This part of the Natural CICS Interface documentation describes the Natural CICS generation parameters.
For the parameters used to start the Natural CICS, see the section CICS Startup Parameters in Installing Natural CICS Interface for z/OS in the Natural Installation documentation.
Where appropriate, any references to CICS tables (DCT, FCT, PCT, PPT, TCT, TST, etc.) can be considered as references to the corresponding:
assembly-type resource definitions,
online resource definitions via CEDA,
batch resource definitions via DFHCSDUP.
Installing Natural CICS Interface for z/OS in the Natural Installation documentation.
SYSTP Utility - Natural utility which provides various TP monitor-specific functions.
For information on operation and the individual components of Natural in a CICS environment, see the following sections in the Operations documentation:
This document covers the following topics:
The Natural CICS Interface system directory is generated by assembling
and linking the NCISCPCB source module; see the corresponding step
in Installing Natural CICS Interface for
z/OS
in the Natural Installation documentation.
NCISCPCB contains the following macros:
The purpose of these macros and the individual parameters which can be
specified in the macros NCMDIR and NCMTGD are
described in the following sections.
The NCMDIR macro is mandatory and must be specified as the
first macro in the NCISCPCB source module. It contains various
options for the system. The individual parameters which can be specified in the
NCMDIR macro are described below.
CICSPLX |
ROLLSRV |
SIPSERV |
SUBSID |
TSKEY |
TSRECSZ |
USERS
This parameter is applicable under z/OS only.
Possible values are:
| Value: | Explanation: |
|---|---|
YES |
The Natural CICS Interface keeps all session relevant data as
the Session Information Records (SIRs) and the session data over a
pseudo-conversational screen I/O outside of a local CICS Application Owning
Region (AOR), thus enabling the switching of CICS AORs.
Setting this parameter to |
MODE |
This setting almost has the same meaning as YES;
the only exception is that CICSPLX=MODE allows an
ADAMODE=0 profile parameter specification, that is, CICS AOR
switching is not possible, but a Natural session may survive the restart of a
CICS AOR in an MRO environment.
|
NO
|
Vital Natural session data is kept in the local CICS AOR, which in fact disables CICS AOR switching. This is the default value. |
Natural PLEX support means that a Natural CICS session removes all its
footprints that exist in a CICS application region at CICS task end, as it
might never come back into this region. Therefore all Natural CICS session
relevant data must be kept outside of a CICS application region, that is,
Natural under CICS passes its session information records (SIRs) to the
Authorized Services
Manager 's SIP handler and the session data to the
Natural Roll
Server at CICS task end. In addition to that, all modules
'held', that is, modules not linked to Natural but directly invoked via
standard linkage conventions as RCA modules or the Adabas linkage module, have
to be released at CICS task end. It also requires that the restart information
is kept in a CICS terminal owning region (TOR) in case of
COMARET=YES, or in a CICS data owning region (DOR), which is
shared by all participating CICS AORs, in case of COMARET=NO, see
the COMARET
parameter for details.
If YES or MODE has been specified, and the
NCMDIR SUBSID parameter has not
been set, the value of the Natural profile parameter
SUBSID in effect for the Natural
session initializing the NCI environment will be taken.
 |
Warning: Setting this parameter to YES or to
MODE automatically sets SIPSERV and the
ROLLSRV
parameters to YES. |
This parameter is applicable under z/OS only.
Possible values are:
| Value: | Explanation: |
|---|---|
NO
|
This is the default value, if CICSPLX=NO and
SIPSERV=NO. If CICSPLX or
SIPSERV is
YES, ROLLSRV=YES is forced.
|
YES |
Specifying YES causes the Natural CICS Interface
to use the Natural Roll
Server as roll facility only.
|
If the Natural Roll Server is to be used to save and restore the
Natural session data over a screen I/O, this parameter must be set to
YES, when the CICSPLX and
SIPSERV
parameters are both set to NO. If YES has been
specified (or forced) and the NCMDIR
SUBSID
parameter has not been set, the value of the Natural profile parameter
SUBSID in
effect for the Natural session initializing the NCI environment will be
taken.
Note that, for the purposes of the Natural CICS Interface, the Natural
profile parameter SUBSID is only honored if it is
specified dynamically or in the Natural parameter module. It is ignored if it
is specified in a parameter string by a profile parameter
SYS or
PROFILE
or in an alternate parameter module (as specified with the profile parameter
PARM).
This parameter is applicable under z/OS only.
Possible values are:
| Value: | Explanation: |
|---|---|
NO
|
This is the default value, if |
YES |
Causes the Natural CICS Interface to keep its session information records (SIRs) in the Authorized Services Manager's session information pool. |
With this parameter set or forced to YES, the Natural
session information records are kept outside a CICS region, thus enabling
Natural to switch a CICS application region after a pseudo-conversational
screen I/O.
If YES is specified (or forced) and the
NCMDIR SUBSID parameter has not
been set, the value of the Natural profile parameter
SUBSID in
effect for the Natural session initializing the NCI environment will be
taken.
Note that, for the purposes of the Natural CICS Interface, the Natural
profile parameter SUBSID is only honored if it is
specified dynamically or in the parameter module. It is ignored if it is
specified in a parameter string by a profile parameter
SYS or
PROFILE
or in an alternate parameter module (as specified with the profile parameter
PARM).
|
Warning: If YES is effective for this parameter, the
ROLLSRV
parameter is forced to YES, unless already specified. |
This parameter is applicable under z/OS only.
Possible values are:
| Value: | Explanation: |
|---|---|
xxxx |
Defines the sub-system ID for the Natural Roll Server and/or for the Authorized Services Manager. |
This parameter defines the Natural sub-system ID to be used for the
Natural Roll Server and/or for
the Authorized Services
Manager. If this parameter is not specified, the value of
the Natural profile parameter SUBSID will be
taken.
Note that, for the purposes of the Natural CICS Interface, the Natural
profile parameter SUBSID is only honored if it is
specified dynamically or in the Natural parameter module. It is ignored if it
is specified in a parameter string by a profile parameter
SYS or
PROFILE
or in an alternate parameter module (as specified with the profile parameter
PARM).
This parameter defines the constant prefixes of the temporary storage queues (see explanation below).
This parameter has the same meaning as the
TSKEY
parameter in the NCIZNEP module (see the Natural
Installation documentation) and must be specified
identically.
Possible values are:
| Value: | Explanation: |
|---|---|
(xxxx,yyyy) |
xxxx defines the prefix
for roll data, whereas yyyy defines the
prefix for pseudo-conversational restart data.
|
(NAT2,NCOM) |
This is the default value. |
When CICS temporary storage (main or auxiliary) is to be used for the
Natural CICS Interface roll facility or for the communication area for
pseudo-conversational Natural tasks (as described with the
NTCICSP macro parameter
COMARET),
names for queues of task dependent unique temporary storage must be
specified.
These queue names consist of a constant 4-byte key and a task-related
key. For terminal-dependent tasks, this task-related key corresponds to the
terminal ID, for asynchronous non-terminal tasks it corresponds the CICS unique
task number. The constant prefix of the temporary storage queue names is
defined by the TSKEY parameter.
The Natural CICS Interface requires two 4-byte prefixes: one for roll
data and one for pseudo-conversational restart data.
xxxx defines the prefix for roll data,
yyyy defines the prefix for
pseudo-conversational restart data. The two prefixes must be different from
each other and exclusive for Natural under CICS.
When running in a CICSplex environment, the CICS temporary storage
prefix for Natural session restart information must be defined in a CICS TST as
REMOTE/SHARED to be accessible in all participating CICS
regions.
This parameter defines the maximum record length for rolling of data if CICS temporary storage is to be used as Natural CICS Interface roll facility.
Possible values are:
| Value: | Explanation: |
|---|---|
(nnnnn,mmmmm) |
The first subparameter nnnnn applies to
CICS main temporary storage and must be in the range of
The second subparameter
A user-defined record size greater than CI size results in fewer (logical) roll I/Os at the expense of additional CICS overhead due to writing spanned records. |
(32748,0) |
This is the default value. |
This parameter specifies the number of session information record slots (SIRs).
Possible values are:
| Value: | Explanation: |
|---|---|
(nnnnn,
mmm) |
The subparameter nnnnn
defines the number of SIRs to be held in the Natural CICS directory module
itself. nnnnn must be in the range from
1 to 32767. When the SIR slots in the directory are
occupied, the Natural CICS Interface acquires a CICS shared storage segment,
large enough to hold the number of SIRs defined by
mmm, which must be in the range from
0 to 255.
If the subparameter If a value other than |
(100,20) |
This is the default value. |
The Natural CICS Interface permanently holds information about all active Natural sessions. Per session a so-called Session Information Record (SIR) is maintained.
These SIRs are kept
in a Coupling Facility when running in a z/OS Parallel Sysplex environment;
in a data space of the Natural Authorized Services Manager when running in multiple CICS regions inside a single z/OS system;
in a CICS region's main storage when running in a single CICS AOR (locally).
However, whenever a Natural session is active in a CICS region, it will occupy a SIR slot in the current application region.
When running locally in a single CICS AOR, the
USERS parameter
applies to all Natural sessions. When running in a CICSplex environment,
USERS applies
to the subset of Natural sessions which is currently active in each of the
participating CICS AORs.
The NCMTGD macro is mandatory and must be specified for
each thread group. The Natural CICS Interface allows you to define groups of
threads. These groups are controlled/chosen by the CICS transaction ID at
session initialization. The common thread size for the various groups may
differ and the groups can have different options. The thread group definitions
are part of the Natural CICS system directory, as they are relevant to the
whole system, not just to a single session.
The individual parameters which can be specified in an
NCMTGD macro are described below.
PFKEY |
PRIMERF |
THRDSZE |
THREADS |
TRAN |
TYPE |
XTRAN
This parameter defines a single CICS transaction or a list of them.
Possible values are:
| Value: | Explanation: |
|---|---|
xxx
|
Possible values for xxx
are: PF1 to PF24, PA1 to
PA3.
|
(xxx,xxx,...)
|
Also a list of keys can be specified. This has to be enclosed
in parantheses, for example, PFKEY=(PF12, PF14).
|
No default value is provided.
When starting a session, the Natural CICS Interface scans through all thread group definitions for the current transaction ID, or PF or PA key. If it cannot be found, the first thread group is taken as default.
|
Warning: At least one transaction ID (in character or hexadecimal format) or one transaction initiating attention identifier must be specified for all groups, except for the first group, which is used as the default group. |
This parameter defines the Natural CICS Interface primary roll facility
for all tasks defined in the associated thread group. Therefore, this parameter
does not apply to thread groups with TYPE=NONE.
Possible values are:
| Value: | Explanation: |
|---|---|
VSAM |
The Natural CICS Interface VSAM RRDS roll files are taken as the primary roll facility. CICS auxiliary temporary storage is considered as the secondary roll facility, which means that it is used if all primary roll files become full or unavailable. |
AUX |
CICS auxiliary temporary storage is taken as primary roll facility of the Natural CICS Interface. |
MAIN |
CICS main temporary storage is taken as Natural CICS Interface primary roll facility. |
NONE |
The associated sessions do not roll at all. NONE
is not valid for TYPE=SHR groups and for groups with
TYPE=ALIAS redefining TYPE=SHR groups.
|
No default value is provided.
This parameter is ignored when using the
Natural Roll
Server; if you force a Natural session with Roll Server to
run conversationally with no rolling, value NONE is taken.
Points to be observed:
PRIMERF=VSAM and PRIMERF=AUX have the same
effect, when no VSAM RRDS roll file is available in the CICS system.
PRIMERF=AUX and PRIMERF=MAIN have the same
effect, when auxiliary temporary storage is not defined in the CICS system.
If auxiliary temporary storage is not defined in the CICS system, a
specification of PRIMERF=VSAM implies that CICS main temporary
storage is considered as secondary roll facility, in case the VSAM RRDS roll
files become unavailable or full.
If CICS main temporary storage is to be used as roll facility, the
record size is defined by the TSRECSZ parameter.
Important:
Note that sessions that are associated with thread groups
defined with PRIMERF=NONE cannot roll due to the lack of a roll facility and
are therefore conversational by design.
This parameter defines the common thread size for
TYPE=GETM and
TYPE=SHR groups.
Possible values are:
| Value: | Explanation: |
|---|---|
nnn
|
The thread size nnn can
be equal to 40 or greater.
|
No default value is provided.
Note that this parameter defines the logical thread size that
is available to Natural. However, the Natural CICS Interface NCI adds another 2
KB to the logical thread size for internal administration purposes. This means
that the physical thread size or length of the thread
GETMAIN request is by 2 KB greater than the
THRDSZE value.
In case of TYPE=GETM,
additional 16 bytes for the heading and trailing CICS storage accounting areas
(SAAs) have to be considered.
Important Notes:
For GETMAINs of more than 512 KB, CICS aligns these
storages at MB boundaries.
When using transaction isolation (z/OS only), CICS internally uses 1 MB "pages" in the EUDSA (see the CICS Performance Guide for details).
These two facts lead to storage fragmentation and should be kept in mind when setting an appropriate EDSALIM in CICS.
This parameter specifies the number of threads or tasks as described below.
Possible values are:
| Value: | Explanation: |
|---|---|
nnn
|
The number of threads can be equal to 510 or
less.
|
No default value is provided.
For TYPE=SHR
thread groups, the THREADS parameter is mandatory and
defines the number of threads which are to be allocated via
GETMAIN (SVC or SHARED, depending on CICS version) during
installation.
For TYPE=GETM and TYPE=NONE thread groups,
the THREADS parameter is optional and determines the
maximum number of concurrently active Natural tasks per thread group. For these
thread group types, the THREADS parameter does not
control storage usage in contrast to TYPE=SHR thread groups (see
also Controlling
Storage Usage).
The number of threads or the number of tasks per thread group is defined by providing thread control blocks (TCBs).
While for TYPE=SHR thread groups, each thread is closely
connected to its TCB. Threads are shared by queueing up on the associated TCB.
Thread groups of TYPE=GETM and TYPE=NONE only queue
up on a TCB to get active.
While sessions with TYPE=SHR thread groups compete for
threads, the other session types compete for TCBs with a thread already
allocated (TYPE=GETM) or with no allocated thread at all
(TYPE=NONE).
When the THREADS parameter is non-zero, the
Natural profile parameters DBROLL and
MAXROLL
and the calls to CMROLL are handled differently for TYPE=GETM/NONE
thread groups: As threads cannot be released, the TCB resource held is
released, which activates the session with the session data kept in
storage.
This parameter defines a single CICS transaction or a list of them.
Possible values are:
| Value: | Explanation: |
|---|---|
| (see below) | One or more CICS transaction codes defined in the PCT for Natural. |
No default value is provided.
The TRAN parameter expects transaction IDs to be
in character format; transaction IDs with non-alphanumeric characters have to
be enclosed in apostrophes.
When starting a session, the Natural CICS Interface scans through all thread group definitions for the current transaction ID, or PF or PA key. If it cannot be found, the first thread group is taken as default.
A list of transaction IDs has to be enclosed in paranteses, for
example, TRAN=(NATU, XYZ).
|
Warning: At least one transaction ID (in character or hexadecimal format) or one transaction initiating attention identifier must be specified for all groups, except for the first group, which is used as the default group. |
This parameter defines which type of thread is to be used for a given group.
Possible values are:
| Value: | Explanation: |
|---|---|
SHR
|
CICS shared storage threads are used. The threads available for a thread group are shared by all CICS transactions defined for this group. Thread selection when starting a CICS task is done by an ENQUEUE/DEQUEUE technique. If currently no thread is available, a wait queue for this thread group is maintained. This is the default value. When running in a z/OS Parallel Sysplex environment, the Natural
parameter |
GETM |
Threads allocated via GETMAIN are used, which
means that a thread is actually acquired performing a CICS GETMAIN
operation - EXEC CICS GETMAIN FLENGTH - with the thread group's
common thread size. Using threads allocated via GETMAIN, each
Natural task has exclusive thread storage available until it is terminated;
that is, for pseudo-conversational tasks from screen I/O to screen I/O.
If the Natural parameter |
NONE |
No threads are used by transactions defined in this thread
group and all Natural GETMAIN requests are directly passed to CICS
for an EXEC CICS GETMAIN FLENGTH request. By design, such tasks
cannot roll and are therefore conversational.
|
ALIAS |
The current NCMTGD macro provides different
options for the thread group defined by the previous NCMTGD macro
specification. However, only thread groups of TYPE=GETM and
TYPE=SHR can be redefined by one or more NCMTGD
TYPE=ALIAS macro requests.
Up to 99 thread groups are supported, which means that up to 99
|
This parameter is equivalent to the TRAN parameter, but it
expects the transaction ID to be in hexadecimal format.
Possible values are:
| Value: | Explanation: |
|---|---|
| (see below) | Possible values: one or more CICS transaction codes defined in the PCT for Natural. |
No default value is provided.
A list of transaction IDs in hexadecimal format has to be enclosed in
parantheses, for example, XTRAN=(D5C1E3E4, E7E8E9).
|
Warning: At least one transaction ID (in character or hexadecimal format) or one transaction initiating attention identifier must be specified for all groups, except for the first group, which is used as the default group. |
The NTSWPRM macro is used to define the various aspects of
the swap pool. If no swap pool is to be used, omit this macro. For more
information, see Natural Swap
Pool in the Natural Operations documentation.
The parameters required for Natural CICS Interface are generated by
assembling the Natural
parameter module which holds the required NTCICSP macro
definitions. See also the corresponding step in Installing Natural
CICS Interface for
z/OS
in the Natural Installation documentation.
The purpose of the NTCICSP macro and the parameters which
can be specified in it are described in the following section.
The NTCICSP parameter macro is contained in the
Natural parameter
module. It determines all Natural session options that are relevant
in a CICS environment. This macro is part of the Natural parameter module which
is created in the corresponding step in Installing Natural CICS
Interface for
z/OS
in the Natural Installation documentation.
The individual parameters of the NTCICSP macro are
described below.
BACKEND |
BACKOUT |
BACKRPL |
CALLRPL |
CHAP |
CNTCALL |
COMARET |
DIRNAME |
DUPTID |
FDTPX |
LOGDEST |
MEMOBJR |
MSGDEST |
MSGPFX |
MSGTRAN |
PREFIX |
PRMDEST |
PSTRNID |
RCVASYN |
RESENDC |
RESENDS |
RJEDEST |
SLCALL |
SLNOHLD |
SNDLAST |
STORVIO |
TERMVAR |
TIOBSZ |
TRANCHK |
TTYCNSL |
UCTRAN |
UNITID |
USERID
This parameter defines whether a specified back-end program or transaction is to be invoked after the session has terminated (normally or abnormally).
The BACKEND parameter has two sub-parameters.
The second sub-parameter is optional. It controls if a back-end program is to
be invoked in the event of a terminal error. This also includes session
clean-up tasks started by NEP.
Possible values are ON/OFF for both sub-parameters, but
the default values are different.
| Value: | Explanation: |
|---|---|
ON
|
Same as This is the default if the When a back-end program is invoked, the Natural termination
message and return code are passed to the CICS transaction work area (TWA). In
addition, the same information can be passed to a CICS COMMAREA, as described
with the |
(ON,ON) |
Same as |
OFF
|
Forces BACKEND=(OFF,OFF). A potential back-end
program or transaction is only invoked if the Natural session has been
terminated normally; that is, with a Natural termination message.
|
This parameter defines whether the Natural CICS Interface is to perform
a transaction backout by means of an EXEC CICS SYNCPOINT ROLLBACK
call or not.
Possible values are:
| Value: | Explanation: |
|---|---|
ON
|
All pending file updates are backed out. This is the default value. |
OFF |
All pending file updates are committed. |
Because of its abnormal termination exit, the Natural CICS Interface
intercepts all abends. If an abend is not recoverable, all resources of the
abending session are released and the session is terminated via EXEC CICS
RETURN; that is, it is terminated "normally" in terms of
CICS. Thus, at the end of the task, "pending" file updates are not
automatically backed out by CICS.
This parameter controls where and how the back-end parameters are passed to a back-end program.
Possible values are:
| Value: | Explanation: |
|---|---|
ALL |
This is the default.
The Natural back-end parameter area mapped by macro
|
COMA
|
The Natural back-end parameter area mapped by macro
NAMBCKP (including potential termination data) is passed in a CICS
COMMAREA only, not in the CICS TWA.
|
DATA |
The Natural back-end parameter area mapped by macro
NAMBCKP is passed in the CICS TWA only, a CICS COMMAREA just holds
potential termination data; if no termination data is available, no COMMAREA is
passed.
|
TWA |
The Natural back-end parameter area mapped by macro
NAMBCKP is passed in the CICS TWA only, no CICS COMMAREA is
passed.
|
Notes:
BACKRPL parameter replaces and
supersedes the old NCIPARM parameter
COMAMSG.
This parameter controls where and how the CALL parameter
lists are passed to external subroutine programs.
Possible values for the first sub-parameter are:
| Value: | Explanation: |
|---|---|
ALL |
This is the default.
The Natural parameter list addresses are passed both in the CICS TWA and in a CICS COMMAREA; the length of the passed COMMAREA is controlled by the second sub-parameter. |
COMA
|
The Natural parameter list addresses are passed in a CICS COMMAREA only, not in the CICS TWA; the length of the passed COMMAREA is controlled by the second sub-parameter. |
TWA |
The Natural parameter list addresses are passed in the CICS TWA
only, not in a CICS COMMAREA; that is, the COMMAREA length then is
0.
|
Possible values for the second sub-parameter are:
| Value: | Explanation: |
|---|---|
2 |
This is the default.
Only the parameter address list address and the field description
list address (R1 and R2, as described with the |
3
|
The field length list address (R3, as described with the
CALL statement) is passed in addition in a COMMAREA; that is, the
COMMAREA length is 12.
|
4 |
The field length list address and the large field length list
address (R4, as described with the CALL statement) are passed in
addition in a COMMAREA; that is, the COMMAREA length is
16.
|
Example:
CALLRPL=(ALL,2)
This is the default setting.
Notes:
CALLRPL parameter replaces and
supersedes the old NCIPARM parameters
COMACAL and FLDLEN.
ALL or COMA.
0, the
last parameter address passed gets a flag saying it is the last address in the
list. This flag is set in the high order bit in the address field.
CALLRPL parameter does not apply, when
passing parameter values in a CICS COMMAREA (%P=C); a CICS
COMMAREA then is used regardless of the CALLRPL
parameter setting.
This parameter defines how the Natural CICS Interface is to treat
long-running tasks reaching the DBROLL and/or MAXROLL
call limits.
Possible values are:
| Value: | Explanation: |
|---|---|
ON |
The task's dispatching priority is decremented by 1 every time
it reaches the DBROLL and/or MAXROLL call limits. The
original task dispatching priority is re-established at the next screen
I/O.
|
OFF
|
The session is suspended. This is the default value. |
With SET CONTROL 'P=C' the CALL statement parameter data is
passed in a CICS COMMAREA on the EXEC CICS LINK rather than
parameter data pointers. As a CICS COMMAREA is limited to 32 KB, EXEC
CICS LINK with a COMMAREA greater than 32 KB will fail due to a LENGERR
condition.
The CNTCALL parameter enables you to
automatically use a container on EXEC CICS LINK when the data to
be passed exceeds the maximum COMMAREA length of 32 KB. This functionality only
works if the CICS Transaction Server in your z/OS environment supports channels
and containers.
The default container name then is NCI-COMMAREA unless
explicitly specified via the application programming interface
USR4204N prior to the Natural CALL statement.
Possible values are:
| Value: | Explanation: |
|---|---|
ON |
When the COMMAREA data would exceed 32 KB, the Natural CICS
Interface automatically uses a CICS container on the EXEC CICS LINK, using
NCI-COMMAREA as default name.
|
OFF
|
When the COMMAREA data would exceed 32 KB, the Natural
|
This parameter defines whether the Natural CICS Interface is to take advantage of the CICS command level COMMAREA facility when terminating and restarting pseudo- conversational tasks.
Possible values are:
| Value: | Explanation: |
|---|---|
ON
|
A pseudo-conversational Natural task saves its restart information
into a CICS COMMAREA, unless it has been invoked with This is the default value. |
OFF |
Forces Natural to place its restart information into CICS main temporary storage, which results in more overhead because of additional CICS service calls necessary to place and retrieve this information. The CICS temporary storage key used consists of a prefix string
(as defined with the |
Actually the COMARET parameter can provide
compatibility to Natural Version 1 in terms of where to put
pseudo-conversational restart data.
This parameter specifies the name of the Natural CICS Interface system directory module.
Possible values are:
| Value: | Explanation: |
|---|---|
| (see below) | Any valid module name. |
prefixCB |
prefix is the common prefix for
programs and files, see This is the default value. |
The first 5 characters of the directory module name are also used as part of CICS temporary storage queue names related to the relevant NCI environment. So when running more than one Natural CICS environment in a CICS region, the relevant system directory module names must be different in the first 5 characters.
Note that the specified or defaulted Natural CICS Interface system
directory module name may be modified at run-time via the NCI system directory
module name exit interface NCIDIREX. This makes it possible
to use the same NCI driver/Natural parameter module, but use different NCI
environments (thread groups/thread sizes, etc.) depending for example on CICS
system ID, transaction ID.
The Natural CICS Interface requires unique terminal IDs, because the terminal ID is the key for its session information records (SIRs). This is normally guaranteed for a single CICS region, but not necessarily over several CICS regions sharing the same SIP server.
The DUPTID parameter determines how the Natural
CICS Interface has to deal with duplicate terminal IDs, that is, when a new
session is to be started and an SIR already exists for this terminal ID.
Possible values are:
| Value: | Explanation: |
|---|---|
ON
|
If a duplicate terminal ID is encountered, the Natural CICS
Interface internally forces the old session to terminate and, after that,
starts a new session.
This is the default value. |
OFF |
When an SIR already exists for the new session's terminal ID,
the Natural CICS Interface terminates the new session and issues the message
NS19. For an explanation and remedial actions, see
Natural under CICS Messages,
SCP
Processing Errors in the Messages and
Codes documentation.
|
A terminal ID exit interface is available to create unique 8-character terminal IDs, for example, by appending the 4-character CICS system ID to the physical 4-character CICS terminal ID, which results in a logical Natural terminal ID.
This parameter determines whether the NCIDTPEX terminal I/O exit
interface is called for all types of terminal used in your environment.
Possible values are:
| Value: | Explanation: |
|---|---|
ON
|
The NCIDTPEX interface is called for all terminal
types.
|
OFF |
The NCIDTPEX interface is only called for
distributed transaction processing (DTP) using APPC or MRO conversions.
This is the default value. |
For detailed information on NCIDTPEX, see
NCIDTPEX - DTP Terminal I/O Exit
Interface in the section Natural CICS Interface
Functionality.
This parameter specifies the name of a CICS destination, where the Natural CICS Interface writes its session log records to.
Possible values are:
| Value: | Explanation: |
|---|---|
name
|
Any valid destination name. |
NLOG |
This is the default value. |
A CICS destination control table entry must be defined for the optional Natural CICS log data set.
In later versions of CICS TS, main temporary storage queues are allocated above the bar. When using CICS main temporary storage, roll data is split into temporary storage queue items with a maximum size of 32 KB each.
In newer versions of CICS TS (see also the current Natural Release Notes), CICS also supports the useage of memory objects for CICS applications. Allocating CICS memory objects for roll data means less overhead since the roll data must not be split.
Possible values are:
| Value: | Explanation: |
|---|---|
ON
|
Data is rolled by using CICS memory objects if supported by the
CICS version installed at your site.
This is the default value. |
OFF |
Data is rolled into CICS main temporary storage. |
This parameter specifies the name of the CICS destination to be used by the Natural CICS Interface for NCI informational messages and to log the Natural session termination message if a session terminates abnormally.
Possible values are:
| Value: | Explanation: |
|---|---|
name
|
Any valid destination name |
NERR
|
This is the default value. |
Since these messages are in character format, any already available
CICS destination (for example, CSSL) can be used rather than
defining a new one.
The Natural CICS Interface uses a prefix for all messages it sends to
the MSGDEST destination. This prefix has a length of approximately
48 bytes and comprises the following information:
NCI message number,
CICS region SYSID,
terminal ID or the string ASYN for non-terminal
tasks,
user ID,
transaction ID,
date and time.
By default, the message prefix is also appended to those messages which
are output through CMWTL.
Possible values are:
| Value: | Explanation: |
|---|---|
ON
|
The NCI message prefix is appended to all
messages which are issued through CMWTL.
This is the default value. |
OFF |
The NCI message prefix is not appended to the
messages which are issued through CMWTL. The messages are issued
unchanged.
|
This parameter specifies the transaction ID internally used by the Natural message switching and asynchronous session flushing facilities.
This parameter has the same meaning as the
MSGTRAN
parameter in the NCIZNEP module (see the Natural
Installation documentation) and must be specified
identically.
Possible values are:
| Value: | Explanation: |
|---|---|
| (see below) | Any valid CICS transaction ID. |
NMSG
|
This is the default value. |
This transaction ID must be different from any transaction ID used to invoke Natural, and it must be defined in CICS.
This parameter defines a common module prefix for the Natural CICS
components as the Natural CICS system directory
prefixCB, the CICS 3270 Bridge
XFAINTU exit prefixXFA,
the VSAM roll files
prefixRn,
where n =1 - 9, and system control
records in CICS main temporary storage holding information about all permanent
GETMAIN storages by the Natural CICS Interface as local pools and shared
threads. The TS control record keys are of the form
prefixXCR, where
X is an unprintable character. In
general, it is good practice to use this common prefix for all programs that
relate to the Natural CICS Interface, for example,
prefixDRV for the Natural CICS
Interface module, prefixNEP for the
Natural CICS Interface node error program.
Possible values are:
| Value: | Explanation: |
|---|---|
XXXXX
|
The prefix can be 1 to 5 bytes long and must conform to the naming conventions for programs and files. |
No default value is provided.
This parameter specifies the name of a CICS destination containing Natural dynamic profile parameters.
Possible values are:
| Value: | Explanation: |
|---|---|
name
|
Any valid destination name |
NPRM
|
This is the default value. |
At system initialization time, the Natural CICS Interface retrieves
Natural dynamic profile parameters and saves them in its environment. At
session start, potential other profile parameters (entered by way of terminal
input or by a front-end caller) are concatenated at the end of the parameter
string which was retrieved from the PRMDEST destination, that is,
explicit dynamic profile parameters can be used to overwrite the Natural CICS
Interface system profile parameters read from PRMDEST.
A CICS destination control table entry must be defined for the optional Natural CICS Interface profile parameter input destination, normally an extra partition destination.
When a Natural task is activated by a front-end program, the
PSTRNID parameter determines, how the Natural system
variable *INIT-PROGRAM
is set.
Possible values are:
| Value: | Explanation: |
|---|---|
ON |
*INIT-PROGRAM is set to the
actual transaction ID used for Natural CICS pseudo-conversational task
processing, which is not necessarily the transaction ID of the task which
originally started the Natural session.
This is the default value. |
OFF |
*INIT-PROGRAM is set to the
transaction ID of the task, which originally started the Natural
session.
|
This parameter defines how the Natural CICS Interface treats asynchronous sessions.
Possible values are:
| Value: | Explanation: |
|---|---|
ON |
This is the default value.
The Natural CICS Interface forces some Natural profile parameter settings for non-terminal sessions to prevent unexpected input or abends due to NT06, NT11 or other I/O errors.
|
OFF |
The Natural CICS Interface does not do anything specific for non-terminal sessions; it is the user's responsibility to set appropriate Natural profile parameters for an asynchronous Natural session; see Asynchronous Natural Processing. |
Natural optimizes the 3270 output data stream by default. The screen imaging technique used by Natural makes it possible for Natural to always remember the map most recently sent. Thus, when sending a new map, Natural actually sends "updates" of the old map only. With this logic, a screen image can get destroyed by 3GL programs called by Natural which perform screen I/Os themselves.
Possible values are:
| Value: | Explanation: |
|---|---|
ON
|
The Natural CICS Interface checks whether any called 3GL
programs have performed screen I/Os. If so, the Natural CICS Interface causes
Natural to send a full screen with the next screen I/O.
This is the default value. |
OFF |
The Natural CICS Interface causes Natural to send only updates. |
Natural optimizes the 3270 output data stream by default. The screen imaging technique used by Natural makes it possible that Natural always remembers the map most recently sent. Thus, Natural only sends "updates" when sending a new map, too. With this logic a screen image can get destroyed, for example, by message switching (CICS CMSG transaction) during pseudo-conversational screen I/O.
Possible values are:
| Value: | Explanation: |
|---|---|
ON
|
During the Natural session, the Natural CICS Interface also
recognizes screen I/Os from outside and causes Natural to re-send the screen
most recently issued.
This is the default value. |
OFF |
Natural only sends "updates" when sending a new map. |
The parameter applies to z/OS-type operating systems only.
Possible values are:
| Value: | Explanation: |
|---|---|
| (see below) | Destination name. |
NRJE
|
This is the default value. |
RJEDEST specifies the destination name
of the CICS extra partition destination used by the NATRJE utility
for submitting jobs via the JES internal reader facility.
|
Warning: An appropriate CICS destination must be defined in the CICS DCT and start-up JCL; see also the corresponding step in Installing Natural CICS Interface for z/OS in the Natural Installation documentation. Function code L or B
(parm3 of the NATRJE CALL statement)
must be set for the last NATRJE call.When L is specified and nrje is
an extra partition destination, the destination is closed, which in turn
triggers the start of the internal reader.When B is
specified and nrje is an indirect
destination, the destination is not closed; in this case, a trailing
/*EOF card must be submitted in order to trigger the start of the
internal reader. |
For further information on the Natural NATRJE utility,
refer to the Natural Utilities
documentation.
The Natural CALL
statement invokes a dynamic non-Natural program using CICS conventions, that
is, via an EXEC CICS LINK. A dynamic non-Natural program can also
be invoked with standard linkage conventions (for example,
BALR/BASR/BASSM 14,15) if an appropriate indicator is set in the
Natural program before the CALL statement is executed; see also
the terminal command %P=S,
%P=SC,
%P=L and
%P=LS.
|
Warning: The terminal commands %P=S, %P=SC,
%P=L and %P=LS bypass the
SLCALL automatism of using a certain linkage
convention. |
SLCALL enables you to automatically use a
certain linkage convention. This is particularly relevant in CICS systems where
the CICS macro level API is no longer supported, which is the case in CICS
Version 3.2 or above and in all CICS/TS
versions.
Possible values are:
| Value: | Explanation: |
|---|---|
ON |
The Natural CICS Interface determines whether the module to be
called is a valid CICS command level program by looking for the string
DFH at the module's load point. If DFH is found, the
program is invoked via an EXEC CICS LINK. If DFH is
not found, the module is treated according to standard linkage conventions and
is invoked via BALR/BASSM 14,15.
|
OFF
|
The linkage convention is not used. This is the default value. |
This parameter defines how the Natural CICS Interface treats non-LE external programs to be invoked via standard linkage conventions (that is, dynamic non-CICS programs and RCA programs) in a non-CICSPlex environment.
Possible values are:
| Value: | Explanation: |
|---|---|
ON
|
This is the default value.
The Natural CICS Interface loads all non-LE external programs to
be invoked via standard linkage conventions (including RCA programs) via
|
OFF |
This is how Natural worked eversince.
The Natural CICS Interface loads all non-LE external programs to
be invoked via standard linkage conventions (including RCA programs) via
|
This parameter is useful for SNA terminals (LUTYPE2) with
bracket protocol to force "end bracket" for pseudo-conversational
screen I/Os.
Possible values are:
| Value: | Explanation: |
|---|---|
ON
|
The LAST option is used for EXEC
CICS SEND commands before the task terminates in
pseudo-conversational mode.
This is the default value. |
OFF |
The LAST option is not used.
|
This parameter provides for a storage violation trap for external
program calls with call option %P=C(C).
| Value: | Explanation: | |
|---|---|---|
OFF |
The storage violation trap is
deactivated.
This is the default value. |
|
(mm,nn) |
The storage violation trap is
activated by specifying any STORVIO sub-parameter.
The first sub-parameter specifies a tolerance value in the range from 0 to 255: the storage size for the extra %C(C) GETMAIN is increased by this value to try to prevent real CICS storage violations. The second sub-parameter specifies, how to react on a detected storage violation. Possible values: |
|
0 |
Just a NCI0250 storage violation message is
issued, no other special interaction.
This is the default value for sub-parameters. |
|
1 - 32767 |
In addition to the NCI0250 message, a NAT0920
condition is raised with the specified value passed as reason code; as in the
CICS world the NAT0920 reason code normally holds the EIBRESP value of a
failing EXEC CICS LOAD or LINK request, it is
recommended not to specify a value in the range of valid CICS EIBRESP
values, that is, better leave values 1 to 255 to
CICS.
|
|
32768 or higher
|
In addition to the NCI0250 message, an S0C3 abend is forced, which raises a NAT0954 condition. | |
This parameter enables a Natural user to have exclusive Natural work files under CICS without having to know the terminal ID.
Possible values are:
| Value: | Explanation: |
|---|---|
xxxx
|
Variable xxxx is a
four-character string. See explanation below.
|
&TID
|
This is the default value. |
As terminal IDs are unique in a CICS system, exclusive work files in
CICS temporary storage usually contain the CICS terminal ID. The parameter
TERMVAR allows you to define a variable. If this
variable is found in a work file name, it will be replaced by the actual
terminal ID. Strings with non-alphanumeric characters must be enclosed in
apostrophes (').
Note that for non-terminal sessions the packed CICS task number is used as a logical terminal ID.
|
Warning: The variable string must not contain the substring '**', because Natural will replace this substring with the work
file number, which makes it impossible to insert the terminal ID. |
Specifies the size of the Natural terminal I/O buffer.
Possible values are:
| Value: | Explanation: |
|---|---|
8 - 60 |
Size of the terminal I/O buffer in KB. |
16
|
This is the default value. |
If a connection to a CICS session gets lost or dropped (for example under VM or, when a session manager is installed) without having terminated the session, another user can get into this open session when calling CICS. Usually, the first action of a user in a CICS environment is to enter a transaction ID.
Possible values are:
| Value: | Explanation: |
|---|---|
ON |
The Natural CICS Interface checks whether the first 4 bytes of the transaction ID entered by the user matches the Natural transaction ID. If so, the Natural CICS Interface assumes a "restart" after a connection has been lost or dropped. All resources of the "old" session are freed and a new session is started. |
OFF
|
Data entered by the user are not checked for the Natural transaction ID. This is the default value. |
This parameter is for compatibility with previous versions of the
Natural CICS Interface. It controls session and device characteristics for
Natural sessions started through a console device by using, for example, the
MODIFY command.
Possible values are:
| Value: | Explanation: |
|---|---|
ON
|
The *DEVICE
system variable is set to TTY: communication with the console is
in 3270 data stream holding TTY control orders.
The |
OFF
|
The *DEVICE
system variable is set to BATCH forcing batch/command-line mode:
each line is output separately to the console by an EXEC CICS
WRITE OPERATOR command.
The This is the default value. |
This parameter enables or disables the lower/mixed case support by the Natural CICS Interface.
Possible values are:
| Value: | Explanation: |
|---|---|
ON
|
Same as UCTRAN=(ON,ON). NCI lower/mixed case
support is fully enabled.
This is the default value. |
OFF
|
Same as UCTRAN=(OFF,ON). NCI lower/mixed case
support is disabled for pseudo-conversational screen I/Os.
|
The first subparameter controls NCI mixed case support after a pseudo-conversational screen I/O, while the second subparameter controls NCI mixed case support after a conversational screen I/O; the latter also includes NTC uploads.
To accomplish lower/mixed case support for pseudo-conversational
Natural sessions, it is necessary that the terminal input be not already
translated to upper case before the Natural nucleus gets control. Therefore,
the Natural CICS Interface by default switches terminals defined with
UCTRAN(ON) into mixed mode (UCTRAN(TRANID)) for the
lifetime of the Natural session.
As for security reasons any modification of CICS definitions/control
blocks may not be desired, the Natural CICS Interface can be prevented from
modifying a terminal's upper case translation status by setting this
NTCICSP parameter UCTRAN to
OFF. If so, the user must define a terminal as running in
"lower case" (CICS TYPETERM parameter
UCTRAN(TRANID/OFF)) to be able to use the Natural lower/mixed case
support.
As all CICS versions supported by the current Natural Version provide
"case switching" on transaction level via the
UCTRAN parameter in a transaction's
PROFILE, this NTCICSP parameter should be set to
OFF, thus leaving lower/mixed case support to CICS.
Note:
In CICS, the combination of the UCTRAN
parameters in both TYPETERM and PROFILE definitions
determine how CICS treats the terminal input of a pseudo-conversational
transaction (for details see CICS Resource Definition Manual or others).
Therefor it is always advisable that mainly the PROFILE associated
to a transaction defines the required upper case translation status thus making
an application unaffected by any TYPETERM upper case translation
mode changes.
Lower/mixed case support for conversational I/Os means that the Natural
CICS Interface uses the "as is" option on the CICS terminal input
requests (CONVERSE/RECEIVE ASIS). If the second subparameter is
set to OFF, the Natural CICS Interface does the conversational
CICS terminal input requests without the "as is" option,
This parameter helps to make the CICS terminal ID for Natural purposes unique over more than one CICS region.
Possible values are:
| Value: | Explanation: |
|---|---|
ON |
The Natural CICS Interface appends a CICS system ID (local
SYSID if no MRO, otherwise TOR SYSID) to the 4-byte
CICS terminal ID, thus creating an 8-byte logical terminal ID.
|
OFF
|
The Natural CICS Interface uses the CICS terminal ID as it is. This is the default value. |
This parameter is of interest when resources are shared as SIP server or roll server by several CICS regions, particularly in non-CICSplex: If the same terminal IDs are used in several CICS environments, this parameter helps to provide unique terminal IDs for Natural. Inside the Natural CICS Interface, Natural terminal IDs are 8-byte fields, and a combination of 8-byte terminal ID and 8-byte CICS user ID is taken as key for SIP and the roll server.
The result of this parameter is used by the Natural CICS Interface for
the session key and the roll server key and by Natural for the system variable
*INIT-ID.
Notes:
NCITIDEX) possibly will
post-process that logical terminal ID.
NCIUIDEX and
NATUEX1) may
post-process the *INIT-ID
system variable.
NATSPOOL, or a user ID exit should be used to post-process the
*INIT-ID for printers.
UNITID=ON is forced for
asynchronous tasks with the CICS task number taken as terminal ID.
This parameter defines how Natural under CICS should deal with a CICS user ID for a Natural session.
The first subparameter is for terminal bound CICS sessions, the second subparameter for non-terminal, that is, asynchronous, DPLEd, etc. CICS sessions, the third subparameter is for program-to-program sessions, that is, DTP, APPC.
Possible values are:
| Value: | Explanation: |
|---|---|
ANY |
Any non-blank value returned by EXEC CICS ASSIGN USERID
(..) is considered to be valid.
This is the default value. |
ON
|
A non-blank value returned by EXEC CICS ASSIGN USERID
(..) is considered to be valid if it is different from the CICS default
user ID and, for terminal bound sessions only, if the user has signed on in
CICS.
|
OFF |
The value returned by EXEC CICS ASSIGN USERID (..)
is ignored.
|
When a CICS user ID is invalid or ignored, the edited (unpacked) CICS task number is taken for non-terminal, that is, asynchronous or DPLed, etc., CICS sessions; for terminal bound sessions, the 3-byte CICS operator ID is taken when it is non-blank, otherwise the CICS terminal ID is taken; for DTP sessions the pseudo terminal ID is taken.
Notes:
NATUEX1 or
Natural CICS user ID exit interface NCIUIDEX may be used to
customize the content of the system variable
*INIT-USER.
USERID parameter replaces the old
NCIPARM parameter SIGNON.