Mike McCallum wrote:

> Can anybody please tell me if there is a limit as to the number of
> files in
> a group on an HP3000 running MPE/iX? Thanks in advance.

Hi Mike,

I would like to answer you question with a nice, neat, and definitive
number, but unfortunately it is "not quite that simple".

The overall issue is pretty complicated. The limit factor is Transaction
Management (XM). Whenever a directory entry is modified, the
"transaction" is logged under XM. XM is responsible for insuring that
the actual update to the directory data structure will be properly
posted to disk. There are some design issues within XM that cause
problems if the "log file" (used by XM) becomes "too full".  [lots of
relevant details skimmed over]

Here is a list of some of the items that effect the number:

* What type of directory: group, account, etc (in your case you asked
about a "group").
* What type of operation(s) are being performed on objects within that
directory. A worst case scenario is deleting from the beginning or
adding to the end.
* How much XM logged activity is taking place concurrently on that
volumeset.

The above discussion is just the highlights of the issue. Instead of
writing several pages of technical mumbo jumbo that can be summarized as
"...it just depends...", I am going to give you a number to use as a
guideline.

If it were my system, I would try to design things so that there is no
need to have more than 10,000 files in a group.