Controlling the format of messages and status information on console screens

On a display console, a message can appear by itself or with information about the message, such as job and system identification and the time the message was issued. In a status display, information about when jobs start or stop, when a data set is freed, or information about TSO/E user sessions can appear. Also, mount messages in status displays can contain specific information about mounting volumes.

You can control the information for messages or status displays that operators view on the console screen. Controlling message formats can help free up screen space or make it easier for operators to read messages. Controlling status information can help operators monitor workload or handle job allocation that requires mounting requests.

Use the following keyword and its options on the CONSOLE statement to control information about messages for display:

MFORM: Controls the message format on a console screen.

Options you can specify for MFORM are as follows:

M: Specifies that the system display only the text of the message without time stamp, job id, or job name
J: Specifies that the system display the job name or id along with the message text
S: Specifies that the system display the system name that originated the message
T: Specifies that the system display a time stamp with the message
X: Specifies that the system suppress the job name and system name for JES3 messages issued from the global processor

How messages are displayed on the screen can affect your operations. Consider eliminating information from displayed messages when:

Messages wrap to a second line making it difficult for operators to read the screen.
One way to prevent line wrapping, or to allow system name, job name, and time stamp to be displayed with all the message text on one line, is to use an emulator and set a large screen width to allow all the data to appear on one line.
The system id is not important (for example, in a single system)

To request that the system add a time stamp, the name of the system that issued the message, and the job name or id of its issuer, code the following on the CONSOLE statement:

MFORM(J,S,T)

Operators can also use the CONTROL S command to make these same changes. The format of a message that includes information in the previous example is:

   Time stamp  System name  Jobname/id  Message text

MCS, HMCS or SMCS console display

Defining the X option for an MCS, HMCS or SMCS console allows you to suppress the system name and jobname for JES3 messages that are issued from the global processor when those messages appear on the MCS, HMCS or SMCS console screen.

For example, to suppress both jobname and system name for JES3 messages issued on the global processor, code the following MFORM values on the CONSOLE statement for the MCS console:

CONSOLE DEVNUM(devnum) NAME(conname) MFORM(T,J,S,X)

For an HMCS console, devnum must be HMCS. For an SMCS console, devnum must be SMCS.

Displaying system names in a sysplex

In a sysplex, the number of characters displayed on the console screen for system name depends on the longest name of the system that joins the sysplex. If SYSB is the longest name, all system names will be four characters. If SYB is the longest name, all system names will be three characters.

For example, if three systems in a sysplex are named SYS1, SY2, and S3, the displayed messages from any system will have a four character system name:

SYS1 message
SY2  message
S3   message

If a system with longer name joins the sysplex, the length of the system name in the messages is adjusted to accommodate the new name. For consistency, you might want to use system names of the same character length.

DISPLAY R, CONTROL S, and MFORM

Operators can issue the DISPLAY R command with MFORM options to retrieve information about messages awaiting action. In a sysplex, if the operator issues DISPLAY R without MFORM, the format of the messages depends on how MFORM has been specified for CONSOLxx or on the CONTROL S command:

If CONTROL S has NOT been issued, the format of the messages depends on MFORM values specified for CONSOLxx on the system where the command is issued.
If CONTROL S with MFORM options has been issued before the DISPLAY R command has been issued, the format of the messages depends on MFORM values specified for CONTROL S.

For JES3 multisystem environments, when DISPLAY R is issued without MFORM, the system uses the S option as a default.