Status displays and MCS, HMCS and SMCS consoles

A status display is a formatted, multi-line display of information about some part of the system. It is written to MCS consoles in full-capability or status display mode and to HMCS and SMCS consoles, which must be in full capability mode, in response to certain subsystem commands or the following MVS™ commands:

DISPLAY
CONFIG
DEVSERV

On consoles in status display or full capability mode, status displays are usually presented in display areas (called out-of-line display areas) set aside for their use. If you do not define one or more display areas, status displays appear in the general message traffic. The information in the status display could, therefore, roll off the screen before your operators can find it. Setting up out-of-line display areas on a console describes how you set up status displays for your consoles.

When you have defined your status display consoles and console areas, your operators can obtain information, such as the status of system devices and the identification of the jobs active in the system, that can help you decide how best to use system resources.

You can route the output of the DISPLAY, CONFIG, or DEVSERV commands to any status display console or console area in your system or sysplex:

DISPLAY provides information about job activity, TSO/E users, console configuration, device status, and more.
Output from CONFIG contains information about changes in the configuration of processors, storage, channel paths, and other system resources.
DEVSERV displays the status of DASD and tape devices.

For complete information on these commands, see z/OS MVS System Commands.

Where to route status displays describes how you route information from these commands to status display consoles and areas.