Mark Landin wrote:
 
>There HAS to be a way to build a generic command file to work on sets
>of users like this. Sure, by now, i could have altered the password for
>every user on the system three times over, but it's the principle of
>the thing......
>
>So does anyone have any suggestions?
 
[Kind of a case of "don't shoot the messenger" here, but...]
<begin plug>
You were *ALMOST* there with the %REPEAT...%FORRECS, and you are
right -- there IS a way to build "generic commands" to work on sets of
USERS,
but it is in the LEAST likely place for most people to find it (IMNSHO!)
[turns out
it is where it is for marketing reasons, or so I'm told]  Jump into MPEX and
type
 
   %HELP FORUSERS
 
at the prompt, and you will see:
 
%help forusers
 
Not found in MPEX help, using VEAUDIT HELP...
 
[yes, VEAUDIT! like I said, NOT where most people would expect it!]
 
%REPEAT ... %VEAUDIT FORACCTS/FORUSERS/FORGROUPS
 
 
These commands are available only to users who use both MPEX and VEAUDIT.
 
Syntax:   %REPEAT
          %>command1
          %>command2
               ...
          %>commandN
          %VEAUDIT FORACCTS accountset
             or
          %VEAUDIT FORUSERS userset
             or
          %VEAUDIT FORGROUPS groupset
 
Examples:
          %REPEAT
          %  COMMENT Copy a file into all groups (except DATA & PUB)
          %  COMMENT in the AP account
          %  :COPY CONTFILE.DATA.AP,CONTFILE.![RGROUP.GROUP].AP
          %VEAUDIT FORGROUPS @.AP-DATA.AP-PUB.AP
[and so on...]
 
Ok, this shows the "generic" build-it-yourself interface for working with
sets of
users, groups, and accounts, which implies there might be a built-in command
for applying ONE action to a set of users, groups, or accounts.  Sure
enough,
(based on the clue above), in MPEX type:
 
   %VEAUDIT HELP ALTUSER    [note the "VEAUDIT" prefix to the help command]
and you'll see:
 
%VEAUDIT ALTACCT/ALTUSER/ALTGROUP
 
Syntax:   %VEAUDIT ALTACCT  accountset ;altacctparms
          %VEAUDIT ALTUSER  userset    ;altuserparms
          %VEAUDIT ALTGROUP groupset   ;altgroupparms
 
Examples: %VEAUDIT ALTACCT @(CAP("SM") and PASSWORD=""); PASS=FIRSTP
          %VEAUDIT ALTUSER @[log in to unmask](HOMEGROUP="DATA"); HOME=NEWDATA
          %VEAUDIT ALTGROUP @[log in to unmask]; CAP=-PM
 
Alter the given accountset, userset, or groupset to have the given
parameters
(which can be any parameters specifiable on the MPE :ALTACCT, :ALTUSER, and
:ALTGROUP commands).
</plug>
 
[Actually, there is an obscure, but believable, reason why these commands
are in the VEAUDIT product and not in the core MPEX product -- you use
the VEAUDIT program to uncover "problems", and many times the problems
extend to many users, so to "fix" these problems you need to use the same
tool you used to uncover them.  The marketing reason behind this is that if
these
commands were in MPEX directly, there would be less incentive to purchase
the VEAUDIT package as users would simply use these commands without
the aid of the VEAUDIT reports.  Most managers would get a fair percentage
of the problems and feel "safe" this way, but would never know how much
they've still left open...]
 
Tom Emerson