Processing a target zone or a distribution zone

A target zone and a distribution zone are processed in very similar ways. The only difference is the name of the controlling entry. Therefore, they are covered together, and the differences are pointed out as appropriate.

When you direct SMP/E to process a target zone (for instance to apply a PTF) or a distribution zone (for instance to accept that PTF), SMP/E accesses the ZONEINDEX subentries in the GLOBALZONE entry. Those subentries list the target zones and distribution zones that you have defined, including the zone type, target or DLIB, and the name of the CSI data set on which they reside.

After SMP/E has determined that the zone specified is valid, it uses the CSI data set name specified to dynamically allocate a DD statement to access the required data set (optionally, SMP/E looks for a DD statement equal to the zone name). SMP/E can now access that DD statement to obtain further processing information for the zone.

The first entry accessed is the TARGETZONE entry (for target zones) or the DLIBZONE entry (for distribution zones). Each of these, in turn, directs SMP/E to the correct OPTIONS entry to use, which in turn directs SMP/E to the correct UTILITY entries. Target and distribution zones also contain DDDEF entries.

The OPTIONS and UTILITY entries serve the same purpose for the target zone and distribution zone as for the global zone. However, the OPTIONS and UTILITY entries used to process a target zone or distribution zone are defined not in the target or distribution zone, but in the global zone that points to the target or distribution zone.
TARGETZONE and DLIBZONE entries contain a RELATED subentry, which identifies a related zone. For a target zone, the RELATED subentry identifies the distribution zone from which this target zone was built. For a distribution zone, the RELATED subentry identifies the target zone that was built from these distribution libraries.
DDDEF entries in the target zone and distribution zone are not connected to any other entries. They provide information used by SMP/E to dynamically allocate data sets.

Figure 1 shows how the various target zone, distribution zone, and global zone processing entries are related. Subsequent sub-topics of this topic provide a more detailed explanation of each entry and the data it contains. Because neither the FMIDSET entries nor the DDDEF entries are connected to any other distribution zone or target zone entry, they are not shown in this figure.