ecFlow looks for files using the following search process when trying to locate the '.ecf' associated with a task.

• First, it uses the variable ECF_SCRIPT and tries to open that file. ECF_SCRIPT is generated from ECF_HOME/SUITE/FAMILY/TASK.
  
  

• DEFAULT:
  Otherwise, if variable ECF_FILES exists, it must point to a directory which is searched in reverse order, e.g. let's assume that the node name is /o/12/fc/model and that ECF_FILES is defined as /home/ecmwf/emos_ECF/def/o/ECFfiles. The order of files tried is as follows:

  /home/ecmwf/emos_ECF/def/o/ECFfiles/o/12/fc/model.ecf /home/ecmwf/emos_ECF/def/o/ECFfiles/12/fc/model.ecf /home/ecmwf/emos_ECF/def/o/ECFfiles/fc/model.ecf /home/ecmwf/emos_ECF/def/o/ECFfiles/model.ecf

  This may at first be seen as overkill, but you can put all the files for a number of suites in one distinct file system/directory.

  if the original ECF_SCRIPT did not exist, ecFlow will check the directories for the job file in ECF_HOME (ECF_SCRIPT is derived from ECF_HOME.). If a directory does not exist, ecFlow will create it. This helps to clean up old job-files and output and makes the maintenance of the scripts easier. It also guarantees that the output can be redirected into the file without the job creating the directory. (e.g. NQS option QSUB -ro, or when using redirection.)

  
  Using ECF_FILES means that you do not have to create and maintain a link-jungle, e.g. the model.ecf above exists in a number of different families in ECMWF operational suites. The file is placed in a directory .../ECFfiles/fc/ and used by nodes /o/00/fc/model, /o/12/fc/model etc. This trick works nicely as long as there are no other tasks named model in the same family.

  
  ALTERNATIVE:

  The search can be reversed, by adding a variable ECF_FILES_LOOKUP, with a value of "prune_leaf". ( from ecflow 4.12.0) .  

  edit ECF_FILES_LOOKUP prune_leaf

  Then ecFlow will use the following search pattern

  /home/ecmwf/emos_ECF/def/o/ECFfiles/o/12/fc/model.ecf /home/ecmwf/emos_ECF/def/o/ECFfiles/o/12/model.ecf /home/ecmwf/emos_ECF/def/o/ECFfiles/o/model.ecf /home/ecmwf/emos_ECF/def/o/ECFfiles/model.ecf

  
  

  However please be aware this will also affect the search in ECF_HOME

  
  

  If the ECF_FILES directory does not exist, the server will try variable substitution.  This allows additional configuration.

  edit ECF_FILES /home/ecmwf/emos/def/o/%FILE_DIR:ECFfiles%

           

• Finally, it searches ECF_HOME directory. ( using the DEFAULT or ALTERNATIVE lookup methods)