Extending Policy Definitions

With SA z/OS you can extend your policy definitions by creating new policy items or modifying existing ones. Any user-defined policy items that you create or modify are now kept separate from the SA z/OS policies.

This means that with future releases of SA z/OS you will not have to redefine those policy items that you have created or modified.

To create new policy items or modify existing ones, you should perform the following steps:

  1. Select option 10 Policy from the Customization Dialog Settings Menu (see Figure 1). An Entry Type Selection panel is displayed.
  2. Select the entry type that you want to create a new policy item or modify one for. The Edit Policy Selections panel is displayed, listing all current policy items for that entry type, as shown in Figure 1. Any user-defined policy items are indicated by USR in the Status column.
    Figure 1. Sample of Edit Policy Selections Panel
       COMMANDS  ACTIONS  HELP                                                      
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 
 AOFGCPO1                     Edit Policy Selections          Row 1 to 14 of 44 
 Command ===>                                                   SCROLL===> PAGE 
                                                                                
 Entry Type : Application                                                             
                                                                                
 Act   Stat  Policy Name          Policy Description                            
       SEL   DESCRIPTION          Enter description                             
       SEL   UPWARD CLASS         Select a class to inherit data from           
       SEL   DOWNWARD CLASS/INST  Select classes or instances that inherit data 
       USR   WAC INFO             Define WAC application information            
       SEL   APPLICATION INFO     Define application information                
       SEL   AUTOMATION FLAGS     Define application automation flags           
       SEL   TRIGGER              Select trigger                                
       SEL   SERVICE PERIOD       Select service period                         
       SEL   RELATIONSHIPS        Define relationships                          
       SEL   MESSAGES/USER DATA   Define messages and user data                 
       SEL   STARTUP              Define startup procedures                     
       SEL   SHUTDOWN             Define shutdown procedures                    
       SEL   THRESHOLDS           Define error thresholds                       
       SEL   MINOR RESOURCE FLAGS Define application sub-component flags
  3. In the Edit Policy Selections panel you can:
    • Create a new entry by entering NEW at the command line. The new entry is added to the top of the list.
    • Create a new entry by entering INSERT in the Act column. The new entry is added after the entry where INSERT was specified.
    • Edit an entry by entering EDIT in the Act column. It is recommended to edit only user-defined entries. The existing SA z/OS policy definitions should not be modified.
    • Delete a user-defined entry by entering DELETE in the Act column.
    • Suppress an SA z/OS entry by entering REMOVE in the Act column.
    • Activate a deselected entry by entering SELECT in the Act column.
    • Leave the panel and save all changes by entering the END command.
    • Discard all changes by entering the CANCEL command.
  4. If you choose to insert a new policy item for an entry type, or edit an existing policy item, the Define Policy Selection panel is displayed. The example in Figure 2 shows how to define policy item APPLICATION INFO of entry type Application.
    Figure 2. Define Policy Selection Panel
       COMMANDS  HELP                                                               
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 
 AOFGCPO2                     Define Policy Selection                           
 Command ===>                                                                   
                                                                                
 Entry Type : Application                                                       
                                                                                
 Enter or update the following to define the Policy Definition:                 
                                                                                
  Name . . . . . APPLICATION INFO                                               
  Description. . Define application information                                 
  Help Action. . PGM(ISPTUTOR) PARM(AOFHLPA0)                                   
  Edit Action. . CMD(AOFFLCVW DISPL,D0M)                                       
  ISPF Tables. .                                                                
  User Note. . .                                                                
           . . .                                                                
           . . .                                                                
           . . .                                                                
           . . .                                                                
                                                                                
  Filter attributes . .

    If you want to create policy items you must specify an ISPF action for the selection of the new policy item from the Policy Selection panel. You must then create your own ISPF input panel for the new policy item.

    Each policy selection consists of information defining:

    • How the policy appears on the Policy Selection panel.
    • How the policy is processed when it is selected.
    • Under what conditions the policy should be displayed.
    This panel has the following fields:
    Entry Type
    Indicates the entry that the policy is being defined for. This field is set based on the entry type you had previously selected.
    Policy Name
    This is the name of the policy you are defining. It appears in the first column of the Policy Selection panel. This field is required.
    Description
    This is a short description of the policy. It appears in the second column of the Policy Selection panel. This field is required.
    Help Action
    Specifies the action to be taken when policy help is requested (by entering HELP in the Action column on the Policy Selection panel). The action must be a valid ISPF SELECT service. For example, to display an ISPF panel enter: 
    PGM(ISPTUTOR) PARM(panel-name)
    The help text should describe the function provided by this policy rather than describing how to enter the data for the policy.

    This field is optional; if no action is specified HELP will not be available from the Policy Selection panel for this policy.

    Edit Action
    Specifies the action to be taken when the policy is selected from the Policy Selection panel. The action must be a valid ISPF SELECT Service. This field is required.
    ISPF Tables
    Allows you to specify a list of ISPF tables which are used in this policy. All the table names specified here are provided for that policy if invoked in BROWSE mode. This specification is optional and only needed for BROWSE.
    User Note
    These fields are not shown on the Policy Selection panel. They can be used for documentation purposes. These fields are optional.

You can also specify filtering conditions, that is, attributes of the entry being processed from the Policy Selection panel that can be used to determine whether this policy should be displayed. The following filtering information can be specified:

Filter attributes
This specifies attributes that an entry must have in order for this policy to be displayed. This field contains multiple words, each word identifying one attribute. All the attributes specified must be satisfied in order for the policy to be displayed. If no attributes are specified then the policy is valid for all entries. The attributes that can be specified are defined by SA z/OS and differ based on the entry type, as shown in Table 1.
Table 1. Policy Selection Filter Attributes
Entry Type Attribute Value
Group Group type
(blank)
STANDARD
SYSPLEX
System Operating System type
(blank)
CF
KVMIBM
LINUX
MVS
VM
VSE
ApplicationGroup ApplicationGroup type
(blank)
SYSPLEX
SYSTEM
Application Object type
(blank)
CLASS
INSTANCE
  Category
(blank)
CICS
DB2
E2EAGT
JES2
JES3
IMAGE
IMS
INFOSPHERE
LIFELINE
MQ
OPC
TCPIP
USS
Processor Processor type/mode
(blank)
ESA
LPAR
PSM
Others –  

The following rules apply to the filtering attributes:

  1. If no attributes are specified (indicated by (blank) in Table 1), the policy is always displayed for all entries.
  2. If multiple attributes are specified then all attributes must be satisfied in order for the policy to be displayed. For example:
    JES2 CLASS
    This displays the policy for application entries that are classes and are of category JES2.
    JES2
    This displays the policy for application entries that are of category JES2 and either class or instances.
  3. For each ATTRIBUTE, the words listed in the VALUE column are mutually exclusive. If you specify both values the policy will never be displayed as both conditions cannot be true at the same time. Here is an example for systems:
    MVS VM
    This is never displayed because a system can be either MVS or VM but not both.
  4. No validity checking is done on the attribute values. If an invalid value is specified the policy will never be displayed since the condition cannot be satisfied. Here is an example for systems:
    STANDARD
    This is never displayed because a system cannot be of type STANDARD.