PSL Built-in Functions

This chapter describes the PSL built-in functions. The functions are listed in alphabetical order. The following table lists the PSL built-in functions described in this manual, indexed by category. To review conditions that may result when executing a function from the command line, see Executing Functions from the Command Line.

PSL Built-in Functions

Function	Definition
Application Discovery:
full_discovery	verify whether the PSL script is in a full discovery cycle
in_transition	allow time for an object to change states
proc_exists	verify the existence of a process on the system
process	return a list of processes in the PATROL Agent process cache
Command Execution:
chan_exists	verify that a process or file I/O channel exists
close	close a channel created by the popen() function
desktop	execute a PATROL link command within the console
execute	submit command to a command processor
fopen	open a channel to a file
get_chan_info	return channel information
internal	execute command within the PATROL Agent
popen	open a channel to a process
share	convert a local channel to a shared global channel
system	submit a command to the operating system
Date and Time:
asctime	return the time/date as a character string
convert_date	convert the Gregorian date and time to system time
date	return the current date and time
time	return the current system time
Debugging:
debugger	suspend process and wait for "attach" from the PSL Debugger
trace_psl_process	enable tracing for a specified process, application, or parameter
Environment:
getenv	return the value of an object environment variable
Event Management:
add_diary	write text to the diary of a PATROL event
event_archive	write selected PATROL events to an archive file
event_catalog_get	return information from a PATROL event catalog
event_check	count specific PATROL Event Manager events
event_query	return specific PATROL Event Manager events
event_range_manage	change the state of a range of event IDs
event_range_query	return the events with a specified range of event IDs
event_report	return statistics for events matching the specified filter
event_schedule	schedule a PATROL event
event_trigger	create an event instance
event_trigger2	create an event instance with a specified origin
File Handling:
cat	return the contents of a file as a single string
file	test for existence and return the last modification time of a file
fopen	open channel to a file
fseek	set file position
ftell	return current file position
remove	remove a file from the file system
tmpnam	return a unique temporary file name character string
Input/Output:
chart	load, destroy, or print a chart on the PATROL Console
log	send an information event to the PATROL Event Manager
popup_report	pop up a task window on interested consoles
print	return string to a PATROL console computer system window
printf	display output using C language formatting conventions
read	return data read from an open channel
readln	return a line of data read from an open channel
write	write data to an open channel
write_to_report	write arbitrary text to a pop-up task window
International:
code_cvt	convert a string from one codeset to another
convert_locale_date	change the format of a date string
length	return the length of a string in number of characters
num_bytes	return the length of a string in bytes
set_locale	set or get the value of a locale category
International (ID-Based Messaging):
msg_check	validate a message ID and message catalog
msg_get_format	return the format information for a message
msg_get_severity	return a code that explains the severity of a message
msg_printf	display message in the computer or task output window
msg_sprintf	return message text to specified destination
International (String-Based Messaging):
dcget_text	return message text by defining domain and category
dget_text	return message text by defining domain
get_text	return message text
text_domain	set or get the current name of the domain
Locking:
cond_signal	send a condition variable to unblock a process
cond_wait	block a process while waiting for a condition variable
destroy_lock	destroy a PSL process lock and wake blocked processes
lock	request a PSL process lock
lock_info	get information about a PSL process lock
unlock	release a PSL process lock
Mathematical:
acos	return the arccosine trigonometric function
asin	return the arcsine trigonometric function
atan	return the arctangent trigonometric function
ceil	return the smallest integer not less than the argument
convert_base	convert a number from one base to another
cos	return the cosine trigonometric function
cosh	return the hyperbolic cosine function
exp	return the natural base e raised to a power
fabs	return the absolute value of a floating point number
floor	return the largest integer not greater than the argument
fmod	return the remainder of a floating point division
int	return the integer portion of a number
loge	return the logarithm with respect to base e
log10	return the logarithm with respect to base 10
pow	return the value of a number raised to a power
random	return a pseudorandom number
sin	return the sine trigonometric function
sinh	return the hyperbolic sine function
sqrt	return the square root
srandom	seed the pseudorandom number generator
tan	return the tangent trigonometric function
tanh	return the hyperbolic tangent function
Object Manipulation:
batch_set	similar to set() except many variables are set at one time
blackout	hide PATROL object state changes for a period of time
change_state	change the state of an object
create	add a new application instance
destroy	delete an existing application instance
exists	verify whether the object exists
get	return the current value of a variable
get_vars	list the variables associated with an object
is_var	return whether an object is a variable
set	specify the value of a variable
unset	remove an object assigned using the set() function
Parameters and Parameter History:
annotate	provide contextual information for a PATROL parameter
annotate_get	return the annotation for a PATROL parameter value
dump_hist	dump the history for applications, instances, and parameters
get_ranges	return the Border, Alarm1, and Alarm2 range settings
history	return event history information for an object parameter
history_get_retention	return the history retention value for a PATROL object
refresh_parameters	refresh PATROL parameters
set_alarm_ranges	set the range for the alarm conditions for a parameter
PATROL Agent:
pconfig()	manage PATROL Agent configuration variables
PATROL Console:
console_type	return 1 if the console is a PATROL Developer Console
num_consoles	return the number of consoles accessing this script
PATROL Console User Input:
response	display a dialog box to the PATROL console
response_get_value	return element status from a dynamicresponse() function
Process Control:
atexit	call user-defined PSL function upon termination of a process
getpid	return the process identifier for the current PSL process
getpname()	return a PSL process name as per a specified process ID
kill()	terminate a PSL process
PslExecute	start a PSL process
PslFunctionCall	call a PSL built-in function indirectly after testing syntax
PslFunctionExists	test for the existence of a PSL built-in function
PslSetOptions	set the run-time options for the calling PSL process
sleep	suspend PSL process for a specified number of seconds
trace_psl_process	enable tracing for a specified process, application, or parameter
Remote PATROL Agent:
remote_check	test the validity of a session with a remote PATROL Agent
remote_close	close a session with a remote PATROL Agent
remote_event_query	return a list of events from a remote Event Manager
remote_event_trigger	create an event instance for a remote Event Manager
remote_file_send	send a file to a remote PATROL Agent
remote_open	open a session with a remote PATROL Agent
Security:
sec_check_priv	determine whether a user name has a permission
sec_store_get	get value from the secure area of a PATROL Agent
sec_store_set	store and encrypt a text string in the PATROL Agent
Set:
difference	return a list where the elements are in one list but not others
intersection	return a list where the elements are common to all specified lists
sort	sort a list of characters or numbers
subset	verify that one list is a subset of another
union	return a list that is the union of individual lists
unique	remove all duplicate elements from a list
SNMP:
snmp_agent_config()	verify PATROL Agent SNMP support
snmp_agent_start()	start the PATROL Agent SNMP support
snmp_agent_stop()	stop the PATROL Agent SNMP support
snmp_close()	close a PATROL Agent SNMP session
snmp_config()	configure or return parameters from a PATROL SNMP session
_snmp_debug()	activate debugging for SNMP
snmp_get()	return variables from the Management Information Base (MIB)
snmp_get_next()	return alphabetically greater MIB variables
snmp_h_get()	open brief session to return MIB variables
snmp_h_get_next()	open brief session to return alphabetically greater MIB variables
snmp_h_set()	open brief session to set variables in the MIB
snmp_open()	open session with the SNMP agent
snmp_set()	set variables in the MIB
snmp_walk()	stop accumulating incoming SNMP event traps
snmp_h_set()	start accumulating incoming SNMP event traps
snmp_open()	raise the standard PATROL trap
snmp_set()	receive and return SNMP event traps
snmp_trap_register_im()	maintain a list of SNMP Managers that receive traps
snmp_trap_ignore()	send an SNMP trap
snmp_trap_listen()	return subsequent variables from the MIB
String Manipulation:
ascii_to_ebcdic	convert string from ASCII encoding to EBCDIC encoding
ebcdic_to_ascii	convert string from EBCDIC encoding to ASCII encoding
encrypt	encrypt a supplied string as per a specified encryption type
grep	list all lines that contain a specified pattern
index	return the character offset of one string within another
isnumber	determine whether the string is numeric
join	join strings together with a separator between each string
length	return the length of a text string or block
lines	return the number of lines in a text string or block
matchline	save the results of a regular-expression to variables
ntharg	return specified fields from a text string
nthargf	return specified fields from a text string (counting blank)
nthline	return specified lines from a text string
nthlinef	return specified lines from a text string (counting blank)
poplines	return the next lines from a variable and remove them
replace	replace specified string in text with a replacement string
rindex	return the last position of one string within another
splitline	parse text into user-defined variables
sprintf	return format string to the specified destination
strcasecmp	perform a case-insensitive string comparison
str_repeat	compose a string by repeating another string
substr	return a specified portion of a string
tail	return the last lines from a text string or block
tolower	return a string with all characters converted to lowercase
toupper	return a string with all characters converted to uppercase
trim	return a string with specified characters removed
Variable Argument List:
va_arg	return the next value from a variable argument list
va_start	reset a variable argument list to return the first value

PSL Built-in Functions

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