Defining report classes

Optionally, classification rules can assign incoming work to a report class. Workload management provides data for reporting on all of the service definition terms on a service class period and workload basis. Report classes can be used to report on a subset of transactions running in a single service class but also to combine transactions running in different service classes within one report class. In the first case, a report class is called homogeneous, in the second case it is called heterogeneous. Heterogeneous report classes can cause incorrect performance data, since the data collected is based on different goals, importance, or duration. WLM allows a caller of the workload reporting service IWMRCOLL to detect whether a report class is homogeneous or heterogeneous for a given report interval. See z/OS MVS Programming: Workload Management Services for more information on how a reporting product can receive an indication whether a report class is homogeneous or heterogeneous.

The data available for report classes include:

Number of transactions completed
Average response times
Resource usage data
State samples
Response time distribution buckets
Work manager delay data

Each item in the list is related to a report class period. The reporting products are advised to report response time distributions only for homogenous report class periods, where only 1 service class contributed data to the report class.

For CICS® and IMS™ workloads, resource usage data and state samples are reported with the service classes for the regions, not the service classes assigned to the transactions.

Note that a report class can have as many periods as the largest service class within the same service definition has periods. Not all of them may be used, though. Report classes inherit periods automatically based on the transaction's service class period that is contributing to the report class. A reporting product can determine whether a report class is homogeneous within a given reporting interval and is advised to report the data as one period if the report class is heterogeneous. Based on its capabilities and options, a reporting product can report the data of a homogeneous report class as one period or as multiple periods.

For subsystem STC initiator INITs should never be in a report class.

You can assign up to a maximum of 2047 report classes, with no more than one report class per work request or transaction.

Defining report classes

Name: Report class name
Description: Description of the report class

Name (required): Eight character identifier of the report class.
Description (optional): An area of 32 characters to describe the report class.

Example 1: Defining report classes

Suppose you have defined the following rules for your CICS work:

Subsystem Type . . . . . . . : CICS
Description  . . . . . . . . . CICS subsystem
                                            -------Class--------
                                            Service     Report
                                  DEFAULTS: CICSB       ________
1  UI         ATMA                          CICSA       ATMA
2    TN         CASH                        ________    CASHA
2    TN         DEPOSIT                     ________    DEPOSITA
3      LU         WALLST                    ________    BIGDEP
1  UI         ATMC                          CICSC       ATMC
2    TN         CASH                        ________    CASHC
2    TN         DEPOSIT                     ________    DEPOSITC
3      LU         WALLST                    ________    BIGDEP

In this example, the cash transactions are separated from their deposit transactions for reporting purposes. Report class ATMA therefore, does not include all transactions with userid ATMA, because it does not include the cash or deposit transactions.