CICS setup

Setting up HourGlass for use with CICS® Transaction Server is optional. You can make your command level CICS applications eligible to receive an altered date and time for EXEC CICS ASKTIME (including ASKTIME ABSTIME) commands, LE/370 Date/Time functions, COBOL ACCEPTs, and DB2 Date/Time/Timestamp SQL accesses.

HourGlass provides two levels of control in the CICS environment:

  1. Global Level or CICS Control causes a single date or time specification to be applied only to groups of users, terminals, or transactions within the CICS region. (DB2 SQL ignores global terminal name specifications.)
  2. User Control provides each individual user with the ability to specify an HourGlass date or time that is unique to the user's session. Dates and times entered with User Control always take precedence over Global Control settings.

You can run HourGlass for CICS with currently available versions of CICS Transaction Server. Two SAGGSAMP library members (AGGCRD11 and AGGCRD13) are supplied to define the transactions, programs, mapsets, and files.

Note:
  1. If your CICS TS region specifies RENTPGM=PROTECT, run member AGGAPINL in SAGGSAMP library.
  2. If your CICS is using LPA=YES as a SIT parameter, you must specify the appropriate PRVMOD=SIT if transaction HGFE is used. For CICS TS, PRVMOD=DFHAPIN.

This table summarizes the CICS requirements:

Transaction Codes Programs Mapsets Usage
HGCC AGGCC HGCCMS Specify Global Control Values
------- AGGCCGX HGUCMS Specify User Control Values
HGUC AGGUC
HGCV AGGCCVR   Verify Installation
HGFE AGGFTCH   Enable EIB Priming facility
HGFD AGGFTCH   Disable EIB Priming facility
------- AGGXPCF HGSCMS HourGlass CICS Settings Control Facility
------- AGGXTRUE
HGSC AGGSC
HGSU AGGSC   HourGlass CICS Settings Control Facility
HGAE AGGFTCH   Enable the CICS Audit Trail Facility
HGAD AGGFTCH   Disable the CICS Audit Trail Facility
------ AGGAUDIT   Verify CICS/DB2 Functionality For Local Access
------ AGGSEC  
------ AGGCSQL  
HGDL AGGDL  
HGDR AGGDR   Verify CICS/DB2 Functionality For Remote Access
Notes:
  • Additional entries may be required for optional HourGlass CICS features.
  • Ensure that the modules are in a load library contained in the CICS STEPLIB and DFHRPL DD concatenations.
  • Transactions HGFE and HGFD can be used to pre-set the CICS EIB date and time at the beginning of each transaction without requiring an EXEC CICS ASKTIME.
  • Transactions HGSC and HGSU allow an installation to create snapshots of Global and User Control CICS settings, and save them to a VSAM KSDS. Add the //AGGSCDS DD containing the Setting Control Dataset to the CICS JCL. This dataset is used by the HGSC transaction to view, update, save, and restore various configurations of date and time settings.
  • HourGlass HGCB transaction for CICS
    HourGlass provides a CICS transaction to dynamically modify the date and or time setting. The modified date/time setting is passed into the HourGlass internal processing via a sequential dataset defined in CICS as a transient data queue. The TD Queue is AGGB and is associated to DDname AGGDATE. The date/time specs format is as follows:
    DATE=yyyy-mm-dd
TIME=dhhmm

    where the DATE and TIME specifications follow the same convention as in the HourGlass //DD format.

    An asterisk in column 1 is treated as a comment.

    A sample batch job AGGHGCB$ is provided in SAGGSAMP to dynamically modify the setting without logging into the CICS region. This sample job uses the MVS™ "modify" command to pass the invocation of the HGCB transaction in the CICS region. The sample job has two IDCAMS steps, as follows:
    1. Copy the DATE/TIME setting from SYSIN to the sequential dataset that is defined as the TD Queue in the CICS region.
    2. Submit into the internal reader a second batch JOB that only contains the "modify" command. The second job is necessary to ensure the TD Queue gets updated before the "modify" command is processed.

For more details about these transactions, see Using HourGlass with CICS.