Chapter 5. Common Dialog Actions

Common Dialog Actions allow you to perform various activities in Query:

Common Dialog Action Overview provides a brief description of the actions described in this chapter.

The actions are described individually as follows:

DUMP: Displaying a control block in hexadecimal format.

FIND: Locating a menu list item.

FORMAT: Displaying a Control Block in interpreted format

QUERY: Requesting a control block.

VTAM Operator Commands: VARY, DISPLAY, MODIFY, and REPLY.

Note: The Common Dialog Actions discussed in this chapter are in addition to the actions discussed in the User's Guide (TNC-0002).

Common Dialog Action Overview

The following table provides a brief overview of each Query action's purpose:

Action	Usage
DUMP	causes Query to produce detailed control block displays in the panel body in a hexadecimal format
FIND	allows the Query terminal user to position to a specific control block within a displayed list by specifying the control block name or pattern matching string
FORMAT	causes Query to produce detailed control block displays in the panel body in an interpreted format (when available)
QUERY	a Command prompt action requesting Query operations via a keyword syntax
VTAM	issue a VTAM operator command

Query Dialog Actions

Note: The remainder of this chapter describes each of the actions in detail.

DUMP: Displaying a control block in hexadecimal format

Use the DUMP action (F11) to display panels containing a control block in a hexadecimal format. You can then evaluate the panel's specific field settings and use the cursor and/or QUERY command to access other control blocks or areas.

The following SIB panel demonstrates the DUMP format:

Example DUMP Information panel

Note: All of the virtual addresses displayed in the panel area are within the VTAM address space or virtual machine; they are not within the teleprocessing system hosting the Network Center Interface.

Note: For information on using panels in DUMP mode, see Viewing Information in DUMP Mode for more information.

FIND: Locating a menu list item

When you are displaying a list of menu items, you can use the FIND action (F11) to request that a list should start with a particular list value or to display particular list values only.

Note: This function is usually available when you are displaying a list of control blocks; it is not available from the information (DUMP or FORMAT) panels.

Steps:

1. Press F11 (Find); the 'Find Search Mask' pull down (TNCFIND) appears:

   FIND Pull Down

2. In the 'Search mask' field, enter a search mask for the value that you wish to locate:
   • To restart a list with a particular value, enter the exact value and press F3 (Exit) to apply the search mask. For example, if we entered 'SMSNA100' from the previous list, Query would restart the list as follows:

     Example Find Action

   • To display the list with a value or particular set of values only, you can use pattern matching characters and press F3 (Exit) to apply the search mask. For example, if we entered 'D6*', Query would recreate the list as follows:

     Example Find Action

   You may use the following pattern matching characters to create search masks:

   Pattern Matching Characters

   * The asterisk represents any number of charaters from 0 to the maximum number of characters in the field. You may use as necessary can be used within the operand. % The percent sign represents a single character of any value at the position that the percent sign is placed. As many percent signs as necessary can be used within the field.

   The following figure demonstrates the pattern characters ability to mask values. The first row gives example field entries, the column gives possible pattern strings. The coordinates indicate whether the pattern string is valid (YES) or invalid (NO):

   Pattern Matching Examples

   Pattern	AB21HD00	AB31	SYS140	SSCP1
   *	YES	YES	YES	YES
   *1	NO	YES	NO	YES
   *1*	YES	YES	YES	YES
   *HD*	YES	NO	NO	NO
   AB%1	NO	YES	NO	NO
   AB%1*	YES	YES	NO	NO
   %%%1*	YES	YES	YES	NO
   %%%%1*	NO	NO	NO	YES

3. To reset the list back to its original format, press F11 (Find), and then press F3 (Exit) without entering a new pattern.

FORMAT: Displaying a Control Block in interpreted format

Use the F11 (Format) action to display a particular control block in an interpreted format.

Query will display the individual control block titles as the "field prompt" and the field contents as the panel "field value" :Note.See Field prompts and Field Values for more information on these panel elements.

The following SIB demonstrates the FORMAT mode panel style:

Example FORMAT panel

FORMAT panels may also contain "selection fields" that display additional information (see Selection fields: Navigation and Supplemental for more information).

For example, when you select a supplemental field, Query presents a pop up window containing information that describes the field in detail. This pop up may, in turn, may also contain select fields that produce additional pop ups. To cancel the pop up windows, use the F12 (Cancel) action (they will be removed in the reverse order that they appeared).

In the following example, we selected the 'Sibfsmin' field:

Supplemental Field selection

Control blocks eligible for the FORMAT command

You can format the following control blocks:

FORMAT Eligible Control Blocks

ACDEB VTAM Data Extent Block BPDTY Buffer Pool Directory BPCB Buffer Pool Control Block DYPAB Dynamic Process Anchor Block FMCB Function Management Control Block FMCBE FMCB Extension LCNCB Local Device Node Control Block LOGMD Logmode (BIND Image) LUCB Logical Unit Control Block MPST Memory Process Schedule Table NCB Node Control Block PAB Process Anchor Block RAP Resource Definition Table Application Entry RCC Resource Definition Table Physical Unit Entry RCDRM Resource Definition Table Cross-Domain Resource Manager Entry RCDRS Resource Definition Table Cross-Domain Resource Entry RCPRE Resource Definition Table Allocation Entry Prefix RGP Resource Definition Table Group Entry RIN Resource Definition Table Adjacent Link Station Entry RLN Resource Definition Table Adjacent Line Entry RLU Resource Definition Table Adjacent Logical Unit Entry RPRE Resource Definition Table Entry Prefix RPU Common Physical Unit Prefix RRN Resource Definition Table NCP Entry RLS Resource Definition Table Local SNA Terminal Set Header Entry RSW Resource Definition Table Switched Terminal Set Header PXB Pool Extension Block PST Process Schedule Table RDT Resource Definition Table Segment Header RDTE Resource Definition Table Entry SIB Session Information Block SIBPX SIB Primary Logical Unit Extension SIBSX SIB Secondary Logical Unit Extension VRBLK Virtual Route Block XCNCB Cross-Channel Node Control Block

QUERY: Requesting a control block

You can use the QUERY action to make direct requests for control blocks. Simply enter "QUERY" in the command area (use the F21 (Command) action to activate the command area), followed by the operand value for the control block that you wish to view.

For example, you could enter the following QUERY action to request the ATCVT control block:

QUERY ATCVT

Note: To activate the command area, use the F21 (Command) action. This command toggles between "on" and "off". To reinstate or hide the command area, simply press the F21 key again.

Note: You can also use the QUERY action in DUMP mode to move the panel display to a different location in the control block. See Restarting the Panel at a different location for more information.

QUERY operands

The following operands are valid for the QUERY action:

address

any valid hexadecimal address

ABB

the Trace Anchor Block

ABC

the Center Anchor Block

ABT

the Timeout Anchor Block

ABX

the Compress Anchor Block

ABY

the Alias Anchor Block

ATCVT

VTAM Communications Vector Table

BPDTY

Buffer Pool Directory

BUFFERS

Buffer Pool Start Options

CONFT

Configuration Table

LOGMODE

System Logmode Table

MENU

return to Query Menu

PCB

Primary Center Block

QRB

Query Reply Buffer

RDTS

Resource Definition Tables

SDE

Session Descriptor Element

SDWA

System Diagnostic Work Area

SIBS

Session Information Blocks

SRTS

Symbolic Resolution Table prompt

VRBS

Virtual Route Blocks

VTAM

VTAM Start Options Panel

Valid QUERY Action Operands

The QUERY keyword operand

You can also use a keyword operand with the QUERY action operand, with the exception of ABB, ABC, ABT, ABX, ABY, MENU, SDWA, QRB, PCB, and addresses.

Use the keyword to tell Query where to begin the resulting menu panel. For example, the following QUERY action would request that the display begin at the Logmode named "NSX32702", if present in the table:

QUERY LOGMODE=NSX32702

QUERY synonyms

The following actions can be interchanged with the QUERY action:

• DISPLAY
• DUMP
• SHOW

You may use any one of these synonyms whenever this publication refers to the QUERY action: the results will be the same.

Example QUERY actions

This section describes several of the control blocks and related information available from the QUERY action in greater detail.

Anchor Blocks

The Network Center's Anchor Blocks (ABC) represent information that is retained across Network Center restarts for the individual Components.

The Anchor Blocks are most useful when working with NRS Technical Support and will appear similar to the following figure:

Center Anchor Block

You can manipulate the hexadecimal display using all standard Query functions.

Note: See Restarting the Panel at a different location to see the available Anchor Block operands.

Note: You can use the RESET command to force the Network Center to reinitialize these areas. See the Installation and Operations publication for more information.

Reply Buffer

The Network Center Interface determines the capabilities of the device it is connected to by issuing a Write Structured Field "Read Partition Query" command. The response to this command is stored and is then tested, as needed, by the Network Center Interface to determine terminal characteristics.

You can issue the Query QRB command to view the contents of the response to the Read Partition Query in hexadecimal format. It will appear similar to the following figure:

Query Reply Buffer

Note: You should interpret the contents of the buffer as described in the applicable IBM Device publications. [See the 3270 Data Stream Programmer's Reference, IBM document number GA23-0059. ]

This function has been added to facilitate NRS Technical Support debugging. It is very useful if you are attempting to identify why a specific device does not display multiple colors, support the alternate character set, etc.

Session Descriptor Elements

If your installation uses the Timeout Component, you may also use Query to interrogate the contents of the Timeout Session Descriptor Table and Session Descriptor Element for each session that is being monitored by Timeout. The following figure shows the basic command syntax:

QUERY SDE=(sluname,pluname)

This command requests that Query locate the entry (if present) in the Session Descriptor Table (SDT) for the identified session and display the associated portion of storage in hexadecimal. You can then select the Session Descriptor Element (SDE) for the session by moving the cursor to the first fullword in storage (displayed as offset 0000) and pressing enter.

The following figure shows an example QUERY SDE response:

Query SDE Response

Note: Interrogation of the SDE is NOT required for Timeout to operate properly. The QUERY SDE command is provided so that you may obtain additional detailed information about the Timeout monitor.

VTAM Operator Commands: VARY, DISPLAY, MODIFY, and REPLY

The VTAM command allows the terminal operator to issue VTAM operator commands from The Network Center's Command line. The VTAM command accepts any valid VTAM command that can be issued via the VTAM Program Operator interface. These include the VARY, DISPLAY, MODIFY, and REPLY commands (as identified in the VTAM Programming manual under the section that deals with the SENDCMD function).

The following figure shows the basic VTAM command syntax:

VTAM {vtam command}

The responses to the command are displayed by The Network Center in the Message Queue in an asynchronous manner. Depending on the speed of VTAM's response to the command, you may have to issue Message Queue placement commands (i.e. Bottom) to view the complete response. The following figure shows an example Query Display command entered in the command area:

Example Query Display Command

The following figure shows the results of the command:

VTAM Command Processing

Note: For information on using the Message Queue, see the Installation and Operations publication (TNC-0003).