Ways of defining CICS resources

You can define CICS® resources using the CICS Explorer®, CICS bundles, CICSPlex® SM Business Application Services, resource definition online (RDO), CICS system programming commands, the DFHCSDUP offline utility, autoinstall, or macro resource definition. Compare the relevant methods of resource definition to choose which way to define each of your CICS resources.

Resource definitions can be stored in the following repositories:

The CSD file for the CICS region
The CICSPlex SM data repository
zFS (the z/OS® UNIX file system), for CICS bundles
Control tables in a program library, for macro resource definition

Certain interfaces can be used to work with resource definitions in each of these repositories. Some CICS resource types are not supported by some interfaces and some repositories.

You can use the following interfaces to define CICS resources:

CICS Explorer: You can use the CICS Explorer to define, install, and manage resources. If CICS Explorer is connected to a CICS system, definitions are stored in the CICS system definition (CSD) file, and are installed into an active CICS system from the CSD file. If CICS Explorer is connected to CICSPlex SM, definitions are stored in the CICSPlex SM data repository and can be installed either automatically, during CICS initialization, or dynamically, into a running CICS system.
Bundles: You can define and package resources in a CICS bundle using the CICS Explorer or Rational® Developer for z System z®. CICS creates the resources dynamically when the bundle is deployed, and you manage their lifecycle through the CICS bundle as a single unit in the CICS system. The CICS bundle can also specify any system resources that are required in the CICS regions where the bundle is deployed. You can deploy a CICS bundle individually to a CICS region as a standalone bundle, or you can use it as part of an application bundle that is deployed to a platform, or you can deploy it directly to a platform. For information about CICS bundles, see Defining CICS bundles.
CICSPlex SM Business Application Services: You can use CICSPlex SM Business Application Services (BAS) to define and manage resources. Definitions are stored in the CICSPlex SM data repository and can be installed either automatically, during CICS initialization, or dynamically, into a running CICS system. For information about CICSPlex SM BAS, see Administering BAS.
Resource definition online (RDO): This method uses the supplied online transactions CEDA, CEDB, and CEDC, which allow you to define, alter, and install resources in a running CICS system. Definitions are stored in the CSD file, and are installed into an active CICS system from the CSD file. This method updates resources on the CSD file, which means you can define, alter, and install resources in a running CICS system. For information about RDO using the CEDA transaction, see Resource management transaction CEDA commands.
System programming, using the EXEC CICS SPI commands: You can use the EXEC CICS CREATE commands, and the EXEC CICS FEPI INSTALL commands for FEPI resources, to create resources independently of the CSD file. For further information, see Creating resource definitions.
System programming, using the EXEC CICS CSD commands: You can use the EXEC CICS CSD commands to manage resource definitions in the CSD file from a user-written program. The EXEC CICS CSD commands can perform all the functions of CEDA except CEDA CHECK.
DFHCSDUP offline utility: DFHCSDUP is an offline utility that allows you to define, list, and modify resources using a batch job. DFHCSDUP can be invoked as a batch program or from a user-written program running either in batch mode or under TSO. Using the second method, you can specify up to five user exit routines within DFHCSDUP. You can use the DFHCSDUP utility to make changes to definitions in the CSD file. The definitions are stored in the CSD file. For information about the DFHCSDUP utility, see System definition file utility program (DFHCSDUP).
Automatic installation (autoinstall): Autoinstall minimizes the need for a large number of definitions, by dynamically creating new definitions based on a “model” definition provided by you. This applies to VTAM® terminals, LU6.2 sessions, IPIC connections, journals, programs, mapsets, and partitionsets. You set up “model” definitions using either RDO or DFHCSDUP. CICS can then create and install new definitions for these resources dynamically, based on the models.
Macro definition: You can use assembler macro source to define resources that cannot be stored on the CSD. The definitions are stored in assembled control tables in a program library, from which they are installed during CICS initialization.
You must use macro instructions to define non-VTAM networks and terminals, non-VSAM files, databases, and resources for monitoring and system recovery. For information about CICS macros, see Macro resource definition.

Which methods you use depends on the resources you want to define. Table 1 suggests some of the things you should consider when deciding which definition method to use. Table 2 shows you the methods you can use for each resource.

Table 1. Methods of resource definition
Method	Advantages	Disadvantages
CICS Explorer	Intuitive and easy to use interface. Integration point for other CICS tools. Centralized resource definition. Logical scoping. Distributed resource installation. Works with CICS bundles, BAS, and the CICS CSD.	FEPI resources cannot be defined with CICS Explorer.
Bundles	You can define some resource types in the CICS bundle to be created dynamically when the bundle is deployed. You can specify other required resources that must be present in the CICS region. You can install, uninstall, enable, and disable applications by operating on a single resource. Bundles provide versioning so that you can manage resource and application updates. Some resources can only be defined and deployed using bundles. Non-CICS resources can be created and managed in CICS bundles alongside CICS resources.	You cannot modify or change the state of resources defined in a bundle in the same ways as individually defined resources. Not all application resources are supported by bundles.
CICSPlex SM BAS	Centralized resource definition. Logical scoping. Distributed resource installation.	Not all application resources are supported by BAS.
RDO	RDO is used while CICS is running, so allows fast access to resource definitions.	Because CEDA operates on an active CICS system, care should be taken if it is used in a production system. Use some form of auditing as a control mechanism.
EXEC CICS SPI commands	It enables configuration and installation of CICS resources for large numbers of CICS regions from a single management focal point. It also allows you to write applications for administering the running CICS system.	CREATE commands neither refer to nor record in the CSD file. The resulting definitions are lost on a cold start, and you cannot refer to them in a CEDA transaction.
EXEC CICS CSD system commands	You can write applications customized to your environment that can manage the CSD and installed resources. Resources updated by this method can be referred to by CEDA. Supports compatibility mode for sharing CSDs with earlier releases of CICS.	Requires more work to implement than some other methods.
DFHCSDUP	You can modify or define a large number of resources in one job. You can run DFHCSDUP against a non-recoverable CSD file while it is being shared between CICS regions using RLS access mode.	You cannot install resources into an active CICS system. You cannot make updates via DFHCSDUP against a recoverable CSD file that is being accessed in RLS mode.
Autoinstall	If you have large numbers of resources, much time is needed to define them, and if they are not all subsequently used, storage is also wasted for their definitions. Using autoinstall reduces this wasted time and storage.	You must spend some time initially setting up autoinstall in order to benefit from it.
Macro		You can change the definitions contained in the tables while CICS is running, but you must stop and restart CICS if you want it to use the changed tables. You must do time-consuming assemblies to generate macro tables.

Table 2. Resources and how you can define them to the running CICS system
Resource	CICS Explorer	CICSPlex SM BAS	RDO, EXEC CICS SPI, and EXEC CICS CSD commands	Bundles	DFHCSDUP	Autoinstall	Macro
Atom documents	Yes	Yes (ATOMDEF)	Yes (ATOMSERVICE)	Yes	Yes	No	No
Bundles	Yes	Yes (BUNDDEF)	Yes (BUNDLE)	N/A	Yes	No	No
Connections	Yes	Yes (CONNDEF)	Yes (CONNECTION)	No	Yes	LU 6.2 only	No
DB2® Connections	Yes	Yes (DB2CDEF)	Yes (DB2CONN)	No	Yes	No	No
DB2 entries	Yes	Yes (DB2EDEF)	Yes (DB2ENTRY)	No	Yes	No	No
DB2 transactions	Yes	Yes (DB2TDEF)	Yes (DB2TRAN)	No	Yes	No	No
Document template	Yes	Yes (DOCDEF)	Yes (DOCTEMPLATE)	No	Yes	No	No
Enqueue models	Yes	Yes (ENQMDEF)	Yes (ENQMODEL)	No	Yes	No	No
Event bindings and capture specifications	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	No	No
Event processing adapter	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	No	No
Event processing adapter set	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	No	No
FEPI node lists	No	Yes (FENODDEF)	Yes (NODELIST)	No	No	No	No
FEPI pool definitions	No	Yes (FEPOODEF)	Yes (POOL)	No	No	No	No
FEPI property sets	No	Yes (FEPRODEF)	Yes (PROPERTYSET)	No	No	No	No
FEPI target lists	No	Yes (FETRGDEF)	Yes (TARGETLIST)	No	No	No	No
Files (BDAM)	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes (DFHFCT)
Files (VSAM)	Yes	Yes (FILEDEF)	Yes (FILE)	Yes	Yes	No	No
IPIC connections	Yes	Yes (IPCONDEF)	Yes (IPCONN)	No	Yes	Yes	No
Journals	Yes	Yes (JRNLDEF)	No	No	No	Yes	No
Journal models	Yes	Yes (JRNMDEF)	Yes (JOURNALMODEL)	No	Yes	No	No
LIBRARY resources	Yes	Yes (LIBDEF)	Yes (LIBRARY)	Yes	Yes	No	No
Local shared resource (LSR) pools	Yes	Yes (LSRDEF)	Yes (LSRPOOL)	No	Yes	No	No
Map sets	Yes	Yes (MAPDEF)	Yes (MAPSET)	No	Yes	Yes	No
OSGi bundles and services	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	No	No
Package set	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	No	No
Partition sets	Yes	Yes (PRTNDEF)	Yes (PARTITIONSET)	No	Yes	Yes	No
Partners	Yes	Yes (PARTDEF)	Yes (PARTNER)	No	Yes	No	No
Pipelines	Yes	Yes (PIPEDEF)	Yes (PIPELINE)	No	Yes	No	No
Policy	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	No	No
Process types	Yes	Yes (PROCDEF)	Yes (PROCESSTYPE)	No	Yes	No	No
Profiles	Yes	Yes (PROFDEF)	Yes (PROFILE)	No	Yes	No	No
Programs	Yes	Yes (PROGDEF)	Yes (PROGRAM)	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Recoverable service elements	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes (DFHRST)
Sessions	Yes	Yes (SESSDEF)	Yes (SESSIONS)	No	Yes	No.	No
TCP/IP services	Yes	Yes (TCPDEF)	Yes (TCPIPSERVICE)	No	Yes	No	No
Temporary storage (defined by macro)	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes (DFHTST)
Temporary storage models (resource definition)	Yes	Yes (TSMDEF)	Yes (TSMODEL)	No	Yes	No	No
Terminals (non-VTAM)	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes (DFHTCT)
Terminals (VTAM)	Yes	Yes (TERMDEF)	Yes (TERMINAL)	No	Yes	Yes	No
Transactions	Yes	Yes (TRANDEF)	Yes (TRANSACTION)	Yes	Yes	No	No
Transaction classes	Yes	Yes (TRNCLDEF)	Yes (TRANCLASS)	No	Yes	No	No
Transient data queues	Yes	Yes (TDQDEF)	Yes (TDQUEUE)	No	Yes	No	No
Typeterms	Yes	Yes (TYPTMDEF)	Yes (TYPETERM)	No	Yes	No	No
URI maps	Yes	Yes	Yes (URIMAP)	Yes	Yes	No	No
Web services	Yes	Yes	Yes (WEBSERVICE)	No	Yes	Yes	No
WebSphere® MQ connection	Yes	Yes (MQCONDEF)	Yes (MQCONN)	No	Yes	No	No
XML transforms	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	No	No