CICS Runtime Configuration Files

Overview

The administration of CICS Runtime is based on Oracle Tuxedo native tools with the addition of a limited number of configuration tables for features that are specific to CICS. In CICS configurations, resources are nowadays defined in the CSD when previously they were defined as independent tables. This latter approach is the one used with CICS Runtime.

Each resource configuration table describes a resource of a particular type: transaction, transaction class, program, file, TS Queue model, etc. Each table contains the specific parameters relevant to the resource.

Shared Responsibilities Between Oracle Tuxedo and Resource Files

A CICS resource like a transaction with all its characteristics (first program, restartable, …) is described in resource configuration files. The Oracle Tuxedo configuration elements, like how many servers of which group on which machine will offer this transaction is described in the Oracle Tuxedo configuration file UBBCONFIG.

This way the responsibilities are clearly distributed:

•	Configuration of the resources guaranties the functional behavior of a CICS application.

•	Configuration of the Oracle Tuxedo system guaranties optimal performance and robustness in production.

Resource definition directory

All resource configuration files are stored in a common directory indicated by a well known environment variable: ${KIXCONFIG}.

Each table describing CICS type of information is stored in a file read by servers at start time.

Presentation of Configuration Files

General Content

Each resource configuration table describe a resource type: transaction, transaction class, program, files, TS Queue, …, with all the specific parameters relevant to this resource.

Each resource table contains three columns of parameters:

 

Field Name	Type	Values	Description
Name of the parameter in the table.	The data type of the field.	When specific values are required they are listed here.	Description of the purpose of the field, and its usage

Structure

The rest of this section describes in detail each of these configuration files:

•	Transaction configuration file

•	Tranclasses Configuration File

•	Programs Configuration File

•	Files Configuration File

•	TS Queue Model Configuration File

•	ENQ-Model Configuration file

•	Mapset Configuration File

•	Typeterm Configuration File

Transaction configuration file

This table lists the transactions available to application users, with their characteristics.

The filename is transactions.desc.

 

Table 4‑1 Transaction Parameters

Field Name	Type	Values	Description
TRANSACTION	X(4)	Mandatory	Name of the transaction
GROUP	X(10)	Mandatory	The group notion of CICS allowing a group of related resources to be declared and instantiated or not by a CICS system when starting.
DESCRIPTION	X(60)	Optional	A small textual comment zone for description of the resource.
PROGRAM	X(30)	Mandatory	Name of the first program to be called for this transaction.
ALIAS	X(4)	Optional	Used to define an alias for the transaction (usually lower case).
CMDSEC	Bool	NO | YES	The ESM to be called for system programming requests.
CONFDATA	Bool	NO | YES	As in confidential data: specifies whether CICS is to suppress user data from CICS trace entries when the CONFDATA system initialization parameter specifies HIDETC. If the system initialization parameter specifies CONFDATA=SHOW, CONFDATA on the transaction definition is ignored.
PRIORITY	9(3)	1 | n	Specifies the transaction priority. This 1-to 3-digit decimal value from 0 to 255 is used in establishing the overall transaction processing priority. (Transaction processing priority is equal to the sum of the terminal priority, transaction priority, and operator priority, not exceeding 255.) The higher the number, the higher the priority.
RESSEC	Bool	NO | YES	Specifies whether resource security checking is to be used for resources accessed by this transaction.
RESTART	Bool	NO | YES	Specifies whether the transaction restart facility is to be used to restart those tasks that terminate abnormally and are subsequently backed out by the dynamic transaction backout facility.
STATUS	X(10)	ENABLED| DISABLED	Specifies the transaction status. • ENABLED: Allows the transaction to be executed normally. • DISABLED: Prevents the transaction being executed.
TASKDATAKEY	X(5)	USER |CICS
TPNAME	X(64)	Optional	Specifies the name of the transaction that may be used by an APPC partner, if the 4-character length limitation of the TRANSACTION attribute is too restrictive. This name can be up to 64 characters in length.
TRACE	Bool	YES|NO	Specifies whether the activity of this transaction is to be traced.
TRANCLASS	X(8)	Optional	Specifies the name of the transaction class to which the transaction belongs. Transactions belonging to a transaction class are subject to scheduling constraints before they are allowed to execute. See Tranclasses Configuration File for more information on the usage of this parameter on the target platform. A Transaction with no tranclass defined will have no other scheduling constraints than the number of servers offering it.
TWASIZE	Short int	Optional	Specifies the size (in bytes) of the transaction work area to be acquired for this transaction. Specify a 1-to 5-digit decimal value in the range 0 through 32767. Default value: 0.

Tranclasses Configuration File

This table lists and define tranclasses available to regulate parallel transactions activities.

The filename is tranclasses.desc.

 

Table 4‑2 Transclass Parameters

Field Name	Type	Values	Description
TRANCLASS	X(8)	Mandatory	Name of the transaction class. A tranclass defines a category of transactions, which should not be running in parallel; probably because they use some resources in a non-serializable way.
GROUP	X(10)	Mandatory	The group notion of CICS allowing a group of related resources to be declared and instantiated or not by a CICS system when starting.
DESCRIPTION	X(60)	Optional	A small textual comment zone for description of the resource.
MAXACTIVE	short	0 - 999	Defines the degree of parallelism of execution. The only value for which we do a special processing is value 1, see below for more information.

Semantic Information

Native Source CICS Definition

Transactions that are defined as belonging to a transaction class are subject to scheduling constraints before they are allowed to execute. If transactions belonging to an active transaction class are already running, any new transactions are queued. Use the MAXACTIVE attribute to specify the maximum number of transactions that you want to run. To limit the size of the queue, you can use the PURGETHRESH attribute.

By putting your transactions into transaction classes, you can control how CICS dispatches tasks.

Mapping to Target Platform Concepts

On Tuxedo, the scheduling of transactions and the affectation of resources to groups of transactions is performed differently; it is the number of servers offering given transactions which manages the scheduling of transactions, and the relative amount of resources affected to a group of transactions.

The Special Case of MAXACTIVE 1

This case is very specific, because it impacts the functional characteristics of the application.

It ensures that two transactions of this class will never execute concurrently. It defines a mutually exclusive behavior that is preserved on the target platform to guarantee the correct behavior of the application.

A single server ARTSTR1 will offer the transactions belonging to one TRANCLASS with MAXACTIVE = 1.

Programs Configuration File

This table lists and define programs available to be referenced either as first program of a transaction, or being invoked by EXEC CICS LINK and XCTL.

The filename is programs.desc.

Files Configuration File

This table lists and define files available to be referenced by the CICS application.

The filename is files.desc.

 

Table 4‑3 Files Parameters

Field Name	Type	Values	Description
FILE	X(8)	Mandatory	Name of the file; logical name of the file used in EXEC CICS related to this file.
GROUP	X(10)	Mandatory	The group notion of CICS allowing a group of related resources to be declared and instantiated or not by a CICS system when starting.
DESCRIPTION	X(60)	Optional	A small textual comment zone for description of the resource.
DISPOSITION	X(5)	SHARE | OLD	Specifies the disposition of this file. (shared or exclusive).
DSNAME	X(60)		Specifies the data set name (as known to the operating system) to be used for this file.
JOURNAL	X(20)	NO | journal	Specifies whether you want automatic journaling for this file. The journalized data is in the format of the VSAM record and is used for user controlled journaling. The data to be journalized is identified by the JNLADD, JNLREAD, JNLSYNCREAD, JNLSYNCWRITE, and JNLUPDATE attributes. This Journal is for auditing.
KEYLENGTH	Short		Specifies the length in bytes of the logical key of records in remote files, and in coupling facility data tables that are specified with LOAD(NO). In the current release, we support neither remote (extra Tuxedo system) files, nor CFDT; In future we may support Remote file shipping and use this Key Length.
OPENTIME	X(8)	FIRSTREF |STARTUP	Specifies when the file is opened.
READINTEG	X(12)	UNCOMMITTED| CONSISTENT| REPEATABLE	Specifies the level of read integrity required for files defined with RLSACCESS(YES). You can use READINTEG to set a default level of read integrity for a file. This default is used by programs that do not specify one of the API read integrity options. On the target platform the exact semantic of the three levels of integrity may vary from exact CICS/VSAM semantic to another.
RECORDSIZE	Short	1 - 32767	Specifies the maximum length in bytes of records in a remote file or a coupling facility data table. The size specified can be in the range 1 through 32767. In the current release, we support neither remote (extra Tuxedo system) files, nor CFDT; In future we may support Remote file shipping and use this Record Size.
REMOTENAME	X(8)		Specifies the name of the file on the remote system.
REMOTESYSTEM	X(4)		On source, specifies the name of the connection that links the local system to the remote system where the file resides. On the target platform, will be used only in case of file shipping to another system, either another TUXEDO system or native CICS system.
STATUS	X(10)	ENABLED| DISABLED| UNENABLED	Specifies the initial status of the file following a CICS initialization. UNENABLED allows for explicit EXEC CICS SET FILE OPEN.

Journaling Attributes

 

Table 4‑4 Journaling Attributes

Field Name	Type	Values	Description
JNLADD	X(6)	NONE| BEFORE| AFTER| ALL	Specifies if you want the add operations recorded on the journal nominated by the JOURNAL attribute. On the target platform the semantic is conserved with a simplification: for BEFORE/AFTER/ALL, a single record is logged.
JNLREAD	X(10)	NONE| UPDATEONLY| READONLY| ALL	Specifies the read operations you want recorded on the journal nominated by the JOURNAL attribute. Possible values are: • ALL: Journal all read operations. • NONE: Do not journal read operations. • READONLY: Journal only READ ONLY operations (not READ UPDATE operations). • UPDATEONLY: Journal only READ UPDATE operations (not READ ONLY operations).
JNLSYNCREAD	Bool	NO | YES	Specifies whether you want the automatic journaling records, written for READ operations to the journal, to be synchronous.
JNLSYNCWRITE	Bool	YES | NO	Specifies whether you want the automatic journaling records, written for WRITE operations to the journal, to be synchronous.
JNLUPDATE	Bool	NO | YES	Specifies whether you want REWRITE and DELETE operations recorded on the journal.

TS Queue Model Configuration File

This table lists and defines TS Queue models available to be referenced by the CICS application.

The filename is TSQmodel.desc.

 

Table 4‑5 TS Queue Parameters

Field Name	Type	Values	Description
TSMODEL	X(8)	Mandatory	Name of the TS Queue model.
GROUP	X(10)	Mandatory	The group notion of CICS allowing a group of related resources to be declared and instantiated or not by a CICS system when starting.
DESCRIPTION	X(60)	Optional	A small textual zone for description of the resource.
LOCATION	X(9)	AUXILIARY | MAIN	Specifies the kind of storage to use: file or memory. Only used as a control: MAIN TS cannot be recoverable.
PREFIX XPREFIX	X(16)	Mandatory	Specifies the character string that is to be used as the prefix for this model. The prefix may be up to 16 characters in length.
RECOVERY	Bool	NO | YES	Specifies whether or not queues matching this model are to be recoverable. On the target platform, a default queue is written to file, while a recoverable queue is stored in the RDBMS to provide recovery capabilities.
POOLNAME	X(8)	Optional	Specifies the 8-character name of the shared TS pool definition that you want to use with this TSMODEL definition. Will probably disappear in the future releases since there are other ways on target to arrive to the same result.
REMOTE_SYSTEM	X(4)	optional	On source platform, specifies the name of the connection that links the local system to the remote system where the temporary storage queue resides. On the target platform, used only in case of TS shipping to another system, either another TUXEDO system or native CICS system.
REMOTEPREFIX XREMOTEPREFIX	X(16)	Optional	Specifies the character string that is to be used as the prefix on the remote system. The prefix may be up to 16 characters in length. These options are useful (on source and target platforms) only if one wants to translate queue name when shipping TS Queue access from one system to another.
SECURITY	Bool	NO | YES	Specifies whether security checking is to be performed for queues matching this model.

ENQ-Model Configuration file

This table lists and defines ENQ Models available to be referenced by the CICS application.

The filename is enqmodel.desc.

 

Table 4‑6 ENQ Model Parameters

Field Name	Type	Values	Description
ENQMODEL	X(8)	Mandatory	Name of the ENQ model.
GROUP	X(10)	Mandatory	The group notion of CICS allowing a group of related resources to be declared and instantiated or not by a CICS system when starting.
DESCRIPTION	X(60)	Optional	A small textual zone for description of the resource.
ENQNAME	X(255)	Mandatory	Specifies the 1 to 255-character resource name.
ENQSCOPE	X(4)	Optional	If omitted or specified as blanks, matching enqueue models will have a local scope, else they will have a global scope
STATUS	bool	E| D	E = Enabled D = Disabled.

Mapset Configuration File

This table lists and defines mapsets available to be referenced by the CICS application. See MAPSET Generator for a further description of how they are used.

The filename is mapsets.desc.

The format of a MAPSET definition is:

[mapset]

<field_name_1>=<field_value_1>

<field_name_2>=<field_value_2>

… …

<field_name_n>=<field_value_n>

For example,

[mapset]

name=ABANNER

filename=abanner.mpdef

 

Table 4‑7 Mapset Parameters

Field Name	Type	Values	Description
NAME	X(8)	Mandatory	Name of the mapset.
GROUP	X(10)	Mandatory	The group notion of CICS allowing a group of related resources to be declared and instantiated or not by a CICS system when starting.
DESCRIPTION	X(60)	Optional	A small textual comment zone for description of the resource.
FILENAME	X(79)	NO | YES	This specifies the physical (binary) file name of the mapset, which is generated by the tcxmapgen tool (refer to section). It will be searched in directories defined by the KIX_MAP_PATH environment variable i f the absolute path is not specified. If this field is not specified, the default mapset binary file name <MAPSET_name>.mpdef will be used, in which the <MAPSET_name> is the MAPSET name parameter specified in CICS MAP related APIs
RESIDENT	Bool	NO | YES	Specifies the residence status of the map set. • NO: The map set is not to be permanently resident. • YES: The map set is to be loaded on first reference and is then to be permanently resident in virtual storage, but is to be pageable by the system.
swastatus	X(10)	ENABLED|DISABLED	Specifies the resource status.•If set to ENABLED, the resource is available.•If set to DISABLED, the resource is unavailable for use by the system.
Usage	X(10)	NORMAL | TRANSIENT	This attribute specifies the caching scheme to be used once the MAPSET is loaded. NORMAL keeps the MAPSET loaded in a cache. Unload it when the cache overflows and it is the oldest, least used MAPSET in the cache.TRANSIENT unloads the MAPSET if it is not being used.

Typeterm Configuration File

This table lists and define Typeterms supported by ARTTCP.

The filename is typeterms.desc

The format of a TYPETERM definition is:

[typeterm]

<field_name_1>=<field_value_1>

<field_name_2>=<field_value_2>

… …

<field_name_n>=<field_value_n>

For example,

[typeterm]

name=IBM-3278-2

userarealen=255

.

Table 4‑8 Typeterm parameters

Field Name	Type	Values	Description
NAME	X(79)	Mandatory	Name of the typeterm.
GROUP	X(10)	Mandatory	The group notion of CICS allowing a group of related resources to be declared and instantiated or not by a CICS system when starting.
DESCRIPTION	X(79)	Optional	A small textual zone for description of the resource.
color	Bool	NO | YES	Designates extended color attributes.
defscreencolumn	Short	80	Number of columns of the default screen size.
defscreenrow	Short	24	Number of rows of the default screen size.
hilight	Bool	NO | YES	Indicates whether a terminal supports the highlight feature.
logonmsg	Bool	NO | YES	Indicates whether the “Good Morning” (CSGM) transaction is automatically started on the terminal. Tuxedo ART provides a default CSGM transaction. Please refer to section for the configuration of the default “Good Morning” (CSGM) transaction.
outline	Bool	NO | YES	Indicates whether the terminal supports field outlining.
swastatus	X(10)	ENABLED| DISABLED	Specifies the resource status. • If set to ENABLED, the resource is available. • If set to DISABLED, the resource is unavailable for use by the system
uctran	X(10)	NO | YES | TRAN	• YES: translate lowercase alphabetic characters to uppercase. • NO: do not translate lowercase alphabetic characters to uppercase • TRAN: only translate the transaction ID from lowercase to uppercase.
userarealen	Short	0 ~ 255	The terminal control table user area (TCTUA) area size for the terminal.