FSSTAFF

The FSSTAFF system initialization parameter prevents transactions initiated by function-shipped EXEC CICS START requests being started against incorrect terminals.

FSSTAFF={YES|NO}
Specify this parameter in an application-owning region (AOR). You might need to code the function-shipped START affinity (FSSTAFF) parameter in an AOR if all of the following are true:
  1. The AOR is connected to two or more terminal-owning regions (TORs) that use the same, or a similar, set of terminal identifiers.
  2. One or more of the TORs issues EXEC CICS® START requests for transactions in the AOR.
  3. The START requests are associated with terminals.
  4. You are using shippable terminals, rather than statically defining remote terminals in the AOR.

Consider the following scenario:

Terminal-owning region TOR1 issues an EXEC CICS START request for transaction TRAR, which is owned by region AOR1. It is to be run against terminal T001. Meanwhile, terminal T001 on region TOR2 has been transaction routing to AOR1; a definition of T001 has been shipped to AOR1 from TOR2. When the START request arrives at AOR1, it is shipped to TOR2, rather than TOR1, for transaction routing from terminal T001.

To prevent this situation, code YES on the FSSTAFF parameter in the AOR.
YES
When a START request is received from a terminal-owning region, and a shipped definition for the terminal named on the request is already installed in the AOR, the request is always shipped back to a TOR, for routing, across the link it was received on, irrespective of the TOR referenced in the remote terminal definition.

If the TOR to which the START request is returned is not the one referenced in the installed remote terminal definition, a definition of the terminal is shipped to the AOR, and the autoinstall user program is called. Your autoinstall user program can then allocate an alias termid in the AOR, to avoid a conflict with the previously installed remote definition. For information about writing an autoinstall program to control the installation of shipped definitions, see Writing a program to control autoinstall of shipped terminals.

NO
When a START request is received from a terminal-owning region, and a shipped definition for the named terminal is already installed in the AOR, the request is shipped to the TOR referenced in the definition, for routing.
Note:
  1. FSSTAFF has no effect:
    • On statically-defined (hard-coded) remote terminal definitions in the AOR. If you use these, START requests are always shipped to the TORs referenced in the definitions.
    • On START requests issued in the local region. It affects only START requests shipped from other regions.
    • When coded on intermediate regions in a transaction-routing path. It is effective only when coded on an application-owning region.
  2. If the AOR contains no remote definition of a terminal named on a shipped START request, the "terminal not known" global user exits, XICTENF and XALTENF, are called. For details of these exits, see 'Terminal not known' condition exits.