Include files are used where the same piece of code can be inserted into multiple files. This allows all files using that include file to be easily changed. A group of files may have their own include file; e.g. all the tasks in an archiving family , could include one common file for the variable definitions needed. This makes the maintenance of the tasks much easier.
In the same way as the C-pre-processor, ecFlow include files do nest. There is no limit within ecFlow on how many times they nest beyond system limitations.
In the simplest case, an ecFlow file would have at least two include statements. One include at the beginning and one at the end of the file. An example is given below. There are two extra lines apart from the lines needed for the task itself. This helps to understand the script since only the lines needed for this task are visible. The extra ecFlow code is not visible.
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When ecFlow needs to read an include-file it tries to locate them from the directory pointed to by variable ECF_INCLUDE (unless full path name pathname was given.) Typically this variable is set in the suite definition file at the same time as ECF_FILES.
The start of the definition for a suite will normally be something like:
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| Code Block | ||
|---|---|---|
| ||
wait # wait for background process to stop ecflow_client --complete # Notify ecFlow of a normal end trap 0 # Remove all traps exit 0 # End the shell |
Generally, you would have more than just a single include file at the beginning of an ecFlow file, e.g. one to have common options for your queuing system, then a few lines for the queuing options unique to that job. There may be an include file to specify options for an experimental suite, and so on. There are around ten different include files used in the ECMWF operational suite.