Specifying automatic message deletion for MCS, HMCS or SMCS consoles

Use the following keyword on the CONSOLE statement in CONSOLxx to control automatic message deletion:

DEL: Specifies the mode for message deletion

The following are options for DEL:

Y: Specifies automatic deletion mode
N: Specifies that messages can only be manually deleted from the console screen
RD: Specifies roll-deletable mode; roll-deletable mode is the default.
R: Specifies roll mode
W: Specifies wrap mode

Automatic mode

In automatic mode, messages are removed whenever the message area becomes full, or when a status display is overlaying messages in the bottom portion of the message area. Flagged messages are the only messages removed under automatic mode. These messages include:

Action messages for which the action has been taken
System or problem program messages that are marked deletable by the issuer
Messages that are indicated as deletable at job step end
WTOR messages that have been answered
WTOR messages that have not been answered but that are associated with a job step that has ended

Roll and roll-deletable modes

In roll mode, a specified number of messages are removed (or “rolled off”) when a specified time interval elapses. Roll mode is particularly useful for monitoring heavy message traffic.

Roll-deletable mode is the same as roll mode except that action messages are not removed; they accumulate at the top of your screen. The operator can then delete the action messages one at a time, either by using the CONTROL E command or placing the cursor or light pen on the “*” or “@” that precedes the message and pressing ENTER.

Use the following keywords to control the rate of rolling for a console screen in roll or roll-deletable mode:

RNUM: Controls the number of lines per screen roll; the default is 5 lines per roll.
RTME: Controls the rate of the screen roll; the default is 2 seconds between rolls.

To request that roll mode go into effect and that two messages be rolled every second, code the following parameters on the CONSOLE statement for the console:

DEL(R) RNUM(2) RTME(1)

For roll mode and roll-deletable modes, messages are not numbered on the screen. Instead, a two-digit number appears in the first new message line after each screen roll. This number indicates the number of messages waiting for display, and includes any messages hidden by the status display information. If the number of lines waiting for display is more than 99, AA appears in the first new message line.

Adjusting RNUM and RTME values

Because system workload can vary, you might want to change RNUM and RTME values to meet the needs of your installation. To illustrate how you would code the values in CONSOLxx, assume for a console named TAPEMSG, that you want to define roll-deletable mode with five messages being deleted every 10 seconds. Also, you want each message to display the system name from where the messages are issued. Code the statement in CONSOLxx as follows:

CONSOLE DEVNUM(0C6) NAME(TAPEMSG) DEL(RD) RTME(10) RNUM(5) MFORM(S)

For a description of MFORM, see Controlling the format of messages and status information on console screens.

Wrap mode

In wrap mode operators can view messages without having messages move off the screen. When the screen is full, new messages overlay older messages. As the messages begin to fill up the screen in wrap mode, they appear from top to bottom on the console screen with the old messages on the top and the newer messages on the bottom.

The console screen still preserves the instruction line, entry area, and warning line. (See Figure 2.) However, when the screen is filled, the messages themselves do not roll off the screen. Instead a highlighted separator line that separates the last displayed message from the newest displayed message moves to indicate the new boundary between old and new messages. (A two-digit number at the beginning of the separator line indicates the number of messages waiting for display.)

When a new message cannot fit on the screen, the separator line overlays the oldest message at the top of the screen and the new message appears at the bottom.

As new messages are added, the separator line continues to move and overlay the next oldest message on the screen with the newest message always appearing above the line:

Figure 1. Example of a Full Wrap Mode Screen

     IEE600I  REPLY TO 01 IS:NONE
     ICH501I  -- RACF IS NOT ACTIVE --
     IEF677I  WARNING MESSAGE(S) FOR JOB JES2     ISSUED
    *02 $HASP426 SPECIFY OPTIONS -- JES2 SP 3.1.1
     ISG011I  SYSTEM SYSTEM2 - JOINING GRS COMPLEX
     ISG004I  GRS COMPLEX JOINED BY SYSTEM2
     CSV210I  LIBRARY LOOKASIDE INITIALIZED
    *IEE352A  SMF ENTER DUMP FOR SYS1.MANA ON PAGE98
 04 --------------------------------------------------------------
     IEA180I  USING IBM DEFAULT VALUE PFK DEFINITIONS.
              NO PFK TABLES REQUESTED
     IKJ712I  DEFAULT VALUES WERE USED FOR TEST
     IKJ712I  DEFAULT VALUES WERE USED FOR PLATCMD
     IRA600I  SRM CHANNEL DATA NOW AVAILABLE FOR ALL SRM FUNCTIONS
     ICH508I  ACTIVE RACF EXITS: ICHDEX01
     ICH509I  SYSRACF DD STATEMENT NOT SPECIFIED INMSTRJCL OR
             ALLOCATION FAILURE FOR RACF DATA SET
     *01 ICH502A SPECIFY NAME FOR PRIMARY RACF DATASET SEQUENCE 091 OR
       'NONE'
      R 1,none

IEE612I  CN=C3E0SS1   DEVNUM=0FE  SYS=SYSTEM1  CMDSYS=SYSTEM1  USERID=JIM

IEE163I MODE=W

Figure 2 shows the same screen when a new message (IEE366I) appears:

Figure 2. Example of the Wrap Mode Screen after the Next Wrap

     IEE600I  REPLY TO 01 IS:NONE
     ICH501I  -- RACF IS NOT ACTIVE --
     IEF677I  WARNING MESSAGE(S) FOR JOB JES2     ISSUED
    *02 $HASP426 SPECIFY OPTIONS -- JES2 SP 3.1.1
     ISG011I  SYSTEM SYSTEM2 - JOINING GRS COMPLEX
     ISG004I  GRS COMPLEX JOINED BY SYSTEM2
     CSV210I  LIBRARY LOOKASIDE INITIALIZED
    *IEE352A  SMF ENTER DUMP FOR SYS1.MANA ON PAGE98
     IEE366I  NO SMF DATASETS AVAILABLE--DATA BEING BUFFERED TIME*13:42:42
 03 --------------------------------------------------------------
     IKJ712I  DEFAULT VALUES WERE USED FOR TEST
     IKJ712I  DEFAULT VALUES WERE USED FOR PLATCMD
     IRA600I  SRM CHANNEL DATA NOW AVAILABLE FOR ALL SRM FUNCTIONS
     ICH508I  ACTIVE RACF EXITS: ICHDEX01
     ICH509I  SYSRACF DD STATEMENT NOT SPECIFIED INMSTRJCL OR
             ALLOCATION FAILURE FOR RACF DATA SET
     *01 ICH502A SPECIFY NAME FOR PRIMARY RACF DATASET SEQUENCE 091 OR
       'NONE'
      R 1,none

IEE612I  CN=C3E0SS1   DEVNUM=0FE  SYS=SYSTEM1  CMDSYS=SYSTEM1  USERID=JIM

IEE163I MODE=W

Specifying RTME for WRAP mode

You can specify RTME for wrap mode to update the screen. An RTME value of 1/4 or 1/2 second is good for a console in wrap mode. You should verify that your console can handle a rapid update rate before setting the RTME value to 1/4 or 1/2 second. To specify wrap mode for a console that displays a message every 1/2 second, code the following on the CONSOLE statement for the console:

DEL(W) RTME(1/2)

Restrictions using Wrap Mode

In wrap mode, new messages overlay WTORs and action messages; unlike these messages in roll deletable mode, WTORs and action messages are not retained on the screen. Note also that for a console screen in wrap mode, you cannot use the following commands:

CONTROL A to define or change out-of-line display areas
CONTROL D,N,HOLD to number and hold messages
CONTROL E,nn(,nn) to remove specified lines from the screen
CONTROL E,F to remove flagged messages from the screen
CONTROL E,N to remove message numbers from the screen

Note that using CONTROL E,SEG to eliminate groups of messages from a console screen in wrap mode clears the entire screen of messages. Consoles in wrap mode do not use out-of-line areas.