Option S - SMF of the "Service Manager Selection Menu" serves as a central access point to panels and data related to _beta smf and SPIN reporting.
Before you start working with these panels, you should be familiar with the terms and concepts described in this section.
_beta smf is a very efficient and versatile tool for processing SMF data in the IBM z/OS mainframe environment. _beta smf selects the data required for your evaluations and prepares these data in the desired format, for example, CSV or XML.
For detailed information on _beta smf, see the _beta smf Manual.
The SMF system options record contains product-related settings that are required for the generation of _beta smf reports. These settings include the name of the _beta smf input file, the SMF record number of the product, and JCL parameters for output.
An SMF report definition in the database includes metadata (name, ID, etc.), JCL, and control statements for _beta smf. For ease of reading, the term JCL will be used in the following to mean both the JCL with the _beta smf control statements.
Each report that is stored in the database is identified by a unique name and a unique report ID:
A report name and a report ID are both required.
The JCL of SPIN reports typically contains variables that reference information defined in the SMF system options (S.1).
You can store JCL in the database with variables preserved or with variables resolved. Storing the JCL with variables preserved is recommended. It is also possible to store both versions in the database if you are using different names and IDs.
Variables must be resolved before you can submit the JCL to run _beta smf. If JCL is stored on the database with variables included, you can use the line command X in the "Display SMF Report Definitions" table to resolve them. If you want to create JCL for new reports with variables resolved, use the primary command EXE instead of GEN when you create the report.
SMF skeletons can also include variables, which are resolved by _beta smf when you run the report job.
The sample reports distributed by Beta Systems have the report type Base. Reports of this type cannot be deleted or modified.
User-defined reports have the report type Cust. There are two ways of creating user-defined reports:
A report of the type Base cannot be modified by you, but you can create a new report of the type Cust by copying the type Base report, and then modify your copy.
Option S.2 includes a set of panels that enable you to create new reports based on the SMF record descriptions in the database. You can select the fields you want to include in your reports from displayed tables and specify output instructions and/or filter criteria as needed. The assistant will generate syntactically correct _beta smf JCL for you based on your instructions.
Please note that the panels of the assistant cover only a subset of the functional range of _beta smf. But you can always modify the JCL generated by the assistant if a _beta smf function is not covered by the panels. For detailed information on the JCL required by _beta smf, see the _beta smf Manual.
SMF skeletons are used by _beta smf for outputting formatted reports. Skeletons typically contain header and trailer information for formatted output (for example, XML instructions) and additional text blocks.
SMF skeletons can include variables which are resolved by _beta smf when you run the report job.