Customize the Discovery Agent for IdML processing

After you discover the IDML books, you can customize the IdML configuration for IBM Z® Resource Discovery Data Service Agent (Discovery Agent) on USS. This topic provides details on data transfer types and IdML file customization.

When transferring data from IdML books, the following types of data transfers are supported:

  • FULL data:
    • The FULL transfer type transfers the entire dataset from the IdML books.
    • To transfer FULL data, update the POPULATE_FULL_DLA value as "Yes" (POPULATE_FULL_DLA: "Yes") in the CONFIG.YML file.
  • DELTA data:
    • The DELTA transfer type sends DELTA data by comparing two versions of the IDML books (last and current) with the same file name from the same dataset.
    • To transfer DELTA data, update the POPULATE_FULL_DLA value as "No" or " " (POPULATE_FULL_DLA: " ") in the CONFIG.YML file. If the provided value is anything other than "Yes," only the Delta data will be displayed.
Note: The other configuration remains the same for both types of transfer.

To specify which IdML books to process, update the values in the FILE_IDML.YML file according to the format provided in the following example:

files:                                   
  - version: v1                          
    type: IDML                           
    timestamp: 2023-02-23 00:00:00       
    deleted: false                       
    sysplex_name: SYSPLEX_NAME         
    dataset_name: DATASET_NAME         
    member_name: ZOSBASE                 
  - version: v1                          
    type: IDML                           
    timestamp: 2023-02-23 00:00:00       
    deleted: false                       
    sysplex_name: SYSPLEX_NAME         
    dataset_name: DATASET_NAME         
    member_name: MEMBER_NAME
Important: Create the required number of sections under files:, and remove any unnecessary sections. By default, the provided sample file contains two sections. If you only need one section, edit the first section and delete the second one.

The description of the values are defined as follows:

  • version─The version of the .YML file. This value must be v1.
  • type─The type of file that needs to be read. This value must be IDML.
  • timestamp─The timestamp when the file is created. This value is optional.
  • deleted─This value is ignored and not used for IdML processing.
  • sysplex_name─This value is ignored and not used for IdML processing.
  • dataset_name─The name of the dataset in which the IdML books that are to be processed are stored.
  • member_name─Specifies the name or naming pattern of the dataset members to be processed. You can use the wildcard characters ? (to match a single character) and * (to match zero or more characters). For example, ID*BOOK matches all files that start with "ID" and end with "BOOK".

The following example illustrates a completed FILE_IDML.YML file that has two sections. Each section uses a different dataset and a different member name, and the second section illustrates the use of wildcard characters in the member name.

files:
  - version: v1
    type: IDML
    timestamp: 2023-02-23 00:00:00
    deleted: false
    sysplex_name: PLEX1
    dataset_name: MY.SAMPLE.DATASET
    member_name: ZOSBASE
  - version: v1
    type: IDML
    timestamp: 2023-02-23 00:00:00
    deleted: false
    sysplex_name: PLEX1
    dataset_name: MY.OTHER.SAMPLE.DATASET
    member_name: ID*B?OK

The entire configuration of all sections under files: must result in a single ZOSBASE IdML book. To upload the IdML book, the FILES.YML file must contain exactly one ZOSBASE book. First, set the ZOSBASE, and then add any additional books you wish to upload.