A label has a name and a value and is a way of displaying information in ecflow_ui. Since the value can be anything (ASCII) it cannot be used in triggers.
task x label name string label OBS 0 label file "" # for empty label
The value of the label is set to be the default value given in the definition file when the suite is begun. This is useful in repeated suites: a task sets the label to be something, e.g. the number of observations, and once the suite is complete (and the next day starts) the number of observations is cleared.
Using Labels
In order to use labels you have to first define the label in the suite definition file, e.g.
suite x
family f
task t
label foo ""
foo is the "name" of the label and the empty string is the default value of the label (the value is shown when the suite begins). After the command begins it looks like:
In an ecFlow job file, you can then modify your task to change the label while the job is running, e.g.
ecflow_client --init=$$ ecflow_client –-label=foo "some text" ecflow_client --complete
After the job has modified the label it looks like:
If you want to send more than one line, use spaces in the text, e.g.
ecflow_client --init=$$ ecflow_client –-label=foo multi line label ecflow_client --complete
And to have the display lined up better, send the first line as empty:
ecflow_client --init=$$ ecflow_client –-label="" multi line label ecflow_client --complete