The dependency data and affinity data VSAM files

To control the operation of multiple instances of the Collector, running on different CICS® regions, from a single CICS terminal, you must share the dependency data files, the affinity data files, and the control record file across all the regions being monitored.

To do so, you can use either of these methods:

VSAM record-level sharing (RLS). For information about using VSAM RLS in CICS, see the CICS Installation Guide.
Function shipping to a file-owning region (FOR). For information about CICS function shipping, see the CICS Intercommunication Guide.

The alternative is to define local dependency and affinity data files, and a control record file, on each region to be monitored. In this way, from a CICS terminal you can control only an instance of the Collector running on the local region.

The Collector uses a separate, nonrecoverable, VSAM KSDS files to record dependencies on each of the following:

CICS and CICSPlex® SM resources with names up to 32 bytes long: file CIUINT1
DB2® resources: file CIUINT2
IMS™ resources: file CIUINT3
MQ resources: file CIUINT4
CICS resources with names longer than 32 bytes: file CIUINT5
Detail data resources: file CIUINT6
Natural resources: file CIUINT7

Ensure that each file is big enough to hold the maximum amount of dependency data that might be collected.

The Collector uses other nonrecoverable VSAM KSDS files to record intertransaction and transaction-system affinities:

Affinity resources with a 16-byte key: file CIUAFF1
Affinity resources with a 32-byte key: file CIUAFF2
Affinity resources with a 224-byte key: file CIUAFF3

Ensure that each file is big enough to hold the maximum amount of affinity data that might be collected.

KSDS files are used because the Collector and the Dependency and Affinity Reporters need keyed access to the data. The files are not recoverable because of the large amount of data that might need to be written.

The dependency data files and affinity data files contain a header record for each CICS region that has been or is being monitored by the Collector. The header record enables both the Collector and the Reporter to validate that the files that are presented are data files suitable for CICS IA. The header record has a key in the same format as the rest of the keys on the file, so a table identifier of zero is used. No real table will have a table identifier of zero. The header record contains the CICS specific APPLID, thus allowing files to be cross validated.