Starting a browse

You issue the INQUIRE command with an additional option, START, to set up the browse. This command does not produce any information; it just tells CICS what you are going to do.

The general form of the command is:

INQUIRE resource-type START
In addition to the START option, there are several differences in the way you issue this setup command from the normal syntax:
  • You identify the resource type only, without providing a resource name; that is, the resource type appears without its usual data-value.
  • You omit all of the options in which CICS returns information to you.
  • You also omit options that send information to CICS, other than the resource type. (INQUIRE EXITPROGRAM and INQUIRE UOWENQ are exceptions to this rule; you can limit the browse by supplying additional information on the START, as explained in the descriptions of these commands.)

Starting a browse at a specific point

Generally, CICS returns resource definitions to you in the order it keeps them internally. You cannot control this order, and you should not depend on it always being the same. For a few resource types, however, CICS returns definitions in alphabetic order of resource name. These are:
  • DB2ENTRYs and DB2TRANs
  • Programs, map sets, and partition sets
  • Temporary storage queues
  • Transactions
  • Transaction classes

For these resources only, you can specify a starting point for the browse with the AT option on the INQUIRE START:

INQUIRE resource-type START AT(data-value)

The AT data-value is the name at which you want to start. It must be in the correct format for a name of the resource type being browsed, but it does not have to correspond to an installed resource; it is used only to start the browse at the proper point in the resource list. CICS restricts the definitions that it returns on your INQUIRE NEXT commands to resources with names equal to or greater (in the collating sequence) than the value you provide.

JVM profiles are also returned in alphabetic order of resource name, but you cannot use the AT option with the INQUIRE JVMPROFILE START command.

Starting a browse of private resources

By default, when you browse a resource type that is supported as a private resource, CICS returns the results for the resources that are available to the program where the EXEC CICS INQUIRE command is issued.
  • When you use an EXEC CICS INQUIRE command in browse mode from a public program, if you do not specify any other input parameters, the set of public resources of the specified type is returned.
  • When you use an EXEC CICS INQUIRE command in browse mode from a program that is running with an application context, if you do not specify any other input parameters, the browse returns a set of resources consisting of any private resources of the specified type for the application and any application entry points of the specified resource type, followed by the public resources of the specified type.
From either a public program or a private program, you can browse the private resources for a different application. To start a browse in another application context, issue the EXEC CICS INQUIRE command with the START option, and use the application context options to specify the application context where you want to browse. The application context consists of the platform, application, and application version. For example, to browse the private PROGRAM resources for Version 1.0.0 of application app1 deployed on platform plat1, use the following command:
EXEC CICS INQUIRE PROGRAM START APPLICATION(app1) APPLMAJORVER(1) APPLMINORVER(0) 
APPLMICROVER(0) PLATFORM(plat1)
The browse returns a set of resources consisting of the private resources of the specified type for the application, and the application entry points of the specified resource type for the application. The resources in the public program directory are not returned when you specify an application context.

When you specify an application context for a browse of private resources, you must always specify the complete application context, including the application, platform, and all three parts of the version number. If no application is found with the specified application context, the APPNOTFOUND condition is returned.

For resource types that support the AT option, you can specify the AT option for private resources of that type. For example, to start a browse by returning the results for program PROG1, which is a private resource for Version 1.0.0 of application app1 deployed on platform plat1, use the following command:
EXEC CICS INQUIRE PROGRAM START AT(PROG1) APPLICATION(app1) APPLMAJORVER(1) 
APPLMINORVER(0) APPLMICROVER(0) PLATFORM(plat1)
The browse begins at PROG1 or the relevant point in the list of private PROGRAM resources and application entry points for Version 1.0.0 of application app1, and continues with the remaining private PROGRAM resources and application entry points.

If you use the AT option on the EXEC CICS INQUIRE START command from a program that is running with an application context, but you do not specify any other input parameters, the browse is positioned according to the collating sequence of the private resources and application entry points, which are returned first. After these resources, the full set of public resources of the specified type is returned. The public resources are not merged in the collating sequence with the other resources.