IC60986: HATS MACRO INTERMITTENTLY RECOGNIZES TRANSIENT SCREEN INSTEAD OF CORRECT NEXT SCREEN. HATS V7, AND ALSO OCCURS IN HATS 7.1

Rational Host Access Transformation Services, Version 7.1.0.5
Rational Host Access Transformation Services, Version 7.1.0.6
Rational Host Access Transformation Services, Version 7.5.0.2
Rational Host Access Transformation Services, Version 7.5.1.1
Rational Host Access Transformation Services, Version 7.5.1.2
Rational Host Access Transformation Services, version 7.5.1.3
Rational Host Access Transformation Services Fix Pack 4 (7.5.1.4) for 7.5.1
Rational Host Access Transformation Services Fix Pack 5 (7.5.1.5) for 7.5.1
Rational Host Access Transformation Services Fix Pack 6 (7.5.1.6) for 7.5.1

APAR status

• Closed as program error.

Error description

• Customer has a macro coded which goes from screen A to screen
  B to screen C.  Screen D is defined as a transient screen that
  will match any non-inhibited input screen.  When the customer
  has Contention Resolution enabled for the TN3270E connection,
  intermittently, the transient screen is recognized instead of
  the correct next screen.  This is in spite of the fact that the
  screen contents that arrive from the host appear to match the
  screen recognition for the correct next screen (although since
  the screen is uninhibited, it also matches the transient
  screen's recognition criteria).  This problem typically occurs
  25 percent or less of the time in the customer's environment.
  The rest of the time, the macro executes as expected and does
  not recognize the transient screen at all.
  The customer used the same macro in HATS V5 and did not
  experience this problem.
  

Local fix

• One workaround is to disable contention resolution and induce
  pauses between screens, which runs more slowly, but avoids the
  problem.
  Another workaround is to make the transient screen recognition
  more specific and detailed, but this could keep it from
  recognizing all potential transient screens in this customer's
  environment since the content of their transient screens is
  unpredictable.
  

Problem summary

• ****************************************************************
  * USERS AFFECTED: HATS users running macros with transient     *
  *                 screens defined.                             *
  ****************************************************************
  * PROBLEM DESCRIPTION: In a macro, transient screens can be    *
  *                      defined, in addition to non-transient   *
  *                      screens, for next screen comparison.    *
  *                      At times, a transient screen could be   *
  *                      recognized and processed, even when a   *
  *                      matching non-transient screen had       *
  *                      been sent from the host.                *
  ****************************************************************
  * RECOMMENDATION:                                              *
  ****************************************************************
  When comparing macro screen descriptors to identify the next
  screen which has arrived from the host, non-transient screens
  are compared first, followed by transient screens.  However,
  if the OIA state of a non-transient screen was locked (input
  inhibited) at first and then later unlocked (input is not
  inhibited), the non-transient screen may not be matched if it
  required the OIA state to be unlocked.  If the transient
  screen definition compared next did not contain specific
  descriptors and only checked for an unlocked screen, it would
  then match, when the expected behavior was that the
  non-transient screen would be matched.  This problem occurs
  when the OIA state of the screen changes between the time the
  non-transient screen comparison starts and when it ends and
  the transient screen recognition then begins.
  

Problem conclusion

• Code underlying HATS has been changed to be able to support
  using a snapshot of the screen state for an iteration of both
  non-transient and transient screen descriptor comparison.  To
  enable this change, a HATS connection parameter called
  screenRecoUseOIASnapshot must be set to true.
  screenRecoUseOIASnapshot is set in the advanced connection
  settings table of the HATS connection editor. Use the
  following values in the advanced connection settings table:
  Name:
  screenRecoUseOIASnapshot
  Value:
  true or false
  When screenRecoUseOIASnapshot is set to false, which is the
  default value, the legacy behavior of using updated screen
  information, if available, when comparing transient screens
  occurs. When screenRecoUseOIASnapshot is set to true, the same
  screen information will be used for an iteration of both
  non-transient and transient screen descriptor comparison.
  

Temporary fix

Comments

APAR Information

• APAR is sysrouted FROM one or more of the following:

• APAR is sysrouted TO one or more of the following:

Modules/Macros

• SWTBEANS
  

Fix information

• Fixed component name

  HATS MULTI

• Fixed component ID

  5724L0200

Applicable component levels

• R600 PSN

     UP

• R700 PSY

     UP