This document describes the functionality of the Natural Com-plete/SMARTS Interface (product code NCF) and the operation and individual components of Natural in a Com-plete environment.
Note:
SMARTS is an acronym for "Software AG Multi-Architecture
Runtime System". It constitutes a runtime layer that allows POSIX-like
applications to run on mainframe operating systems. Software AG products
communicate with the operating system through the SMARTS layer.
The following topics are covered:
Driver Parameters for the Natural Com-plete/SMARTS Interface
Support for User Exit Handling during Session Initialization
Com-plete documentation set for details of the Com-plete product
Online Processing in the Natural System Architecture documentation
Installing Natural Com-plete/SMARTS Interface on z/OS in the Installation for z/OS documentation.
SYSTP Utility in the Natural Utilities documentation
Natural under Com-plete/SMARTS User Abend Codes in the Natural Codes and Messages documentation
For information on the driver parameters that are available for the
Natural Com-plete/SMARTS Interface, refer to the description of profile
parameter COMP or parameter
macro NTCOMP
in the Parameter Reference documentation.
COMP (or NTCOMP) comprises
several keyword subparameters whose use is explained in the following
sections.
The ABEXIT exits can generally be deactivated by
setting the keyword subparameter SPIEA to
OFF.
The ABEXIT exit is called during Com-plete's EOJ
handling for an abnormal program termination processing.
By default, an 0CX abend is interpreted by the
ABEXIT exit routine.
When running with DU=ON, the Natural session is dumped
and terminated properly, with error message NAT9974.
When running with DU=SNAP, the Natural session is
dumped as with DU=ON, but the session is not terminated.
Note:
After the dump is taken, the Natural session continues as if running with
DU=OFF.
When running with DU=ABEND, the Natural session is
dumped without terminating the session.
When running with DU=FORCE, the ABEXIT
exit routine is disabled, an immediate dump during Com-plete is produced.
If LE370=ON is
specified in the NTCOMP
macro, or is specified dynamically, and the abend occurs while an LE program
has control, user-written or language-specific condition handlers are ignored.
The abend is handled by the ABEXIT exit routine, the Natural error
message NAT0950 or NAT9967 occurs.
If DU=OFF, Natural responds with error message
NAT0950, NAT0954, NAT0955 or
NAT0956, and the entire abend PSW and the Registers 0 to 15 are
contained in the IOCB at offset x'290'.
At session initialization, the amount of space defined with the
keyword subparameter NTHSIZE
is allocated as thread GETMAIN above or below the 16
MB line, depending on the keyword subparameter
THABOVE,
for usage by Natural.
The Natural profile parameter WPSIZE determines
the sizes of below and above work pools. By default, the size of the below
subpool is set to 32 KB.
Therefore, you must catalog the Natural Com-plete front part with
the Com-plete utility ULIB, RG size = 36 KB or larger.
The remaining areas within the Com-plete thread parts below and/or
above (Com-plete ULIB RG=specification
and/or THABOVESIZE=specification) are
used by Com-plete for the following:
user subroutines,
increasing of variable buffers inside the Natural thread,
subproducts doing "physical"
GETMAIN requests, this enforces the Natural work
pool allocation.
For more details concerning the ULIB RG and
THABOVESIZE parameters, refer to the Com-plete
Utilities documentation.
Natural passes the following string to a back-end program:
the Natural return code (fullword),
the Natural termination message (A72),
the length of the termination area (fullword),
the termination data.
This string is mapped by the NAMBCKP macro.
The XNCFBACK source module is an example of a Natural
back-end program in a Com-plete environment. It is written as reentrant code
and can be loaded as RESIDENTPAGE program or once per user.
If you use the Com-plete services in a Natural batch run, the batch user ID remains logged on at the end of the batch run.
To avoid this situation, include the module COMPBTCH
from the Com-plete distribution library in the batch Natural nucleus. This
resolves the entry point for module EOJ, which is called at the end of the
Natural batch job for termination clean-up.
The module NCFAM is used to access Com-plete print/work
files. It has to be included in the linking of the Natural nucleus, together
with the module COMPBTCH from the Com-plete distribution
library.
Asynchronous Natural processing is discussed in the section Asynchronous Processing in the Natural Operations documentation; however, some additional considerations apply when Natural is run under Com-plete.
Make sure that appropriate SENDER and
OUTDEST
destinations are specified for an asynchronous Natural session; otherwise, any
output will lead to an abnormal termination.
In addition to Com-plete terminal IDs for
SENDER and OUTDEST, the following
keywords are supported by the Natural Com-plete/SMARTS interface:
| Profile Parameter | Possible Values | Explanation |
|---|---|---|
SENDER |
DUMMY |
Output is ignored. |
TID |
Output destination. | |
LUNAME |
||
OUTDEST |
DUMMY |
Output is ignored. |
CONSOLE |
Output destination. | |
LUNAME |
By default, the 3270 data stream protocol is used for output of an asynchronous Natural session running under Com-plete.
An example to start an asynchronous Natural transaction under
Com-plete can be found in the library SYSEXTP, program
ASYNCOMP.
The Com-plete FETCH function is used to invoke Natural
from a user front-end program under Com-plete; see the Com-plete
Application Programmer's Manual for details.
If you want to use protection mode between Com-plete and your
application program, you must set the Natural profile parameter
SKEY to
OFF in the Natural parameter module.
The application program runs in the corresponding thread key.
You can improve performance of the application program under Com-plete by activating the Storage-Protection Override facility on your machine.
Set the thread key to 9 in the Com-plete startup
parameter THREAD-GROUP for your Natural sub-group.
The front-end driver sets the Natural application automatically to
the privileged mode if the thread key is 9, and uses the
SPKA instruction for the key switch handling instead of the
Com-plete function MODIFY with the function codes
THRD/TCS.
Storage key switching is not performed for any Natural or editor buffer pool call.
During session initialization, it is possible to pass user-specific session information about the activation of a user exit to Natural. The exit is called before Natural has been initialized, after the driver/IOCB initialization is complete.
The driver passes as a parameter the address of the IOCB in Register
1, whereas the exit is activated/deactivated by the Com-plete functions
COLOAD/CODEL; see the Com-plete
Application Programmer's Manual for details.
The NCFUEXIT source module is an example of a user
exit. The user exit module can be defined with the keyword subparameter
EXIT.
With the SMARTS Server Environment, it is possible to use the SMARTS
portable file system as a container for input and output files as well as data
sets on the native file system. It depends on the setting of the SMARTS
parameters CDI_DRIVER and MOUNT_FS whether the
environment variable refers to a the portable file system or to a native file
system. For more information, see the SMARTS Installation and
Operations Manual.
If environment variables are not defined, the normal data sets are accessed as described in the section Data Sets Used by Natural under z/OS Batch in the Natural Operations documentation.
The following topics are covered below:
Input/output in the SMARTS Server Environment is performed by DLL NCF92IO.
NCF92IO must be loaded into the resident area. If NCF92IO is loaded
into the application program thread, the Natural session is terminated with a
NAT9980 error message.
Supported environment variables:
These environment variables are described below.
Syntax:
CMPRINT=/pathname/filename[/],[mode]
|
Where
pathname
|
Specifies the location of the output file. If |
filename
|
Specifies the name of the output file. An asterisk (*) as the file name means that the file name is generated from the actual user ID. If pathname refers to the native file system and filename is terminated with the slash character (/), the sequential data set pathname/filename will be accessed; if it is not terminated with "/", the member filename in data set pathname will be accessed. |
mode |
Specifies the file mode as documented in the C
Library for the fopen() function. The default is w
(write).
|
Example: Assume /fs/ is mapped to the native file
system and /pfs/ is mapped to a portable file system.
CMPRINT=/fs/natural/test/print |
Member print in data set natural.test
is accessed.
|
CMPRINT=/fs/natural/test/print/ |
Sequential data set natural.test.print
is accessed.
|
CMPRINT=/pfs/natural/test/print |
Member print in /natural/test of the
portable file system is accessed.
|
Syntax:
CMSYNIN=/pathname/filename[/]
|
Specifies the pathname
and filename of the appropriate command
input file.
If pathname refers to the native file system and filename is
terminated with the "/" character, the sequential data set
pathname/filename will be accessed; if
it is not terminated with a slash (/), the member
filename in data set
pathname will be accessed.
Syntax:
CMOBJIN=/pathname/filename[/]
|
Specifies the pathname
and filename of the appropriate data
input file.
If pathname refers to
the native file system and filename is
terminated with the slash character (/), the sequential data set
pathname/filename will be accessed; if
it is not terminated with a slash (/), the member
filename in data set
pathname will be accessed.
Print file and work file access in the SMARTS Server Environment is performed by DLL
NCF92APS.
NCF92APS must be loaded into the resident area. If NCF92APS is
loaded into the application program thread, the Natural session is terminated with a
NAT9980 error message.
Supported environment variables:
NAT_PRINT_ROOT - Path to the
printer files on a PFS or native file system.
NAT_WORK_ROOT - Path to the work
files on a PFS or native file system.
Syntax Example:
NAT_WORK_ROOT=/qualifier/path1/path2 |
Where
qualifier
|
Determines whether a SMARTS portable file system or a native, OS-managed file system will be accessed. |
path1/path2
|
Is the path to the location of the file in the appropriate file sytem. |
To benefit from Com-plete’s recoverable session handling available
under z/OS, you have to link the module NCFROLLS to your front-end
module. NCFROLLS serves as an interface to the
Natural Roll
Server, which has to be started to support recoverable
sessions.
Furthermore, the module ATRRCSS needs not to be linked
to your front-end module, because the RRS interface module is part of the
Com-plete routine TLOPUSER. When a conversational terminal I/O is
to be performed, the Natural thread is written to the Natural roll file in
compressed form to allow resuming the Natural session after a Com-plete
restart. For non-conversational terminal I/Os and thread locked applications,
the Natural thread is not written to the Natural roll file; as a consequence,
such sessions cannot be recovered.
Natural Com-plete/SMARTS Interface supports Natural for zIIP under Com-plete if the prerequisites described in the Natural for zIIP documentation are met.
Natural Com-plete/SMARTS Interface supports the Natural Roll Server. To benefit from this feature, Natural for zIIP under Com-plete and the Natural Roll Server NATRSMvr must be used. In this case the Compression and Decompression of the Natural thread is executed on IBM’s System z Integrated Information Processors (zIIPs), thus reducing the CPU load of the GCPs.
To enable the use of the Natural Roll Server, just start the Natural Roll Server NATRSMvr.
Note:
The notation vr represents the
relevant product version (see also
Version in
the Glossary).