Using generic parameters in debugging profiles

You can supply generic values for many of the parameters in your debugging profiles. To specify generic parameters, use an asterisk (*) as a wildcard character. You can use the wildcard character on its own, or at the end of a parameter. Leaving a parameter blank is equivalent to specifying an asterisk.

About this task

For example:
  • * matches all possible values
  • TR* matches TR, TRA, TRAA and TRAQ
  • TRA* matches TRA, TRAA and TRAQ, but not TR
When wildcards are used, a starting program may match more than one active profile. In this case, CICS® selects the profile that is the best match, using the following principles:
  • All parameters must match, either exactly, or when wildcards are considered.
  • The best match is a profile that contains no wildcards.
  • The next best matches are profiles that contain *. Within this grouping, the best matches are those that contain the smallest number of * characters, and the greatest number of explicitly specified characters.
For example, considering transaction TRAA:
  • TRAA is the best possible match (all characters match)
  • TRA* is a better match than TR*
It is advisable to avoid complex use of wildcards in your debugging profiles, as it is not always obvious which of many profiles will be the best match for a given program instance. However, should you need to do so, you can use the information in Figure 1 to work out exactly which of several profiles will be the best match.
Figure 1. The debugging profile matching algorithm

For each field in turn:

  1. Count the number of characters (excluding * but including trailing blanks) for each field (C)
  2. Count the number of * characters (A)
  3. Determine the length of the field (L)
  4. Calculate M as C -(L * A). Note that M may be negative.

For each profile in turn, sum the values of M for all the fields (R).

The profile with the greatest value of R is the best match. If two or more matching profiles have the same greatest value of R, CICS chooses one of them, basing its selection on the sequence in which the profiles were created.