Using resource editors

The resource editors display all the attributes and their values for a selected resource. You can edit attributes and save your changes.

When you create a new resource definition, you can select the Open editor check box to open the appropriate resource editor when the resource is created. Alternatively, to edit resources that you already defined at an earlier time, you can open an editor from a resource definition view or from a project view. Right-click the resource name and then click Open, or double-click the resource name.

When the editor opens, the editor name tab displays the resource type and resource name. In the following example, the resource type that is being edited is a Pipeline Definition with a name PIPELIN1.

The Pipeline Definition editor has two pages, Overview and Attributes. A resource editor can have one or more pages depending on the resource being edited. The editor for a resource with many fields that can be updated has more pages than the editor for a resource with only a few fields that can be updated. To simplify the updating process, each page contains a collection of similar or related attributes.

Resource editors for resources that are defined in CICS® bundle projects, such as the Program Definition Resource editor, have only an Attributes page.

The breadcrumb trail

When you open a resource editor, a breadcrumb trail is shown in the editor. In the example Pipeline editor, the breadcrumb trail The breadcrumb trail for the example shows that the resource (PIPELIN1) is in the CICSplex CICSEXP3.

You can perform an action against the resource without closing the editor. Right-click on the resource name in the breadcrumb trail and select the action from the menu.

Resource editors for resources that are defined in bundle projects, such as the Program Definition Resource editor, do not show a breadcrumb trail because you do not perform actions against these resources directly. The resources are dynamically generated and modified in CICS regions when you perform actions against the bundles in which the resources are defined.

The Attributes page

The Attributes page displays a list of all the attributes or properties for the resource. The columns in the view show the attribute name as it appears in the CICS Explorer view, the CICS name for the attribute, and the attribute value. The attributes are grouped in a similar way as they appear in CEDA or the CICSPlex® SM WUI. This example shows the Attributes page with the attribute, or property, names, and values for a Pipeline Definition.

A screen capture of the Pipeline resource definition editor with the Attributes tab selected.

Attributes that you can edit are shown in normal text, while attributes that you cannot edit are disabled. You can hide the non-editable attributes by clicking the Show/hide non-editable attributes icon . The hidden icons can be redisplayed by clicking the icon again. For a resource that is defined in a CICS bundle project, you can see only the attributes that you can edit.

You can use the Show/hide CICS name column icon to hide or show the CICS Names, and you can type one or more characters in the filter field to filter on the Name or CICS Name columns

When you click a value field, a number of things happen:

A short description of the attribute, and the attribute name, is displayed in the status field in the workbench.
If the attribute cannot be updated, the entire line is highlighted.
If the attribute can be updated, the Value field is highlighted and you can perform one of the following actions:
- If the attribute value must be selected from a predetermined list, a button is displayed next to the Value field. Clicking the button displays a list of all the possible values. When you click a value, it is entered in the Value field.
- If the attribute value is free-form text, you can type the new value in the field.

You can select or specify an empty string for the value of an attribute. The results depend on whether the resource is defined in a CICSplex, or defined in a bundle project:

If you choose an empty string for an attribute of a resource that is defined in a CICSplex, the default value is applied for the attribute when you save your changes, if the value is a valid choice.
If you choose an empty string for an attribute of a resource that is defined in a bundle project, the attribute is removed from the definition in the bundle project when you save your changes.

When you change an attribute in an editor, a right-arrow (>) next to the attribute name indicates that the attribute value changed. The resource is not changed until you save your changes.

Other pages

When you select a tab other than Attributes, the pages that are displayed contain the basic resource definition details such as name, created, and changed times. In addition, the attributes that you can update are displayed, with more detail to assist you when you are updating the values. The following example shows the Overview page for the Pipeline editor.

An image of the editor for a Pipeline resource definition with the Details tab selected.

In the example, the page is divided into logical sections that contain one or more attributes:

The Basic section includes the Name, Description, Created, Changed, Version, and Status attributes.
The Response Wait section includes only the Respwait attribute.
The HFS Details section includes the Configuration File, Shelf, and WSDBind attributes.

More text is included for the attributes to help simplify the update process. When you click an edit field, the name of the CICS attribute that is edited is displayed in the status field in the workbench.

The content of the pages varies depending on the resource that is being edited. Descriptions of each page are provided in the help for the individual editor.

Field validation

When you update a value, your entry is validated against the criteria for the attribute. At the same time, other attributes that have an interdependency on the changed attribute are also checked. If the input is not valid, or the change caused an interdependent attribute to become not valid, you see one of the following notifications:

The Error icon is displayed alongside the attribute that is not valid.
The Error icon is displayed alongside the tab name to identify the page that contains the error.
An error message is displayed in the status field in the workbench, providing further details about the error.

You cannot save the update until the error is corrected.

Undoing your changes

If you changed one or more attributes in the editor, and want to reverse one or more of the changes before you save them, you can use the Undo function.

On the Workbench menu, click Edit > Undo, or use the hot key combination Ctrl+Z. Each undo reverses the previous edit change until you reach the point where there are no more changes to undo.

Saving your changes

When you make a change in the editor, an asterisk (*) is displayed in front of the resource name in the editor name tab A screen capture of the resource name in the editor name tab, showing an * in front of the name . At the same time, the Save icon is enabled, so that you can save the changes.

If you have unsaved changes and you attempt to close the editor or you try to change connections, a dialog is displayed asking you how to proceed. You can either save or discard the changes, or cancel and close the connection change request.

When your updates are complete, click Save, or press Ctrl-S, to apply the changes to the definition. You can then close the editor. If you do not save the changes, when you attempt to close the editor, a dialog is displayed asking if you want to save your changes or close without saving.

Changes to a resource defined in a CICSplex are applied in the CICSplex, and changes to a resource defined in a bundle project are saved in the bundle project.