PMDF System Manager's Guide

Some channel programs include optional code to assist in debugging by producing additional diagnostic output. Two channel keywords are provided to enable generation of this debugging output on a per-channel basis. The keywords are master_debug, which enables debugging output in master programs, and slave_debug, which enables debugging output in slave programs. Both types of debugging output are disabled by default, corresponding to nomaster_debug and noslave_debug.

When activated, debugging output ends up in the log file associated with the channel program. The location of the log file may vary from program to program. Log files are usually kept in the PMDF log directory.ⁱ Master programs usually have log file names of the form x_master.log, where "x" is the name of the channel;^j slave programs usually have log file names of the form x_slave.log. Also, some channel programs, notably PhoneNet channel programs, may produce additional log files with names of the forms:

	err_ x_master.log ,	err_ x_slave.log ,
	di_ x_master.log ,	di_ x_slave.log , or
	ph_ x_master.log ,	ph_ x_slave.log .

Note that in the case of the l (lowercase "L") channel, master_debug enables debugging output when sending from the local channel (e.g., from VMS MAIL), and slave_debug enables debugging output as messages are delivered to the local channel (e.g., to VMS MAIL) (with output usually appearing in PMDF_LOG:l_master.log on OpenVMS or in pmdf/log/l_master.log on UNIX). On OpenVMS, these conventions also apply to the other channels that interact with VMS MAIL (d, d_, and mail_ channels). The thing to note is that this usage of the debug keywords is essentially backwards; other channels assign opposite meanings to the debug keywords. This usage is retained for historical and compatibility reasons.

On UNIX, when master_debug and slave_debug are enabled for the l channel, then users will get pmdf_sendmail.log-uniqueid files in their current directory (if they have write access to the directory; otherwise the debug output will go to stdout) containing PMDF debug information.

Not all PMDF channel programs have debugging support code.