Aside from PRINTDEFAULTS and FILECARDS, the following task attributes are related to printing: BACKUPFAMILY, BDNAME, and OPTION (BACKUP, BDBASE, and NOSUMMARY options only). However, these task attributes were implemented before the current Print System. You can now use various print attributes to achieve effects similar to the effects of most of these task attributes. Print attributes are the preferred method for achieving such print control.
The BDNAME task attribute, if assigned, prevents a backup file from being automatically printed; instead, the file is saved on disk. In addition, BDNAME causes the backup file to be stored under the usercode of the process. The BDNAME value replaces *BD as the beginning of the file name. However, the remainder of the file name follows the standard backup-file naming conventions.
As we have seen, BDNAME has several effects. You can achieve some of the same effects through the use of several attributes. You can prevent automatic printing by setting the PRINTDISPOSITION print attribute to DONTPRINT. You can assign a file name by setting the USERBACKUPNAME print attribute to TRUE and assigning the desired name to the FILENAME file attribute. The following example shows what these assignments look like in WFL:
FILE OUT (PRINTDISPOSITION=DONTPRINT, USERBACKUPNAME=TRUE,
FILENAME= <file name>)An advantage to using file attributes instead of BDNAME is that the file attributes give you complete control over the backup file name, whereas BDNAME only affects the prefix. On the other hand, this method is admittedly somewhat more complex than using BDNAME. A single BDNAME assignment affects all backup files used by a process, whereas when file attributes are used, separate FILENAME assignments must be made for each backup file. For example, if a process creates multiple backup files by opening and closing the same logical file repeatedly, then the FILENAME value should be changed before each file open operation; otherwise, each time the file is opened, the previous backup file with the same FILENAME is removed.
If BDNAME is assigned a non-null value, the backup file is saved and not printed, regardless of the PRINTDISPOSITION and SAVEPRINTFILE values.
If BDNAME has a non-null value and USERBACKUPNAME is FALSE, then the FILENAME value is ignored. However, if both BDNAME and USERBACKUPNAME are TRUE, then the FILENAME value is used as the file title. If FILENAME was not assigned, then the INTNAME file attribute value is used as the title. If INTNAME was not assigned, then the file identifier is used as the title.
You can use the BACKUPFAMILY task attribute to specify the family where backup files produced by a process are to be stored. You can also assign the family for a backup file by using the FAMILYNAME file attribute. If there is a conflict between FAMILYNAME and BACKUPFAMILY, the FAMILYNAME value takes precedence over the BACKUPFAMILY value.
You can use the BDBASE option of the OPTION task attribute to cause the task to assume some of the characteristics of a job. One of the effects of this option is to cause task backup files to be submitted for printing when the task terminates. If BDBASE is not set, the backup files are not submitted for printing until the task's job terminates. Another method of controlling the timing of print requests is to use the PRINTDISPOSITION print attribute. Assigning PRINTDISPOSITION a value of EOT has the same effect on printing as setting the BDBASE option.
If you set BDBASE, then the PRINTDISPOSITION value is treated as it would be for a job. PRINTDISPOSITION values of EOT and EOJ are synonyms in this case, and both cause backup files to be printed when the task terminates. Other PRINTDISPOSITION values have their usual effect, regardless of whether BDBASE is set.
The BACKUP option of the OPTION task attribute is discussed earlier in this section under Storing Printer Backup Files Temporarily. The NOSUMMARY option of the OPTION task attribute is discussed under Controlling Job Summary Printing in the Determining Process History section.
