This definition element defines a logical application system to Network Director. It will eventually represent a single entry on a terminal user's Application Selection Panel (after being authorized for this APPLICATION via the APPLICATIONS= operand).
This statement could simply identify a major software subsystem (CICS, etc), but additional flexibility within the computing facility can be achieved by logically identifying the application systems in use (such as PAYROLL, etc). This further identification process will allow the Network Administrator to move, monitor, and control individual application subsystems independently.
The format of the APPLICATION statement is:
APPLICATION
application name
[ ACTIONS=(action character,command string, ... ) ]
[ ALARM={YES|NO} ]
[ ATTRIBUTES=({HIDDEN|NONE|NO-ACQUIRE}, ... } ]
[ AUTOLOGOFF={NO|YES|RETURN|SELECT} ]
[ BALANCE=({numeric-value|1}, ... ) ]
[ COMMENTS={Info Display Direct command} ]
[ COMPRESS={YES|NO} ]
[ CONCURRENT={0|numeric value ]
[ DAYS=(day specification, ...) ]
[ ERASE={YES|NO} ]
[ FDE-NAME=alpha value ]
[ INITIAL-DATA=(data, ...) ]
[ INITIAL-FUNCTION=transid ]
[ INITIAL-STATUS={ASIS|HELD} ]
[ LOGMODE={0|alpha value} ]
[ MAXIMUM={0|numeric value} ]
[ MONITOR={YES|NO|DOWN} ]
[ MONITOR-INTERVAL={0|numeric value } ]
[ NAME=alpha value ]
[ PFKEY={pfkey value|NO} ]
[ PHONE=alpha value ]
[ PRIVILEGE=(alpha pattern, ...) ]
[ ROTATE=(alpha string, ... ) ]
[ SEPARATOR={NO|character} ]
[ SEQUENCE={0|numeric value} ]
[ SSI={YES|NO|EXTENDED|PROTECTED|INHERIT} ]
[ STATUS={INQUIRE|ISTnnna} ]
[ STATUS-STRING=alpha value ]
TARGETS=(applid 1, applid 2)
[ TIMES=(time specification, ...) ]
[ TIMEOUT=numeric value ]
[ TITLE=application description ]
[ UPDATES={NO|YES} ]
[ USERVAR=alpha value ]
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identifies the logical name that will be used later in an APPLICATIONS= operand to identify this APPLICATION.
is also the Command Name that may be entered on the Command line on the Application Selection Panel to "select" this APPLICATION. The first item entered on the Command line by the terminal operator will be checked against this application name for the length of the application name to decide if the operator has entered a request for this APPLICATION.
establishes character values that can be entered into the Selection Character on non-CUA Application Selection Panels (the "_" immediately preceding the Selection Title). Normally, a character entered in this location indicates a choice (called the Modified Field selection method). However, with the ACTIONS operand, the Network Administrator can indicate special processing for specific characters.
When the defined action character is entered by a terminal operator, the command string paired with the action character will be executed exactly as if the terminal operator had typed it on the Command: line.
This facility can be utilized to provide a short hand method for the terminal operator to create certain command sequences. A typical use for this is activating the letters H or S for HELP about an APPLICATION or perhaps the SCHEDULE a particular APPLICATION has. You can define any character that can be entered on a 3270 keyboard. The character "?" is also used to provide entry into the INFO facility for information about the selection.
APPLICATION TSO,ACTIONS=(H,'HELP TSO',
R,'TSO RECON'),TARGET=TSO
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indicates that a terminal operator entering an upper case H in the selection character will be given to the APPLICATION named HELP (Network Director's INFO facility), which will then look for a TSO entry in the highest level index. The letter R will create a logon to TSO with the RECON operand being passed (presuming &OPERANDS has been set on the TSO APPLICATION definition).
controls whether Network Director is to activate the 3270 alarm (on appropriately equipped terminals) when this application changes status.
associates special processing characteristics with the APPLICATION being defined. The supported attributes are:
NO-ACQUIRE and the TERMINAL ACQUIRE=SELECT operands can be utilized to make the navigation throughout a large network of processors more meaningful to the terminal operator. Normally, a single device is LOGAPPLed to Network Director in the "home" domain. When multiple Network Directors are involved it is typical for the device to select an alternate Network Director and then choose an application in the alternate domain. When the device logs off of the selection application in the alternate domain, it is returned to Network Director in the home domain as a result of the LOGAPPL parameter.
If Network Director in the alternate domain had TERMINAL ACQUIRE=SELECT in effect the device will return to the alternate Network Director after log off instead of the "home" Network Director. Thus, the only time a queued acquire would not be desirable is if the device is "returning" to the home Network Director. The NO-ACQUIRE option on the APPLICATION statement provides the facility to identify which APPLICATIONs should have this special characteristic.
instructs Network Director whether to automatically LOGOFF the User at a terminal when the User selects this subsystem. Valid settings for this operand are:
Specifies the weighting that should be utilized by Network Director to distribute network users of an APPLICATION that is being "load balanced" via usage of the ROTATE operand. Each list operand is associated with its corresponding ROTATE name and establishes the relative percentage of network users that should be sent to the subsystem.
You can think of the BALANCE operand as indicating the percentage of network users that should be assigned by Network Director to the corresponding APPLICATION. As an example:
APPLICATION TSO1,TARGET=A01TSO APPLICATION TSO2,TARGET=A02TSO APPLICATION TSO3,TARGET=A03TSO APPLICATION TSO,ROTATE=(TSO1,TSO2,TSO3),BALANCE=(40,50,10) |
These configurations parameters will cause Network Director to distribute users between three applications. TSO1 will receive 40% of the active users, TSO2 50%, and TSO3 10%. This distribution mechanism allows you to take into account the relative size of the processors hosting the APPLICATIONs, etc.
You can also use BALANCE to establish a "backup" role for one of the specified APPLICATIONS. A BALANCE value of 0 (zero) causes Network Director to skip logically selecting the designated APPLICATION unless no other alternative is available.
BALANCE=(100,0) causes Network Director to send all users selecting the item to the first APPLICATION unless it is down. If the first APPLICATION is down, Network Director will forward the user to the second defined APPLICATION.
Establishes the Info Display Direct command that will be issued when a terminal user enters an "H" (for Help) in the selection character before the selection on the Application Selection Panel.
As an example, COMMENTS='=92000' will cause Network Director to display Info Panel 92000 when a terminal user enters H in the selection character.
controls whether Network Director will automatically compress blanks out of the SSI data stream (INITIAL-DATA=).
Indicates the number of times that an individual user may select this APPLICATION at the same time. Zero indicates that there is no limit. Any other value indicates that the user may not exceed the concurrent usage specified. The specified value may be from 0 to 32,767.
When an individual user attempts to exceed the CONCURRENT value set for a specific APPLICATION, Network Director will reject the attempt to select it and issue the following message to the terminal user:
TND0828 You have attempted to select [application] [number] time(s) |
specifies the days of the week that the application is available for use. The value of this argument is in addition to any TIME specification and both conditions must be true in order for the terminal user to select the application. A more detailed discussion of the DAYS format is under Day Specification.
instructs Network Director whether to clear the screen prior to forwarding the device to the target subsystem. This is useful for subsystems like CICS, where the initial transaction is anticipating that the device is clear (has no content).
Identifies the 8 character name that is associated with the field in the ACF2 FDR that identifies the bit in the ACF2 logonid record that permits access to this APPLICATION. The 8 character name must have been previously defined in the ACF2 FDR via a @CFDE macro and the bit to be checked must be present in the LIDREC that Network Director is using. If you are using the mini-LID feature of the @MUSASS definition for Network Director, make sure you include the field in the mini-LID definition.
The GLOBALS SECURITY=ACF2 operand is required to have been processed before the APPLICATION statement containing this operand can be properly processed.
describes the data stream that should be made available to the target subsystem. This data stream will be concatenated with the INITIAL-FUNCTION value (if provided) and provided to the subsystem initial routines or to Network Director's Single System Image modules in the target subsystem. INITIAL-DATA is typically used to pass initial data to the target application system.
The INITIAL-DATA operands are one or more individual arguments that are separated by a comma (standard list syntax). Each argument may be an EBCDIC constant (maximum of 50 bytes per literal) or one of the supported system variables as documented in the section Variables.
Each variable causes Network Director to transfer its equivalent values at execution time as portions of the INITIAL-DATA string. Thus, INITIAL-DATA=(86,&TERMINAL) will result in a string equivalent to "86TM03" for the terminal used in many of the figures in this manual.
If the &NAME variable is blank (no user has logged onto the terminal), the formatting of the SSI area is automatically terminated.
specifies the program or transaction, etc in the target subsystem that is to be given control when the terminal operator selects this application.
When Network Director processes a request for connection, it will pass the INITIAL-FUNCTION value to the target subsystem. Before the target application will respond to this facility, it must be supported by Network Director's Single System Image concept. Currently supported are CICS, COM-PLETE, MODEL204, other Network Directors, IMS/DC and IDMS/DC. Contact North Ridge Software, Inc. for additional information about the exact status of other subsystems.
establishes Network Director's method for identifying the application's initial availability.
indicates whether Network Director should override the default LOGMODE for a device requesting the defined APPLICATION. 0 indicates that the target subsystem will accept the device as it is set up (the default LOGMODE). Any other specification is the name of the LOGMODE that should be used instead of the default.
establishes the maximum number of network elements that can be forwarded to the defined APPLICATION at once. 0 indicates that there is no maximum in effect. A numeric value indicates the total that Network Director will allow to select the application. will not update the Selection Status area on the Application Selection Panel. The network element asking for an APPLICATION at its MAXIMUM will receive a message indicating that the APPLICATION is at its max and the selection will be ignored.
controls the manner in which Network Director will establish the status of the defined APPLICATION.
establishes the elapsed time interval between INQUIRE operations. If this is set to zero or allowed to default, the monitor interval is controlled by the GLOBALS TIMER operand value.
Is the 1 to 20 character name of the individual or department responsible for the APPLICATION. This name will be included in the message formatted as a result of the OWNER command.
specifies a program function key value for non-CUA Application Selection Panels that is assigned to the application (if it is available). This value will be used for this application if the PFKEY is not already assigned. PFKEYs will be assigned on the Application Selection Panel by evaluating the USERS, TERMINALS, GROUP, and DEFAULT statements first, then individual APPLICATION specifications, and finally by The Network Director simply assigning ascending sequential values.
The pfkey value can be the text string PFxx, where xx can be from 1 (or 01) to 24. Terminals that do not have function keys will have to use an alternate selection method to select the application. NO indicates that no pfkey value should be assigned to this APPLICATION. The text assigned via the GLOBALS ACTIVE-TEXT operand will be used instead to indicate that the APPLICATION is available.
You should also note that Network Director will automatically "fold" the PFKEYs, when appropriate, if GLOBALS FOLD-PFKEYS=YES is in effect. This means that Network Director will logically add 12 to a pfkey value lower than 12, if it is pressed and no selection results. Network Director will subtract 12 from the value if the key pressed is greater than 12. For example, if you define an APPLICATION with a PFKEY=1 specification and a terminal operator presses PF13 (assuming PF13 is not also assigned), Network Director will assume that the operator is attempting to select the APPLICATION. This logic attempts to address the use of control unit RPQs that "change" the meaning of some of the 3270 devices PFKEYs. Even though they are labelled PF1, the RPQs may cause the key to actually initiate a PF13 aid key value (and the opposite).
Is the 1 to 20 character phone number for the individual or department responsible for the APPLICATION. This number will be included in the message formatted as a result of the OWNER command.
specifies a series of 1 to 8 character name(s) that authorizes access to the APPLICATION (wild characters are valid). The PRIVILEGE operand implies an check to verify that a given user is authorized for the selection (all other validation and authorization procedures remain in effect). The PRIVILEGE operand may be utilized with APPLICATION definitions in the following security environments:
If specified, PRIVILEGE implies that the additional check must be complied with. That is, the user will have to be logged on via RACF or TOP SECRET.
Identifies a set of APPLICATION names that will be used as a pool of actual definitions for the target subsystems. A network user that selects this APPLICATION will actually be sent to one of the APPLICATIONs defined on the ROTATE operand (selection is controlled by the number of current network users of each of the ROTATE APPLICATIONS and is under the control of the BALANCE operand).
This operand will not be utilized unless the APPLICATION TARGET is left blank.
APPLICATION TSO1,TARGET=A01TSO APPLICATION TSO2,TARGET=A02TSO APPLICATION TSO3,TARGET=A03TSO APPLICATION TSO,ROTATE=(TSO1,TSO2,TSO3) |
These configurations parameters will cause Network Director to evenly distribute users that select TSO amongst TSO1, TSO2, and TSO3.
This load balancing is useful when the full volume of the network exceeds (or is otherwise undesirable) the capacity of a single copy of the designated subsystem. E.G. A large, multiple CPU installation when Network Director is running in a CMC host with the individual TSOs operating on multiple back end hosts with shared DASD connections (enabling any TSO user to be on any host).
specifies the single character that will be inserted into the INITIAL-DATA string between each operand. This is commonly used to delimit the multiple operands for eventual parsing by the target subsystem.
Assigns a numeric value to this APPLICATION that will be used to "sort" the individual choices that make up the Application Selection Panel for individual users. This mechanism allows you to provide basic controls over the order in which items will be displayed.
The value assigned to the APPLICATION may be between 0 and 32,767. After Network Director has selected which APPLICATIONs will appear on the Application Selection Panel, it will sort the selections by the SEQUENCE field in a descending order. Thus, the APPLICATION with the highest remaining value will appear at the top of the selection list and the lowest SEQUENCE value will appear at the bottom. If all the APPLICATIONs have a SEQUENCE value of zero, then no sorting will be done.
controls whether Network Director is to create the specialized format associated with automated LOGON within the target subsystem. This format is generalized in format and will typically be acceptable only to subsystems that have also had Network Director SSI code inserted into their VTAM terminal logon procedures. CICS, IMS/DC, other Network Directors, and IDMS/DC are subsystems that utilize this approach.
Identifies how to establish whether the APPLICATION is available for use or not. Operand values are:
When STATUS=ISTnnna is used and the message is returned via the SPO, STATUS-STRING specifies the 1 to 20 character string that will be searched for to determine if the APPLICATION is available or not.
As an example, assume that the following Configuration Parameters were coded:
APPLICATION CMS,TARGET=A01VM,
INITIAL-FUNCTION=LOGON,
INITIAL-DATA=(&NAME,'/',&PASSWORD,' ',&OPERANDS),
TITLE='Conversational Monitoring System',
STATUS=IST486I,
STATUS-STRING='STATUS= ACTIV'
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When Network Director attempts to establish the status for the CMS APPLICATION, it will issue a VTAM D NET,ID= command internally. When ACF/VTAM delivers the response, Network Director will look for any IST486I messages. When found, Network Director will scan the message text looking for the precise string coded in the STATUS-STRING operand. If the message and string are found, then Network Director will treat the APPLICATION as being active. If either the message or string are not found or ACF/VTAM does not respond in the proper NETWORK-WAIT interval, Network Director will mark the APPLICATION as down.
To determine the STATUS-STRING value applicable at your installation to a specific APPLICATION, you can manually issue the VTAM D NET,ID= command from Network Administration.
IST097I DISPLAY ACCEPTED IST075I NAME = A01VM , TYPE = APPL IST486I STATUS= ACTIV , DESIRED STATE= ACTIV IST977I MDLTAB=***NA*** ASLTAB=***NA*** IST861I MODETAB=***NA*** USSTAB=***NA*** LOGTAB=***NA*** IST934I DLOGMOD=***NA*** USS LANGTAB=***NA*** IST597I CAPABILITY-PLU ENABLED ,SLU ENABLED ,SESSION LIMIT NONE IST231I APPL MAJOR NODE = A01NRS IST212I ACBNAME = VM IST654I I/O TRACE = OFF, BUFFER TRACE = OFF IST869I USERID = VTAM IST171I ACTIVE SESSIONS = 0000000000, SESSION REQUESTS = 0000000000 IST314I END |
Visually scan the resulting output for which combination of characters in a message you would like to represent the "Active" condition.
specifies the 1 to 8 byte VTAM Applid that the using terminal should be passed to when a request is made for this APPLICATION (applid 1). This will be the "host" environment for the application subsystem and should match the host system's VTAM APPLID as specified in the VTAM APPL definition statement.
Specifying only one applid indicates that the entire function associated with the APPLICATION is contained with a single VTAM subsystem. If you specify a second applid, Network Director will automatically begin checking the status of both VTAM targets in order to establish the availability of the subsystem. Both applids must be available in order for Network Director to reflect the selection as active.
This multiple target option is generally useful when the target subsystem contains a configuration where the facilities to accomplish the application function are distributed across multiple VTAM subsystems (like CICS MRO, etc.).
There are several reserved TARGETs that Network Director recognizes. They are TNDADMIN, TNDINFO or TNDHELP, TNDCMD, TNDMSG, and TNDCENTR. See the Notes at the end of this parameter statement discussion for more information.
is the range in hours that the APPLICATION is available for use. The Application Selection Panel will portray this selection as HELD if the time is outside of this interval. All attempts by the terminal user to logically connect his terminal will be rejected. The time specification format is discussed in detail under Time Specification.
specifies the value that will represent the elapsed time interval associated with a network element that has connected to this APPLICATION. This parameter applies only to Network Director's internal facilities (Network Administration, INFO, or Messages). The APPLICATION TIMEOUT= overrides any TIMEOUT specification that may be in effect for the terminal user and will only remain in effect for terminal operations controlled by the specific APPLICATION component.
The default of zero specifies that there will be no timeout interval for network elements connected to this APPLICATION.
is the 1 to 50 byte general description for the APPLICATION. It should represent a short descriptive phrase that will identify the selection to the terminal user. The TITLE will be the text string included on the Application Selection Panel to identify the logical selection available to the terminal user. Non CUA Application Selection Panels will use a maximum of 28 characters of the title. CUA Application Selection Panels will use all 50 characters.
If it is not present, Network Director will use the TARGET value for the TITLE.
To support light pen selection, the first character of the title must be a blank. This will cause Network Director to place the appropriate combination in the output stream to create the title as a "light pen detectable" field.
controls whether this APPLICATION and its authorized Users will have the ability to accomplish UPDATE type activities. This parameter only applies to the special Network Director INFO and Network Administration TARGETs. UPDATES=NO will restrict the operator to simple query type use of the facility represented by the APPLICATION selection. The Network Administrator should define two APPLICATIONs if both UPDATES=NO and UPDATES=YES users are to be defined.
establishes the eight character value associated with this APPLICATION subsystem that will be identified by ACF/VTAM as a USERVAR variable. [This facility is generally useful on ACF/VTAM systems utilizing XRF concepts. This is not available on ACF/VTAM systems prior to Version 3.1.1. ]
To establish the availability of this APPLICATION, Network Director will interrogate ACF/VTAM about the USERVAR value's current setting and will, in turn, establish the actual identity of the subsystem for status displays and terminal forwarding.
The process of identifying which subsystem is operating as the USERVAR is accomplished only when the APPLICATION is Down. If the subsystem terminates, Network Director will dynamically repeat the interrogation of the USERVAR to identify the new target subsystem.
The usage of USERVAR causes Network Director to dynamically set the TARGET value for the APPLICATION. Therefore, the initial TARGET value is not meaningful and does not have to be provided.
APPLICATION PAYROLL,TARGET=PRODCICS,
TITLE='Employee Payroll',
TIME=(07:30-17:45),
DAYS=(MONDAY-FRIDAY),
PFKEY=PF4
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This application (PAYROLL) is available from 7:30 am to 5:45 pm each weekday. When a terminal has requested this application, Network Director should CLSDST OPTCD=PASS this terminal to the VTAM APPL named PRODCICS. When constructing the Application Selection Panel for any terminal that includes this application, The Network Director will assign program function key 4 (PF04) to this application (if possible).
APPLICATION CODING,TARGET=TSO
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This application (CODING) is always eligible for use (as far as The Network Director is concerned) and may be selected on a Application Selection Panel by looking for the descriptive title CODING. Network Director will assign a program function key to this selection on a next available basis.
APPLICATION CICS,TARGET=DBDCCICS,
TITLE='CICS Teleprocessing',
SSI=YES,INITIAL-FUNCTION=CSFE
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APPLICATION TSO,TARGET=TSO,
TITLE='TSO - Time Sharing Option',
SEPARATOR=NO,INITIAL-FUNCTION=LOGON,
INITIAL-DATA=(&NAME,'/',&PASSWORD,' ',&OPERANDS)
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This application (TSO) can be selected from the Command Line by entering TSO. The user will be automatically logged on if his Id and Password contain a current valid combination for TSO. The terminal user may also pass additional parameters to TSO by entering them on the Command Line after the token TSO.
Network Director contains several specialized applications that are identified by the TARGET name beginning with the letters TND. These are the Message Facility, INFO Mechanism, Internal Command Processor, The Network Center, [The Network Center is a separately priced software product from North Ridge Software, Inc. providing advanced facilities useful to systems programmers, Network Administrators, and security personnel in maintaining, operating, and managing a ACF/VTAM network. ] and Network Administration. They are dealt with by Network Director just like any other application except that they do not actually represent a VTAM APPL. Thus the TARGET operand for their respective APPLICATION statements has specialized values.
Network Director recognizes a definition of one of the specialized applications through a specially coded TARGET value. These TARGET values are:
| TARGET | Use |
|---|---|
| TNDMSG | the Message Facility |
| TNDINFO | the Network Information Mechanism |
| TNDHELP | a synonym for TNDINFO |
| TNDADMIN | Network Administration |
| TNDCMD | the Internal Command Processor |
| TNDCENTR | The Network Center |
|
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This internal application represents Network Director's Message Facility. Selecting an APPLICATION with this TARGET will cause Network Director to present the terminal operator with the primary messages menu, which can be utilized to edit, view, delete, print, or send Network Director messages to one or more other network elements.
Selection of an APPLICATION with TNDINFO or TNDHELP as a TARGET causes Network Director to present the terminal operator with INFO topic 0. The exact INFO topic presented can be controlled by the Network Administrator through appropriate use of the INITIAL-DATA operand of the APPLICATION statement. If present, the text string associated with INITIAL-DATA will be used as an initial INFO command and can cause the first screen presented to differ from INFO topic 0.
TNDHELP differs from TNDINFO only in their uses on the Identification panel. TNDHELP can be selected from the initial panel (for IDENTIFICATION=YES devices) and TNDINFO cannot be selected. Either is selectable from the Application Selection Panel (presented after the user has logged on).
Choosing an APPLICATION with TNDADMIN as a TARGET causes Network Director to present the terminal operator with the LOG display with the bottom line of the panel containing the most recent LOG entry.
An APPLICATION with a TARGET of TNDCMD instructs Network Director to insert the INITIAL-DATA string into an internal command buffer that is normally filled from the Command: line. TNDCMD provides a manner for the Network Administrator to associate a command line command with a PFKEY on an Application Selection Panel.
APPLICATION COMMAND,TARGET=TNDCMD,
INITIAL-DATA=(LOGOFF)
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will cause Network Director to act exactly as if the terminal operator had entered the LOGOFF command on the command line.
You should exercise caution when defining TNDCMD APPLICATIONs that could generate recursive calls within Network Director. Defining an APPLICATION named LOGOFF with INITIAL-DATA of LOGOFF would cause Network Director to loop if the command were to process continually. Network Director contains logic to detect recursion, but the function desired may not be accomplished as expected (in our example, the user will not actually be logged off). Network Director contains logic that will detect and prohibit multiple level uses of TNDCMD. Thus, TNDCMD commands may only be "one level"deep.
APPLICATION INFO,TARGET=TNDINFO,
TITLE='Network Assistance',
INITIAL-DATA=('HELP SELECT'),
UPDATES=NO
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This defines Network Director's generalized Information Facility. It is detected by Network Director because of the specialized value provided on the TARGET operand. The network users that have access to this APPLICATION will not be capable of updating the INFO file. The INITIAL-DATA operand overrides the default placement in the Information File when a terminal operator selects INFO. The HELP SELECT string will be processed as if the operator entered it as a command at the device.
APPLICATION NETADMIN,TARGET=TNDADMIN,
TITLE='Network Administration',
UPDATES=YES
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This example identifies the Network Administration facility. Any network user that has access to this APPLICATION will be able to exercise the full range of Network Administration capabilities. This includes modifying the logical network, displaying the Primary Messages Menu, and issuing VTAM Modify commands.
Typically, Network Administration with UPDATES=YES specified is restricted to only a few network users. UPDATES=NO provides a facility with which to provide query type Network Administrator capabilities without endangering the integrity of the network.