Creating descriptors using the system definition process

To ease migration, you can create a starter set of ETO descriptors (except MFS descriptors) using the ETOFEAT keyword on the IMSCTRL macro at system definition. You can add to or modify the starter set by creating an additional IMS.PROCLIB member.

For MFS descriptors, the system definition creates a device characteristics table based on the stage-1 input that can be used as one of the inputs to the MFSDCT utility (DFSUTB00). The device characteristics table contains what the system-defined device characteristics table contains, plus any additional entries from device descriptors.

Creating descriptors during the system definition process saves you time and ensures that the descriptors are correct. IMS generates an ETO descriptor report, which provides information on the relationship between ETO descriptors and the IMS system definition resources that they represent.