Re-displaying Previous Output

The possibility to review system messages and operator activity for some earlier period of the day is a very frequent requirement. Performance Toolkit saves all the output lines it received, including the ones which were suppressed using 'FC PROCESS ...' specifications, in a disk file which can be browsed.

Enter the command REDisp or press F2 to switch to 'redisplay' mode. The new mode is indicated by the string Redisp. Mode in the top right hand corner of the initial screen you should now see, which displays the last (most recent) part of the log. 
 FCX002            Viewing Log File 'yyyymmdd CONLOG  A'          Redisp. Mode
                                                             Line nnnnn of nnnnn
 ...
 ...
  • Suppressed lines: Scan the last few lines of the log, up to the part where you entered the command m * this is a special message test and you will see that the log contains all lines, even the ones which were suppressed by means of an 'FC PROCESS ... NODISP' statement. Suppressed lines are marked by a '>' indicator on the left.
  • Scrolling: The usual method is to work with the scrolling PF-keys, whose definitions you will find in the bottom line of the screen, but you can also move upwards or downwards for a specific number of lines by using the FORWARD/BACKWARD commands or their synonyms DOWN(or NEXT)/UP with an argument specifying the number of lines to be skipped.
    • Press F7. You should see the log lines now which immediately precedes the ones you have seen on the previous screen.
    • Press F4. You will see the beginning of the log, with a header line which tells you when the log has been started.
    • Press F8. You will see the lines which immediately follow the ones from the previous screen (note that the default number of lines scrolled is 'available output lines - 1', i.e. the bottom line of the previous screen becomes the top line on the next screen while scrolling forward).
    • Enter the command n 10 (abbreviated for 'NEXT 10') to skip forward 10 lines.
  • Locating specific strings: The log can become very long if you use Performance Toolkit on the system operator's console of a large system. Browsing through such a large log using the FORWARD/BACKWARD commands or PF-keys is not efficient. It is usually much faster to look for a specific string (time stamp, or part of an output line which you remember).
    • Press F5 (bottom) to display the last few lines again.
    • Enter the command -/search. If you have done exactly what you were asked to in this script, the screen should now be positioned near the top of the log where you entered a 'CMS Q SEARCH' command.
    • Press the ENTER key again and the previous 'locate' command will be repeated, and it should have brought you to the first attempt with the 'Q SEARCH' command.

    Try to locate some other string if 'Q SEARCH' cannot be found because you did not enter this command during the current session.

  • Returning to basic mode: Press F12 to return to basic mode.

    You will also be returned automatically to basic mode as soon as you enter a command which is not valid in redisplay mode (e.g. a CP command).

See also Redisplay Mode for a general description of redisplay mode.