Online testing of MFS formats in DB/DC and DCCTL environments

If you need to test an application program change online in either a test or a production system and the test transaction input uses an MFS-supported screen format, you can use the MFSTEST mode.

IMS allows individual MFS-supported terminals to enter MFSTEST mode. In this mode, you can use temporary message formats from an alternative MFS format library, rather than changing the message format blocks in the production format library. A format block name can be identical to the name of a message format already in the production library.

An MFS-supported terminal is placed in test mode by entering a /TEST command with the MFS parameter. Next, the remote terminal operator enters a /FORMAT command for transaction processing, causing message formats to be selected from a library of test formats (IMS.TFORMAT). If these message formats are not found in this library, they are selected from the active message format library (IMS.FORMATA/B). By entering an /END command, the terminal is removed from test mode.

When testing MFS formats, you can use the /TRACE SET ON TRAP command to trap and analyze MFS errors. This command helps you analyze errors that result from incorrect manipulation of the MFS control blocks.