Natural CICS Generation Parameters

This part of the Natural CICS Interface documentation describes the Natural CICS generation parameters.

The following topics are covered:

Related Documents

NCISCPCB Generation Parameters

The Natural CICS Interface system directory is generated by assembling and linking the NCISCPCB source module; see the corresponding step in Installing the Natural CICS Interface on z/OS in the Natural Installation for z/OS documentation or Installing the Natural CICS Interface on z/VSE in the Natural Installation for z/VSE 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.

NCMDIR Macro Parameters

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

CICSPLX - Switching of CICS Application Region

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 YES also requires the profile parameter ADAMODE to be set to greater than 0.

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.

ROLLSRV - Roll Server Rolling

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 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).

SIPSERV - Authorized Services Manager's Session Information Pool

This parameter is applicable under z/OS only.

Possible values are:

Value: Explanation:
NO

This is the default value, if CICSPLX=NO. If CICSPLX is not NO, SIPSERV=YES is forced.

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.

SUBSID - Sub-System ID

This parameter is applicable under z/OS only.

Possible values are:

Value: Explanation:
SUBSID=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 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).

TSKEY - Prefixes for Natural CICS Temporary Storage Key

This parameter defines the constant prefixes of the temporary storage queues (see explanation below).

Possible values are:

Value: Explanation:
TSKEY=(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 NCMPRM 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.

TSRECSZ - Record Sizes for Main and Auxiliary Temporary Storage

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 4096 to 32763 or 0 or one of the keywords MAX, YES or NO;

  • if numeric non-zero, this value is used unconditionally;

  • if set to 0 or NO, CICS main temporary storage cannot be used for a Natural roll facility;

  • if set to MAX or YES, a record size of 32763 is taken.

The second subparameter mmmmm applies to CICS auxiliary temporary storage and must be in the range of 3976 to 32763 or 0 or one of the keywords MAX, YES or NO;

  • if numeric non-zero, this value is used unconditionally; if set to MAX, a record size of 32763 is taken;

  • if set to NO, CICS auxiliary temporary storage cannot be used for a Natural roll facility;

  • if set to 0 or YES, the Natural CICS Interface sets the record length which fits into an auxiliary temporary storage control interval, that is, CI size minus VSAM control information minus CICS control information.

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.

USERS - Session Information Record

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 mmm is 0 or omitted, the system does not acquire additional storage for SIRs if no free SIR slot is available in the system directory. If so, the Natural CICS system is actually restricted to the number of users specified by the first subparameter.

If a value other than 0 is specified for mmm, secondary storage segments are allocated automatically as required. Allocated secondary segments are freed again if they are no longer needed.

(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.

NCMTGD Macro Parameters

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

PFKEY - PF/PA Keys for Thread Group

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.

PRIMERF - Natural CICS Primary Roll Facility

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.

THRDSZE - Thread Size

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:

  1. For GETMAINs of more than 512 KB, CICS aligns these storages at MB boundaries.

  2. 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.

THREADS - Number of Threads or Tasks Per Thread Group

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.

TRAN - Transaction IDs for Thread Group

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.

TYPE - Thread Type for 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 RELO=OFF forces sessions with TYPE=SHR threads to be conversational to prevent a CICS region switch.

TYPE=SHR threads may not be used if you want to execute Natural in the CICS open transaction environment (OTE) under an open TCB. In that case, TYPE=GETM threads must be used.

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 RELO=OFF or PSEUDO=OFF is specified, tasks using threads allocated via GETMAIN are forced to be conversational, as there is no guarantee that after a FREEMAIN of the thread a subsequent GETMAIN obtains the same storage in memory. As thread storage allocated via GETMAIN exclusively belongs to the owning task, however, such tasks can be defined as non-rollable (see the PRIMERF parameter), which means that a given thread belongs to a given task until the end of the Natural session. If so, the task is conversational by design and no rolling is done.

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 NCMTGD macro specifications with TYPE other than ALIAS are recognized.

XTRAN - Hexadecimal Transaction IDs for Thread Group

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.

NTSWPRM Macro Parameters

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.

NCIPARM Generation Parameters

The Natural CICS Interface parameter module is generated by assembling the NCIPARM source module; see the corresponding step in Installing the Natural CICS Interface on z/OS in the Natural Installation for z/OS documentation or Installing the Natural CICS Interface on z/VSE in the Natural Installation for z/VSE documentation. It holds the NCMPRM macro definition.

The purpose of the NCMPRM macro and the parameters which can be specified in it are described in the following section.

NCMPRM Macro Parameters

The macro NCMPRM determines all Natural session options that are relevant in a CICS environment. This macro is part of the Natural CICS parameter module, which is created in the corresponding step in Installing Natural CICS Interface on z/OS or Installing Natural CICS Interface on z/VSE in the Natural Installation documentation.

A sample NCMPRM macro definition, including all default values, is contained in the NCIPARM source module in data set NCInnn.SRCE.

The individual parameters of the NCMPRM macro are described below.

BACKEND | BACKOUT | BACKRPL | CALLRPL | CHAP | CNTCALL | COMARET | DIRNAME | DUPTID | FDTPX | LOGDEST | MSGDEST | MSGPFX | MSGTRAN | PREFIX | PRMDEST | PSTRNID | RCVASYN | RESENDC | RESENDS | RJEDEST | RJEUSER | SLCALL | SLNOHLD | SNDLAST | STORVIO | TERMVAR | TRANCHK | TTYCNSL | UCTRAN | UNITID | USERID

BACKEND - Back-End Program Invocation Control

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 YES/NO for both sub-parameters, but the default values are different.

Value: Explanation:
YES

Same as BACKEND=(YES,NO).

This is the default if the BACKEND parameter is omitted. A potential back-end program or transaction is always invoked, particularly after task abends, but not in the case of terminal errors.

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 BACKRPL parameter.

(YES,YES)

Same as BACKEND=(,YES). A potential backend program or transaction is always invoked, particularly after abends including terminal errors.

NO Forces BACKEND=(NO,NO). 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.

BACKOUT - Backout Transaction in the Case of Unrecoverable Abends

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:
YES

All pending file updates are backed out.

This is the default value.
NO 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.

BACKRPL - Location of Parameter List for Back-End Program

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 NAMBCKP is passed both in the CICS TWA and in a CICS COMMAREA (including potential termination data).

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:

  1. The BACKRPL parameter replaces and supersedes the old NCIPARM parameter COMAMSG.
  2. This parameter applies to back-end programs only, not to back-end transactions.

CALLRPL - Location of Parameter List for External Subroutine Programs CALLed by Natural via EXEC CICS LINK

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 CALL statement) are passed in a CICS COMMAREA; that is, the COMMAREA length is 8.

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:

  1. The CALLRPL parameter replaces and supersedes the old NCIPARM parameters COMACAL and FLDLEN.
  2. The second sub-parameter applies only if the first sub-parameter is ALL or COMA.
  3. If the CICS TWA is to be used, it always holds all 4 parameter list addresses.
  4. If the CICS COMMAREA length is greater than 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.
  5. The 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.

CHAP - Change Task's Dispatching Priority

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:
YES 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.
NO

The session is suspended.

This is the default value.

CNTCALL - CICS Call Passing Automatically Data in Container

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:
YES 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.
NO

When the COMMAREA data would exceed 32 KB, the Natural CALL statement fails with a NAT0920 message and reason code LENGERR (hexadecimal 16).

COMARET - CICS COMMAREA Usage for Task Control

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:
YES

A pseudo-conversational Natural task saves its restart information into a CICS COMMAREA, unless it has been invoked with EXEC CICS LINK or the equivalent CICS macro request.

This is the default value.
NO

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 NCMDIR parameter TSKEY and of the terminal ID. If running in a CICSplex environment, the CICS temporary storage key prefix must be defined in a CICS TST as REMOTE/SHARED to be accessible in all participating CICS regions.

DIRNAME - Name of Natural CICS Interface System Directory Module

This parameter specifies the name of the Natural CICS Interface system directory module.

Possible values are:

Value: Explanation:
(see below) Any valid module name.
prefix CB

prefix is the common prefix for programs and files, see PREFIX parameter.

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/NCIPARM, but use different NCI environments (thread groups/thread sizes, etc.) depending for example on CICS system ID, transaction ID.

DUPTID - Handle Duplicate Terminal 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:
YES 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.
NO 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.

FDTPX - Force Use of NCIDTPEX Exit for all Terminal Types

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:
YES The NCIDTPEX interface is called for all terminal types.
NO 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.

LOGDEST - Natural CICS Logging Destination

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.

MSGDEST - Destination ID for Natural Error Message Logging

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.

MSGPFX - Generate NCI Message Prefix for WTL Messages

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:
YES The NCI message prefix is appended to all messages which are issued through CMWTL.

This is the default value.
NO The NCI message prefix is not appended to the messages which are issued through CMWTL. The messages are issued unchanged.

MSGTRAN - Internal Message Switching Transaction ID

This  parameter specifies the transaction ID internally used by the Natural message switching and asynchronous session flushing facilities.

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.

PREFIX - Common Prefix for Programs and Files

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.

PRMDEST - Name of the Natural CICS Profile Parameter Input Destination

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.

PSTRNID - Control of *INIT-PROGRAM Variable Setting

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:
YES *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.
NO *INIT-PROGRAM is set to the transaction ID of the task, which originally started the Natural session.

RCVASYN - Recover Asynchronous Session

This parameter defines how the Natural CICS Interface treats asynchronous sessions.

Possible values are:

Value: Explanation:
YES 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.

RCVASYN=YES forces the following parameter settings:

  • CM=OFF,MENU=OFF,PC=OFF

  • TTYPE=ASYL if the SENDER specification is blank, not specified or a CICS transient data queue, or if CONSOLE is specified.

  • SENDER='msgdest' if the SENDER specification is blank or not specified.

  • OUTDEST='sender' if the OUTDEST specification is blank or not specified.

  • INTENS=1,EJ=OFF if the SENDER specification is CONSOLE or a CICS transient data queue which is not set up for print control characters.

NO 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.

RESENDC - Check for Screen Re-sending after Subroutine Calls

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:
YES 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.
NO The Natural CICS Interface causes Natural to send only updates.

RESENDS - Screen Re-send Check after Pseudo-Conversational Session Resume

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:
YES 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.
NO Natural only sends "updates" when sending a new map.

RJEDEST - Name of the Natural CICS Submit Destination

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 the Natural CICS Interface on z/OS in the Natural Installation for z/OS documentation or Installing the Natural CICS Interface on z/VSE in the Natural Installation for z/VSE 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.

RJEUSER - Submit to POWER User ID Setting

This parameter only applies to z/VSE operating systems using the POWER spooling system.

Possible values are:

Value: Explanation:
YES Sames as RJEUSER=(YES,CICS).

This is the default value.

The Natural system variable *INIT-USER is used as the XPCC user ID and the POWER JECL must be set up appropriately by the user.

(YES,NAT) The Natural system variable *USER is used as the XPCC user ID and the POWER JECL must be set up appropriately by the user.
NO The user ID 'R000' is used as the XPCC user ID for all jobs submitted by the Natural CICS Interface.

In z/VSE operating systems, Natural under CICS performs job submission by means of XPCC macro requests.

The XPCC macro requires the specification of a user ID, thus giving access to the submitted job's list or punch output to the submitting user only, unless appropriate LDEST/PDEST parameters have been specified in the * $$ JOB statement or appropriate DEST parameters have been specified in the *$$ LST or *$$ PUN statement respectively.

Using the special user ID 'R000', however, gives common access to list or punch output of a submitted job without having to code appropriate target destinations in the JECL.

SLCALL - Standard Linkage Call

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.

Possible values are:

Value: Explanation:
YES 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.
NO The linkage convention is not used. This is the default value.

SLNOHLD - Load Option for External Programs to Be Invoked via Standard Linkage Conventions

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:
YES 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 EXEC CICS LOAD without the HOLD option, thus allowing these programs to be NEWCOPYed while the Natural session is suspended/waiting in a pseudo-conversational screen I/O.

SLNOHLD=YES corresponds to the processing which the Natural CICS Interface does for LE programs in general and for non-LE programs in a CICSPlex environment anyhow.

NO 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 EXEC CICS LOAD HOLD, that is, such a program is fixed in storage for some time depending on the DELETE profile parameter setting, RCA programs until session end.

SNDLAST - LAST Option Usage for EXEC CICS SEND Commands

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:
YES The LAST option is used for EXEC CICS SEND commands before the task terminates in pseudo-conversational mode.

This is the default value.
NO The LAST option is not used.

STORVIO - Storage Violation Trap

This parameter provides for a storage violation trap for external program calls with call option %P=C(C).

Value: Explanation:
NO 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.

TERMVAR - Terminal ID Variable for Natural Work Files

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.

TRANCHK - Check Input Map for Transaction ID

If a connection to a CICS session gets lost or dropped (for example, 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:
YES 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.
NO

Data entered by the user are not checked for the Natural transaction ID.

This is the default value.

TTYCNSL - Control Console Communication

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 (z/OS) or the MSG Fn command (z/VSE).

Possible values are:

Value: Explanation:
YES The *DEVICE system variable is set to TTY: communication with the console is in 3270 data stream holding TTY control orders.

The PSEUDO profile parameter is evaluated allowing or disallowing the session to run in pseudo-conversational mode.

This is the default value.
NO 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 PSEUDO profile parameter is ignored: the session runs in conversational mode to indicate that a session is pending.

UCTRAN - Lower/Mixed Case Support in Natural

This parameter enables or disables the lower/mixed case support by the Natural CICS Interface.

Possible values are:

Value: Explanation:
YES Same as UCTRAN=(YES,YES). NCI lower/mixed case support is fully enabled.

This is the default value.
NO Same as UCTRAN=(NO,YES). 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.

First Subparameter (pseudo-conversational screen I/Os)

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(YES) 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 NCIPARM parameter UCTRAN to NO. If so, the user must define a terminal as running in "lower case" (CICS TYPETERM parameter UCTRAN(TRANID/NO)) 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 NCIPARM parameter should be set to NO, 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.

Second Subparameter (conversational screen I/O)

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 NO, the Natural CICS Interface does the conversational CICS terminal input requests without the "as is" option,

UNITID - Establish Unique Terminal IDs

This parameter helps to make the CICS terminal ID for Natural purposes unique over more than one CICS region.

Possible values are:

Value: Explanation:
YES 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.
NO

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:

  1. A terminal ID exit (NCITIDEX) possibly will post-process that logical terminal ID.
  2. Also a user ID exit (NCIUIDEX and NATUEX1) may post-process the *INIT-ID system variable.
  3. This parameter also applies to Natural Advanced Facilities (NAF) printers, that is, the printers have to be defined appropriately in the NAF spooling and report management system NATSPOOL, or a user ID exit should be used to post-process the *INIT-ID for printers.
  4. For non-terminal sessions, the Natural CICS Interface always sets up an 8-byte logical terminal ID consisting of the packed CICS task number and the CICS system ID; that is, UNITID=YES is forced for asynchronous tasks with the CICS task number taken as terminal ID.

USERID - Deal with CICS User 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.
YES 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.
NO The value returned by EXEC CICS ASSIGN USERID (..) is ignored.

Further Processing

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:

  1. CICS terminal IDs are unique within a CICS region, while CICS user IDs and operator IDs are not necessarily unique. However, CICS terminal IDs may have duplicates in other CICS regions resulting in duplicate user IDs in Adabas.
  2. Natural user ID exit NATUEX1 or Natural CICS user ID exit interface NCIUIDEX may be used to customize the content of the system variable *INIT-USER.
  3. The USERID parameter replaces the old NCIPARM parameter SIGNON.

NCIZNEP Generation Parameters

Potential NCIZNEP generation parameters are specified via SYSPARM specification in the PARM parameter of the High Level Assembler (HLASM) EXEC JCL statement, for example: 

...,PARM='SYSPARM(MSGTRAN=nmsg,TSKEY=ncom,PURGE=no)'

The individual parameters are described below.

MSGTRAN | NEPTRAN | PURGE | TSKEY

MSGTRAN - Internal Message Switching Transaction ID

This parameter specifies the transaction ID internally used by the Natural message switching and asynchronous session flushing facilities.

Possible values are:

Value: Explanation:
(see below) Any valid CICS transaction ID.
NMSG This is the default value.

This parameter has the same meaning as the MSGTRAN parameter in NCIPARM and must be specified identically.

The Natural CICS Interface clean-up function is done by starting an asynchronous task to resume the terminal-bound session and to terminate it logically. Normally, the original transaction ID of the session is used therefor. This original transaction ID cannot be used if there is a front-end program calling Natural, as most likely the front-end is not prepared for being invoked asynchronously without a terminal. In such situations the message switching transaction ID of the Natural CICS Interface is used to deal with Natural directly.

NEPTRAN - Transaction ID for the NCIZNEP Module

This parameter specifies the transaction ID for the Natural/CICS Interface node error program (NEP) NCIZNEP in an MRO environment, when the parameter PURGE is set to YES, see below.

Possible values are:

Value: Explanation:
(see below) Any valid CICS transaction ID.
NETR This is the default value.

PURGE - Purge Active Natural Task

This parameter defines how NCIZNEP is to treat Natural sessions currently active, when the Natural/CICS Interface node error program (NEP) is invoked.

Possible values are:

Value: Explanation:
No This is the default value for compatibility reasons.

The active Natural task is not purged. The active task will continue to run until a terminal I/O later on will result in abend NT08 due to a CICS TERMERR condition, as the terminal no longer exists.

Yes The active Natural task is purged immediately.

This functionality is supported in CICS Transaction Server systems only.

In MRO environments, a node error program is triggered in the CICS TOR; as the Natural session most likely is active in a CICS AOR, the task purge cannot be done in the TOR. Therefore a transaction ID is required (see NEPTRAN above) to start a "partner" NEP task in the AOR to do the task purge.

Note:
PURGE=YES requires that the relevant Natural transactions are defined as purgeable (SPURGE(YES)).

TSKEY - Prefix for Natural CICS Temporary Storage Key

This parameter defines the constant prefix of the temporary storage queue holding the NCI pseudo-conversational restart data.

Possible values are:

Value: Explanation:
xxxx xxxx defines the prefix for pseudo-conversational restart data.
NCOM This is the default value.

This parameter has the same meaning as the second subparameter of the parameter TSKEY in NCISCPCB and must be specified identically.