*listout
>
> Cordially,
>
> Mike Hornsby
> CoFounder
> Beechglen Development Inc. (beechglen.com)
> 513-922-0509
> [log in to unmask]
>
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