easy enough to do.

do a listf into a file 'foo'
set 'count' = end-of-file count
set 'index' to 1
set 'maxindex' to 'count' - 5
read 'foo'
increment 'index' by 1
if 'index' < 'maxindex' then
purge file
loop to read 'foo'

Exact systax is up to you and MPE.

Olav.

---- Chuck Lowe <[log in to unmask]> wrote: 
> On our HP3000 (937) I need a routine that will delete all but the last 5 files in a group that begin with certain values and have certain pattern to the file names.
> 
> Example:
> 
> We keep old copies of our PowerHouse dictionaries but only need the last 5. I can not do it by date like other groups of files since it does not get changed everyday. Sometimes we'll go weeks, even months before we make a change. 
> 
> I do have a routine for other groups of files (interface files) that get created everyday and keep only the last 31 days. This is done very easily with MPEX (by VESOFT) by simply checking the create date. 
> 
> I was wondering if anyone has a routine either in JCL or MPEX that will keep the last 5 instances of these files. 
> 
> The 2 file naming conventions are 
> 
> PT###### and PL######
> 
> The ###### represent MMDDHH (month, day, hour). As I said in this case the time frame is not an issue. Keeping the last 5 versions is what I need to do.
> 
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