First, let's define some terms: Logical File A single logical entity whose multiple physical parts (one on each node of the cluster) are internally managed by the Distributed File Utility (DFU). Dataset A Logical File declared as a DATASET. SuperFile A managed list of sub-files (Logical Files) treated as a single logical entity. The sub-files do not need DATASET declarations (although they may have). A SuperFile must be declared as a DATASET for use in ECL, and is treated in ECL code just like any other Dataset. The complexities of managing the multiple sub-files are left up to the DFU (just as it manages the physical parts of each sub-file). Each sub-file in a SuperFile must have the same structure type (THOR, CSV, or XML) and the same field layout. A sub-file may itself be a SuperFile, allowing you to build multi-level hierarchies that allow easy maintenance. The functions that build and maintain SuperFiles are all in the File standard library (see the Standard Library Reference). The major advantage of using SuperFiles is the easy maintenance of the set of sub-files. This means that updating the actual data a query reads can be as simple as adding a new sub-file to an existing SuperFile. The following functions govern SuperFile creation, deletion, and existence detection: CreateSuperFile() DeleteSuperFile() SuperFileExists() You must first create a SuperFile using the CreateSuperFile() function before you can perform any other SuperFile operations on that file. The SuperFileExists() function tells you if a SuperFile with the specified name exists, and DeleteSuperFile() removes a SuperFile from the system. The following functions provide information about a given SuperFile: GetSuperFileSubCount() GetSuperFileSubName() FindSuperFileSubName() SuperFileContents() LogicalFileSuperOwners() The GetSuperFileSubCount() function allows you to determine the number of sub-files in a given SuperFile. The GetSuperFileSubName() function returns the name of the sub-file at a given position in the list of sub-files. The FindSuperFileSubName() function returns the ordinal position of a given sub-file in the list of sub-files. The SuperFileContents() function returns a recordset of logical sub-file names contained in the SuperFile. The LogicalFileSuperOwners function returns a list of all the SuperFiles that contain a specified sub-file. The following functions allow you to maintain the list of sub-files that comprise a SuperFile: AddSuperFile() RemoveSuperFile() ClearSuperFile() SwapSuperFile() ReplaceSuperFile() The AddSuperFile() function adds a sub-file to the SuperFile. The RemoveSuperFile() function deletes a sub-file from the SuperFile. The ClearSuperFile() function deletes all sub-files from the SuperFile. The SwapSuperFile() function moves swaps all sub-files between two SuperFiles. The ReplaceSuperFile() function replaces one sub-file in the SuperFile with another. All of these functions must be called within a transaction frame to ensure there are no problems with SuperFile usage. The SuperFile Maintenance functions (only) must be called within a transaction frame if there is a possibility another process may try to use the superfile during sub-file maintenance. The transaction frame locks out all other operations for the duration of the transaction. This way, maintenance work can be accomplished without causing problems with any query that might use the SuperFile. This means two things: 1) The SEQUENTIAL action must be used to ensure sequential execution of the function calls within the transaction frame. 2) The StartSuperFileTransaction() and FinishSuperFileTransaction() functions are used to “lock” the SuperFile during maintenance, and always surround the SuperFile Maintenance function calls within the SEQUENTIAL action. Any function other than the Maintenance Functions listed above that might be present inside a transaction frame might appear to be part of the transaction, but are not. This can lead to confusion if you, for example, include a call to ClearSuperFile() (which is valid for use within the transaction frame) and follow it with a call to DeleteSuperFile() (which is not valid for use within the transaction frame) then you will get an error, because the delete operation will occur outside the transaction frame, and before the ClearSuperFile() function has a chance to do its work. The following functions, while not specifically designed for SuperFile use, are generally useful in creating and maintaining SuperFiles: RemoteDirectory() ExternalLogicalFilename() LogicalFileList() LogicalFileSuperOwners() Use of these functions will be described in the subsequent set of SuperFile articles.