IBM Support

IC61736: PCOM: TP USER CONTEXT IS SOMETIMES DISPLAYED AS "SYSTEM" ON RIGHT LOWER OF PCSNOPS.EXE THOUGH THE SETTINGS IS "USER"

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APAR status

  • Closed as program error.

Error description

  • Customer set the context option for TPs as "USER"
    by selecting Edit -> Settings on SNA NODE CONFIGURATION GUI.
    After that, if customer reboots the PC and opens
    SNA NODE OPERATION ( pcsnops.exe ) after logon to Windows,
    it sometimes displays the context for TPs as "SYSTEM" intead of
    "USER".
    

Local fix

Problem summary

  • ****************************************************************
    * USERS AFFECTED: Users of APPNNODE service for starting       *
    *                 Transaction Programs                         *
    ****************************************************************
    * PROBLEM DESCRIPTION: After migrating PCOMM from 5.6 to 5.9,  *
    *                      Transaction Programs would sometimes    *
    *                      start in System context. When this      *
    *                      happens, TP context option in the       *
    *                      status bar of pcsnops.exe shows         *
    *                      "System" instead of "User".             *
    ****************************************************************
    * RECOMMENDATION:                                              *
    ****************************************************************
    In PCOMM 5.6 when the node is started, tpattmgr.exe is spawned
    in the context of the user session. With PCOMM 5.9.4 and later
    this has been replaced by appnnode service, which always runs
    under system context. The change in the attach manager's
    design from a per session process (tpattmgr.exe) to a system
    service (annpnode.exe) has been done for WTS support. In order
    to start the TP, appnnode.exe reads the context value from an
    in-memory object which is defaulted to "System" value when
    nodeinit.dll initializes. This initialization can happen at
    different times depending on which process loads it first and
    on the value, and the presence/absence of StartOnBoot(5.6)
    and/or Auto_Start_Option(5.7 and later). These registry values
    are changed if the user clicks OK on the "SNA Node Preferences"
    dialog from SNA Node Configuration utility.
    
    As a result of these dependencies the resulting in-memory
    value of the TP context can be different from what the user
    would normally expect.
    

Problem conclusion

  • The solution to avoid this problem is:
    
    1. Always read the value of TP_Context_Option key to start the
       TP on receiving a DLI.
    
    2. Irrespective of which process loads nodeinit.dll first,
       give the "TP_Context_Option" key a default value depending
       on the existing value of StartOnBoot/Auto_Start_Option.
       This happens the very first time its value is queried.
    
    If TP_Context_Option key is present. use the existing value.
    
    If TP_Context_Option key is not present and StartOnBoot or
    Auto_Start_Option do not exist, create the key set
    TP_Context_Option to byUser.
    
    If the key is not present and StartOnBoot or Auto_Start_Option
    is set to start the node during boot time, create the key and
    set it to bySystem.
    
    PCSNOPS.EXE is changed to always read TP_Context_Option from
    the registry. NODEINIT.DLL and ATMGRTOK.DLL have also been
    changed with this fix.
    
    Fixed in Fix Pack PCOM 5.9.5.1
    

Temporary fix

Comments

APAR Information

  • APAR number

    IC61736

  • Reported component name

    PCOMM V5 COMBO-

  • Reported component ID

    5639I700J

  • Reported release

    590

  • Status

    CLOSED PER

  • PE

    NoPE

  • HIPER

    NoHIPER

  • Special Attention

    NoSpecatt

  • Submitted date

    2009-06-26

  • Closed date

    2009-06-30

  • Last modified date

    2009-12-22

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

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

Modules/Macros

  • ATMGRTOK NODEINIT PCSNOPS
    

Fix information

  • Fixed component name

    PCOMM V5 COMBO-

  • Fixed component ID

    5639I7000

Applicable component levels

  • R590 PSY IP23069

       UP09/12/22 I 1000

[{"Business Unit":{"code":"BU054","label":"Systems w\/TPS"},"Product":{"code":"SSEQ5Y","label":"Personal Communications"},"Platform":[{"code":"PF025","label":"Platform Independent"}],"Version":"5.9","Line of Business":{"code":"LOB35","label":"Mainframe SW"}}]

Document Information

Modified date:
08 January 2022