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 on 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 on 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 on 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
COMARET
parameter of the NTCICSP
macro), 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 GETMAIN
s 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. The Natural parameter module is created in the corresponding
installation step in Installing Natural CICS
Interface on z/OS in the Natural
Installation documentation.
The NTCICSP
macro determines all Natural session options
that are relevant in a CICS environment. The individual parameters contained in
the NTCICSP
macro are described in
CICSP - Environment Parameters for
Natural CICS Interface in the Parameter
Reference documentation.