Generating File List for STAR Data

Full reference manual: here

Use the utilit get_file_list.pl to find file and make a file list.

Syntax:

 get_file_list.pl -keys 'path,filename' -cond 'storage=XX,filetype=XX,filename~XX, production=XX,trgsetupname=XX' -limit NN -distinct -delim '/'
  • storage can be local (/home/starlib/…), NFS (/star/dataXX/…), HPSS (/home/starreco/reco/...) (case insensitive)
  • filetype is daq_reco_event, daq_reco_muDst or daq_reco_picoDst depending on whether you want to use DST, Micro DST or Pico DST reconstruted files.
    • PicoDst page is here
  • production and library can be found on data production options page.
  • trgsetupname can be found on production options page, summary page or production page.

A frequently used use case is

get_file_list.pl -keys 'path,filename' -cond 'storage!=hpss,filetype=daq_reco_muDst,filename~st_physics,production=P11id,trgsetupname=AuAu19_production' -limit 10 -distinct -delim '/'

Use storage=local to search file locally.

More examples are:

get_file_list.pl -keys 'path,filename' -cond 'storage=hpss,filetype=daq_reco_muDst,filename~st_physics,production=P11id,trgsetupname=AuAu19_production' -limit 10 -distinct -delim '/' 

get_file_list.pl -keys path,filename -cond storage=local,trgsetupname=production_pp200trans_2015,filetype=daq_reco_mudst,filename~st_fms_16 -delim '/' 

get_file_list.pl -keys 'fdid,storage,site,node,path,filename,events' -cond 'trgsetupname=AuAu19_production, filetype=daq_reco_MuDst, filename~st_physics, storage!=hpss' -limit 60 -delim '/'. 

get_file_list.pl -keys 'path,filename' -cond 'production=P11id,filetype=daq_reco_MuDst,trgsetupname=AuAu19_production,tpx=1,filename~st_physics,sanity=1,storage!=HPSS' -limit 60 -delim '/'

Note:

  • -keys 'fdid,storage,site,node,path,filename,events' and -delim '/' will dictate how (including what information) the output will be printed. Inclusion of storage,site,node,events will include fd (file descriptor) ID, storage (local, NFS or HPSS), node and site where the data is located and the number of events. If you do not specify -delim flag, theose information will be separated by ::, other wise it will be delimited by your specification. For a typical filelist you want -keys 'path,filename' -delim '/'.

  • The basic idea is you always check it locally (on NFS directory) with storage!=hpss, if it is not available, then you try with storage=hpss. This is because you do not want to duplicate restoring file if it already exists. If you use, it will search under first local, and second under NFS directories. If utility is designed to search local first, then NFS, then HPSS no matter what flag you use.

  • Sometimes it is useful to enable the flag -key 'storage, ...' to understand if a file is really located under local, NFS or tape. Similarly, sometimes the events flag will tell you number of events before you restore that file.

  • Use -limit 0 to get all files.

  • If the file path starts with /home/starlib/, then it means it is located on the distributed disk (aka DD). To access files (using root) located on the distributed disk, you need to use root://xrdstar.rcf.bnl.gov:1095/ as the prefix. If the file path starts with /home/stareco/reco/, then it means the file is located on HPSS.

  • You can not navigate DD, but the file can be accessed using root. On the other hand, files on the HPSS can not be accessed until you restore it.

Restoring files from HPSS

  • Check if the files exist by using the get_file_list.pl command. Note to put storage=hpss option.
  • Check the STAR RunLog Browser to select a good run
  • Check the number of events in the file by using the option ‘events’ as in get_file_list.pl -keys ‘path,filename,events’
  • This shows various MuDst files relevant to your request
  • Create a directory in your local system or your pwg disk where you want the MuDst files
  • Requests for getting files from hpss are submitted by using the hpss_user.pl command. Use the -h option to look at the different options.
  • Submit a request for getting a particular MuDst file by doing hpss_user.pl HPSSFilePath/ TargetFilePath/
  • Request Status can be viewed here for the relevant username. Files will be made available to the TargetFilePath/