C obtool Variables

Oracle Secure Backup maintains a number of internal variables that control various aspects of its operation. These variables are described in this appendix. The variable list is also available through online help with the following command:

obtool help var

This appendix describes the following variables:

drive
errors
escape
host
level
library
maxlevel
namewidth
numberformat
verbose
viewmode
width

drive

Use the drive variable to specify a default tape drive for library operations.

Oracle Secure Backup uses the value of this variable if no --drive drive-name option is provided to library commands that require a drive specification.

Values

drivename: Specifies the name of a tape drive. Note that setting this variable also sets the library variable to the name of the library that contains the specified drive. By default this variable is not set.

errors

Use the errors variable to set the level of detail for error messages. If the variable is not set (default), then the level of detail is set by the --longerrors/-E command-line option in obtool. The command-line option is described in "obtool Syntax for Interactive Mode".

Values

long: Includes descriptive text and the obtool component name.
short: Includes only descriptive text.

escape

Use the escape variable to specify the character to use for quoting special characters. The escape character is used by the obtool command-line parser to quote special characters such as single or double quotation marks. Quoting these characters disables their meaning.

Values

char

Specifies an escape character. The default escape character is an ampersand (&).

Note that if the escape character is set to an ampersand (&), and if you specify & as part of a file name when running obtool commands on the command line, enclose the file name within single quotes. For example:

obtool cd -h phred '/home/markb&patti'

Because the ampersand character is within single quotes, it is not interpreted and is considered part of the file name.

host

Use the host variable to specify a default host for host operations.

The value of this variable is used if no --host hostname option is provided to browser commands that accept it.

Values

hostname: Specifies a host name. The default value is the name of the host on which obtool is running.

level

Use the level variable to specify an exact backup level to which the browser is constrained. You can also specify the level with the --level option of the lsbu command.

Values

backup-level: Specifies a backup level. Refer to "backup-level" for a description of the backup-level placeholder. By default this variable is not set.

library

Use the library variable to specify a a default library for library operations.

Oracle Secure Backup uses the value of this variable is used if no --library library_name option is provided to library commands that require a library specification. If this variable is reset with the unset var command, then the drive variable is also reset.

Values

libraryname: Specifies the name of a tape library. By default this variable is not set.

maxlevel

Use the maxlevel variable to set the maximum backup level to which the browser is constrained. You can also specify the level with the --maxlevel option of the lsbu command.

Values

backup-level: Specifies a maximum backup level. Refer to "backup-level" for a description of the backup-level placeholder. By default this variable is not set.

namewidth

Use the namewidth variable to set the nominal width in characters for the ls --long output. This width controls the column alignment of the Backup ID data that appears in parentheses following each name, as shown in the following example:

ob> ls --long
-rwx------ lashdown.g527       74      2005/05/24.12:55 file1     (1)

Values

namewidth: Specifies the width of the name field as a decimal value. The default value is 18. The legal range is 1 to 4092.

numberformat

Use the numberformat variable to set the display format for certain large numbers. You can also control this setting with the --numberformat option of the ls command.

Values

numberformat: Sets the display of large numbers. Refer to "numberformat" for a description of the numberformat placeholder. By default the numberformat variable is unset, which is equivalent to setting it to friendly.

verbose

Use the verbose variable to set the level of obtool output. If this variable is not set (default), then verbose mode is controlled by the --verbose/-v command-line option in obtool. The command-line option is described in "obtool Syntax for Interactive Mode".

Values

yes: Displays verbose output.
no: Suppresses verbose output.

viewmode

Use the viewmode variable to set the display mode for Oracle Secure Backup catalog directories. Unsetting this variable is equivalent to setting it to inclusive.

You can also control the display mode with the --viewmode option of the ls command.

Values

exact: Displays exact directory contents for selected backups.
inclusive: Displays all directory contents (default).

width

Use the width variable to set the line width in characters for adjustable-width output. The number of characters displayed on each line by commands such as ls is adjustable. The width variable controls, to the degree possible, such line widths. Note that obtool exceeds this line width to accommodate long names.

Values

width: Specifies the width of the name field as a decimal value. The default value is 80. The legal range is 80 to 4176.