Command prefixing

There are times when, in a loosely coupled or a multiple database function (MDBF) environment, you will need to interrogate or update the status of processors and subsystems other than the one with which you are currently communicating. You may also have a need to communicate with a remote z/TPF processor to determine the status of some part of that system. The z/TPF system provides a prefixing facility to allow you to make the necessary inquiries and updates to other processors and subsystems to help you solve problems and be more productive. Figure 1 shows an example of a system comprised of a loosely coupled environment that includes processors B and C with MDBF, and uniprocessor A attached through a cross-domain link. Assume terminal 123B is logged on to SMPB, which is in the basic subsystem (BSS) of processor B.
Figure 1. System Example

The following are the possible prefixes for the environment described in Figure 1:

Note: The command variable is the command that you want to enter.
  • To retrieve status from processor C, enter:

    SMPC/command

  • It is possible to send a command to any application (for example, AAAA) with the use of a prefix from a CRAS terminal logged on to SMP as long as the application can interpret the command, as follows:

    AAAA/command

  • To send a command to any subsystem or subsystem user, enter:

    SS2/command

  • To interrogate or update a subsystem on another processor, enter:

    SMPC/SS2/command

  • In order to access the remote processor, enter:

    SMPA/command

  • It is possible to send a command to all active processors in the loosely coupled complex by entering the prefix for the command as follows:

    ALL/command

  • To send a command to a subsystem on all active processors in the loosely coupled complex, enter:

    ALL/SS2/command

Note:
  1. A prefixed command can be entered only from a CRAS terminal logged on to SMP.
  2. In an MDBF environment, application prefixing is restricted to the basic subsystem.
  3. To maintain compatibility with previous releases, a double slash (//) is accepted as the prefix delimiter.
  4. You can enter the ALL prefix from the prime CRAS (PRC) or a local 3270 CRAS terminal only.

See Prefixing commands for more information about command prefixing.