This document describes the use of special functions available with the Natural IMS TM Interface.
The following topics are covered:
Some of these functions require the Natural Authorized Services Manager (ASM).
If the ASM is required, it must have been started before the function is used.
The Natural subsystem used by the ASM must be the same as the one used by the Natural session.
For accounting and monitoring, the SIP server must have been enabled in addition.
The accounting function is only available in dialog-oriented
environments. It is activated by setting the environment table keyword
subparameter ACTACTV
to ON
in the NTIMSPE
macro of the Natural parameter
module.
With each terminal I/O, information about the specific Natural
session is written to the IMS TM log or to SMF, depending on the setting of the
ACTLOG
keyword subparameter in the NTIMSPE
macro.
If the ACTACTV
keyword subparameter is
set to CMD
, a /LOG
command is issued
that writes the accounting record to the IMS TM log. All transaction codes must
therefore be allowed to use the /LOG
command. At the beginning of
each record an 8-byte header is inserted. This header helps to easily select
the accounting records using the IMS TM utility DFSERA10
. The
header string is defined by the environment table keyword subparameter
ACTAHDR
(NTIMSPE
macro).
If the ACTACTV
keyword subparameter is
set to LOG
, the accounting record is written to the IMS TM log
using the LOG
call. With the keyword subparameter
ACTARID
(NTIMSPE
macro), you specify the log code to be used.
If the ACTACTV
subparameter is set to
SMF
, the accounting record is written to SMF using the Authorized
Services Manager. With the ACTARID
subparameter, you
specify the SMF record type to be used.
The following information about each Natural user session is stored with each terminal I/O:
IMS TM ID of the IMS TM system in which the user is active,
LTERM name of the IMS TM terminal on which the session was started,
user ID of the user of the Natural session (taken from the IOPCB),
number of dialog steps currently performed,
currently active transaction code,
currently active PSB name,
current Natural library name to which the user is logged on,
currently active Natural program name,
non-Natural transaction code to which the session is possibly suspended to,
time and date when the session was started,
time and date of the last ENTER operation,
DBID and FNR of the Natural system file (FNAT
) for
this session,
DBID and FNR of the Natural user file (FUSER
) for
this session,
DBID and FNR of the Natural dictionary file (FDIC
)
for this session,
DBID and FNR of the Natural Security system file
(FSEC
) for this session,
DBID and FNR of the Natural spool file (FSPOOL
) for
this session,
DBID and FNR of the Super Natural system file for this session,
last encountered Natural error number,
compressed thread length of the last terminal output.
The information is mapped by the DSECT NIMACTR
. There
are two areas for storing the DBID and FNR of the Natural system files used. In
the first area, one byte is used for each DBID and FNR; this is supported for
compatibility reasons. In the second area, a fullword is used for each DBID and
FNR to support Adabas Version 6 or higher. The accounting record is prefixed
with a length and version field.
Before the accounting record is written to the IMS TM log,
respectively to SMF, the user exit NIIXACCT
is called. You can use
this user exit to tailor the accounting record to your requirements. You may
also append information to the accounting record. In this case, you must set
the length field to the new length.
Since the accounting record is built in the command buffer, the
total length must not exceed the value specified with keyword subparameter
CMBSIZE
(NTIMSPE
macro of the Natural parameter module) minus 17 bytes.
The maximum length allowed is passed as parameter.
If NIIXACCT
returns with a non-zero value in register
15, no accounting record is written.
The monitoring function is only available in dialog-oriented
environments. It is activated by setting the environment table keyword
subparameter MONACTV
to ON
(NTIMSPE
macro in the Natural parameter module)
and uses the SIP function of the Authorized Services Manager. The Natural
subsystem must be the same as the one used by the Natural session to be
monitored.
You can follow the ongoing activity of all Natural sessions which
use the same Natural subsystem by using the Monitoring (M) function of the
SYSTP
utility. For more information on this utility, see
SYSTP in
the Natural Utilities documentation. The
SYSTP
session must also use the same Natural subsystem.
The broadcasting function is only available in dialog-oriented
environments. It is activated by setting the environment table keyword
subparameter BROACTV
to ON
(NTIMSPE
macro in the Natural parameter module)
and uses the SIP function of the Authorized Services Manager.
Once broadcasting is active, it is possible to send broadcast messages to targeted users of a given Natural subsystem. Such users can be:
all users of the Natural subsystem to which the sender is connected;
all users of the Natural subsystem within the same IMS TM system as the sender of the message;
all users of the Natural subsystem within the same IMS TM system as the sender of the message, but additionally restricted to a given transaction code;
all users of the Natural subsystem within the same IMS TM system as the sender of the message, but additionally restricted to a Natural application;
all users of the Natural subsystem within the same IMS TM system
as the sender of the message, but additionally restricted to a Natural
application and to a given FUSER
system file.
When a session comes to a terminal output, a check is made to see whether the session has to receive a message or not. If not, the normal Natural output is sent. If yes, the message is sent instead of the normal output and, when pressing ENTER, the Natural nucleus is instructed to re-send the last screen. In this way, you first see the message and afterwards receive the normal Natural output screen.
If more than one broadcast message is available, the messages are displayed one after the other until the last message has been shown. Afterwards, the normal Natural output screen is displayed.
A broadcast message will be displayed only if its expiration time specified in the message creation procedure has not been exceeded.
When a broadcast message is sent, you must press RESET before you can press ENTER again. All possible attention IDs have the same effect as pressing ENTER.
The utility SYSTP
can be used to
create broadcast messages and to display the contents of all active messages
together with the LTERM/IMSID of the sender. The text of a message is limited
to 72 bytes.
Messages to be broadcast are saved in a pool maintained by the SIP
server. They remain there until you delete them using the SYSTP
utility or until you shut down the Authorized Services Manager.
Warning: When a broadcast message is deleted or created, all expired messages are deleted as well. |
The server environment allows 3GL applications to execute Natural
programs using a call interface. It is available in all supported IMS TM
environments and consists of the Natural IMS TM driver NIISRVD
of
the server call interface NIIBOOTS
and of the service API
NIIPCOM
.
NIISRVD
and NIIBOOTS
are delivered as
source modules and must be assembled and link-edited on your site. For details,
see Installing
the Natural IMS TM Interface on z/OS in the Natural
Installation for z/OS documentation.
The server environment allows you to start a Natural session by
calling NIIBOOTS
from any 3GL program. After the Natural session
has been started, it returns to the calling 3GL program and waits for further
input. The input would normally be expected from CMSYNIN
, which
means that the 3GL program has to simulate Natural's primary input data
set.
It is strongly recommended to always put the server Natural on the
NEXT
line. This allows the next call to NIIBOOTS
to
either execute a Natural command or a Natural program. Otherwise, the next call
to NIIBOOTS would be treated as input for a Natural program which had been
started by a previous call to NIIBOOTS
.
Similarly as with the message-oriented interface, all output
normally written to CMPRINT
is sent to the IMS TM destination
specified with the Natural profile parameter
SENDER
.
For details about special destinations used by the Natural IMS TM Interface,
refer to Sender
Destination in the section Natural under IMS TM -
Environments.
Warning: In an MPP Environment, the same server Natural will be used by all transactions scheduled in this region by default. If you want to use multiple server Naturals in the same MPP region, you must generate multiple server call interfaces. Each server call interface must be generated with a unique name specified with the NIMBOOT parameter
SERVERN and must be linked under a unique name. It is
recommended to name the load module with the name specified with
SERVERN . |
NIIBOOTS
is the default name as used in the
documentation and in the delivered sample programs. This default name can be
changed during installation.
NIIBOOTS
requires the following parameters:
the PSB address (the address of the PCB address list),
the command area,
the reply area.
In the command area, the following may be passed:
the startup parameters,
any Natural command followed by its input data,
the NIIBOOTS
-specific commands, such as
STAT
and REFR
(in
combination with the startup parameters).
The startup parameters are passed in two contiguous 80-byte areas. The first area contains the name of the environment table and the name of the transaction code to be used as follows:
ENV-TAB=environment-table-name TRNCODE=transaction-code-name
The transaction code is only honored if
TRNCODE=ON
is
specified in the NTIMSP
macro in the Natural parameter module. For
details about the usage of the transaction code, refer to the
NIMBOOT
macro in the
section Natural under IMS TM - Configuration).
The second area contains the dynamic Natural parameters with which the Natural session is to be started.
The reply area is the area in which a reply is to be entered from
the executed Natural program using the service API NIIPCOM
.
Each time it is invoked, NIIBOOTS
checks whether the
server Natural has been initialized.
If Natural has not been initialized, a new Natural session is started and the received command is passed to Natural as a dynamic parameter.
If Natural has been initialized, the string received in the command area is passed to Natural as a Natural command or as a Natural program.
The NIIBOOTS
-specific commands
STAT
and REFR
do the
following:
STAT
returns COLD
in
the reply area if Natural has not been initialized and WARM
if it
has been initialized.
REFR
forces the
initialization/reinitialization of Natural, regardless of the current state of
Natural.
It is highly recommended to use an ON ERROR
routine
in the executed Natural programs in order to give back to the calling 3GL
program some information in the reply area using NIIPCOM
.
NIIBOOTS
passes the return code provided by Natural
on the termination of Natural.
To illustrate usage of NIIBOOTS
and
NIIPCOM
, the sample programs NIPBOOTS
and
NIPPCOM
are provided. NIPBOOTS
plays the role of the
calling 3GL program, NIPPCOM
is a sample Natural program executed
in the server environment and writes the string NIISRVR
into the
reply area. The ON ERROR
routine places the Natural error number
in the reply area.
With the sample programs, you can go through the following scenario:
Pass the command STAT
. The string
COLD
is returned to the reply area.
Pass the command: STACK=(LOGON
SYSEXTP),SENDER=S0201
, where S0201
is the LTERM name
of the assigned printer device in the server Natural. Natural will be
initialized and will be ready to receive a Natural command in library
SYSEXTP
. The successful logon message is issued on the assigned
printer. Nothing is returned in the reply area.
Pass the command STAT
. The string
WARM
is returned to the reply area.
Pass the command NIPPCOM
. Program
NIPPCOM
is executed and the string NIPSRVR
is
returned to the reply area. Natural is ready to accept the next command in
library SYSEXTP
.
Pass the command: REFR STACK=(LOGON
SYSEXTP;NIPPCOM),SENDER=S0201
Natural is reinitialized and program NIPPCOM
in
library SYSEXTP
is executed. The reply area contains the string
NIPSRVR
.
Pass the command FIN
. Natural is
terminated and no information is passed to the reply area. The return code will
contain the return code of the Natural termination. The Natural termination
message is issued on the assigned printer device.
Pass the command STAT
. The string
COLD
is returned to the reply area.