TRANSACTION resources

A TRANSACTION resource defines transaction attributes that relate to functions provided by CICS®.

A CICS application consists of one or more programs written to perform a specific function. A particular invocation of such an application is known as a transaction, and the CICS transaction manager identifies it by its transaction identifier (TRANSID). The TRANSACTION resource can also be used as an application entry point. Entry points are described in Application entry points.

You tell CICS how you want your transaction to run, primarily in a TRANSACTION definition, by providing such information as the transaction priority, security key, and the length of the transaction work area (TWA). The name of this definition, the TRANSACTION name, is the same as the TRANSID. You also link the transaction with other resources by coding the names of their definitions in the TRANSACTION definition. These other resources are PROGRAM, PROFILE, PARTITIONSET, REMOTESYSTEM, and TRANCLASS.

PROGRAM

You specify options related to the software implementation of your application in the PROGRAM definition. The program to which control is to be given to process the transaction is then defined. The TRANSACTION definition references the PROGRAM definition.

PROFILE

You do not have to specify, for each transaction, the attributes that control the interaction with a terminal or logical unit. Instead, the TRANSACTION definition references a PROFILE definition, which specifies them for a number of transactions.

REMOTESYSTEM

For transaction routing, instead of specifying a PROGRAM name in the TRANSACTION definition, you specify the name of a REMOTESYSTEM. The value can be the name of another CICS system, which itself is defined to this CICS system in a CONNECTION definition or IPCONN definition of the same name.

If you name a REMOTESYSTEM in a CONNECTION definition, you can also supply a REMOTENAME, which is the name of the transaction to be run in the remote system. The remote system decides which program it gives control to.

If you specify a REMOTESYSTEM name that corresponds to the system in which the definition is installed, CICS installs a local transaction resource. If the REMOTESYSTEM name does not correspond to the system in which the definition is installed, CICS installs a remote transaction resource. If no REMOTESYSTEM name is specified, CICS will install a local transaction resource.

TRANCLASS

This specifies the name of the transaction class to which the transaction belongs. Transactions belonging to a transaction class are subject to scheduling constraints before they are allowed to execute. The constraints are specified in the associated TRANCLASS definition. The TRANCLASS definition is described in TRANCLASS resources.

TRANSACTION resources in CICS bundles

You can use a CICS bundle to create, edit, and install a TRANSACTION resource definition. If you create a TRANSACTION resource in this way, you must use the CICS bundle to manage the lifecycle of that resource, and you cannot manage the resource independently. You can inquire on a TRANSACTION resource that is dynamically generated by a CICS bundle, by using the EXEC CICS INQUIRE TRANSACTION or CEMT INQUIRE TRANSACTION command. However, you cannot issue SET or DISCARD commands against a TRANSACTION resource that is dynamically generated by a CICS bundle. You must issue the commands against the BUNDLE resource, and CICS applies them to the TRANSACTION resource. You can declare a TRANSACTION resource as an application entry point through a CICS Bundle.

A transaction might be allocated work that is due to be started, by an EXEC CICS START command, at a scheduled time. If that work is scheduled to start after the CICS bundle is disabled, the scheduled work is canceled, and no new work is allowed to start for that transaction. If the CICS bundle is then re-enabled, the canceled work is not rescheduled, and remains canceled.

For more information about defining resources in CICS bundles, see Defining CICS bundles.