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PROLOG
This manual page is part of the POSIX Programmer's Manual. The Linux implementation of
this interface may differ (consult the corresponding Linux manual page for details of
Linux behavior), or the interface may not be implemented on Linux.
NAME
qmsg — send message to batch jobs
SYNOPSIS
qmsg [-EO] message_string job_identifier...
DESCRIPTION
To send a message to a batch job is to request that a server write a message string into
one or more output files of the batch job. A message is sent to a batch job by a request
to the batch server that manages the batch job. The qmsg utility is a user-accessible
batch client that requests the sending of messages to one or more batch jobs.
The qmsg utility shall write messages into the files of batch jobs by sending a Job
Message Request to the batch server that manages the batch job. The qmsg utility shall not
directly write the message into the files of the batch job.
The qmsg utility shall send a Job Message Request for those batch jobs, and only those
batch jobs, for which a batch job_identifier is presented to the utility.
The qmsg utility shall send Job Message Requests for batch jobs in the order in which
their batch job_identifiers are presented to the utility.
If the qmsg utility fails to process any batch job_identifier successfully, the utility
shall proceed to process the remaining batch job_identifiers, if any.
The qmsg utility shall not exit before a Job Message Request has been sent to the server
that manages the batch job that corresponds to each successfully processed batch
job_identifier.
OPTIONS
The qmsg utility shall conform to the Base Definitions volume of POSIX.1‐2017, Section
12.2, Utility Syntax Guidelines.
The following options shall be supported by the implementation:
-E Specify that the message is written to the standard error of each batch job.
The qmsg utility shall write the message into the standard error of the batch
job.
-O Specify that the message is written to the standard output of each batch job.
The qmsg utility shall write the message into the standard output of the batch
job.
If neither the -O nor the -E option is presented to the qmsg utility, the utility shall
write the message into an implementation-defined file. The conformance document for the
implementation shall describe the name and location of the implementation-defined file. If
both the -O and the -E options are presented to the qmsg utility, then the utility shall
write the messages to both standard output and standard error.
OPERANDS
The qmsg utility shall accept a minimum of two operands, message_string and one or more
batch job_identifiers.
The message_string operand shall be the string to be written to one or more output files
of the batch job followed by a <newline>. If the string contains <blank> characters, then
the application shall ensure that the string is quoted. The message_string shall be
encoded in the portable character set (see the Base Definitions volume of POSIX.1‐2017,
Section 6.1, Portable Character Set).
All remaining operands are batch job_identifiers that conform to the syntax for a batch
job_identifier (see Section 3.3.1, Batch Job Identifier).
STDIN
Not used.
INPUT FILES
None.
ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES
The following environment variables shall affect the execution of qmsg:
LANG Provide a default value for the internationalization variables that are unset or
null. (See the Base Definitions volume of POSIX.1‐2017, Section 8.2,
Internationalization Variables the precedence of internationalization variables
used to determine the values of locale categories.)
LC_ALL If set to a non-empty string value, override the values of all the other
internationalization variables.
LC_CTYPE Determine the locale for the interpretation of sequences of bytes of text data
as characters (for example, single-byte as opposed to multi-byte characters in
arguments).
LC_MESSAGES
Determine the locale that should be used to affect the format and contents of
diagnostic messages written to standard error.
LOGNAME Determine the login name of the user.
ASYNCHRONOUS EVENTS
Default.
STDOUT
None.
STDERR
The standard error shall be used only for diagnostic messages.
OUTPUT FILES
None.
EXTENDED DESCRIPTION
None.
EXIT STATUS
The following exit values shall be returned:
0 Successful completion.
>0 An error occurred.
CONSEQUENCES OF ERRORS
In addition to the default behavior, the qmsg utility shall not be required to write a
diagnostic message to standard error when the error reply received from a batch server
indicates that the batch job_identifier does not exist on the server. Whether or not the
qmsg utility waits to output the diagnostic message while attempting to locate the job on
other servers is implementation-defined.
The following sections are informative.
APPLICATION USAGE
None.
EXAMPLES
None.
RATIONALE
The qmsg utility allows users to write messages into the output files of running jobs.
Users, including operators and administrators, have a number of occasions when they want
to place messages in the output files of a batch job. For example, if a disk that is being
used by a batch job is showing errors, the operator might note this in the standard error
stream of the batch job.
The options of the qmsg utility provide users with the means of placing the message in the
output stream of their choice. The default output stream for the message—if the user does
not designate an output stream—is implementation-defined, since many implementations will
provide, as an extension to this volume of POSIX.1‐2017, a log file that shows the history
of utility execution.
If users wish to send a message to a set of jobs that meet a selection criteria, the
qselect utility can be used to acquire the appropriate list of job identifiers.
The -E option allows users to place the message in the standard error stream of the batch
job.
The -O option allows users to place the message in the standard output stream of the batch
job.
Historically, the qmsg utility is an existing practice in the offerings of one or more
implementors of an NQS-derived batch system. The utility has been found to be useful
enough that it deserves to be included in this volume of POSIX.1‐2017.
FUTURE DIRECTIONS
The qmsg utility may be removed in a future version.
SEE ALSO
Chapter 3, Batch Environment Services, qselect
The Base Definitions volume of POSIX.1‐2017, Section 6.1, Portable Character Set, Chapter
8, Environment Variables, Section 12.2, Utility Syntax Guidelines
COPYRIGHT
Portions of this text are reprinted and reproduced in electronic form from IEEE Std
1003.1-2017, Standard for Information Technology -- Portable Operating System Interface
(POSIX), The Open Group Base Specifications Issue 7, 2018 Edition, Copyright (C) 2018 by
the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc and The Open Group. In the
event of any discrepancy between this version and the original IEEE and The Open Group
Standard, the original IEEE and The Open Group Standard is the referee document. The
original Standard can be obtained online at http://www.opengroup.org/unix/online.html .
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