The console message-handling facility

The console message handling facility is an optional feature of the CICS® subsystem that can affect the appearance of CICS messages displayed on an MVS™ console. It is effective when you specify FORMATMSG=YES as an initialization parameter for the CICS subsystem. The subsystem reformatting is enabled when at least one of the following is executing in the MVS image where the subsystem is defined:

When this facility is used, it affects the messages that are displayed on MVS system consoles in the following ways:

The DFHSSIyy message-formatting initialization member

You can specify message-formatting initialization parameters for the CICS subsystem in a member DFHSSIyy of the SYS1.PARMLIB library, where yy is the suffix that identifies the SYS1.PARMLIB member used to define the CICS subsystem. These parameters, described in this section, are FORMATMSG, HIDEPASSWORD, and ROUTECODES. Code the parameters in columns 1 through 71 of the DFHSSIyy member, for example:

FORMATMSG=YES,HIDEPASSWORD=YES,ROUTECODES=(1,2)

or

FORMATMSG=YES
HIDEPASSWORD=YES
ROUTECODES=(1,2,
3,4,
5,6)
FORMATMSG={YES|NO}
Specifies whether the CICS applid is to be inserted into all DFH console messages that do not use the CICS message domain.
YES
Insert CICS applid into messages.
NO
Do not insert CICS applid into messages.
HIDEPASSWORD={YES|NO}
Specifies whether to mask the password from MODIFY commands used to enter the CICS signon transaction at an MVS console.
YES
Mask the password.
NO
Do not mask the password.
ROUTECODES=(n1[,n2] ....)
n1, n2... are numbers representing generic routecodes that areadded to all DFH console messages issued by CICS. The routecodes 1-12 have special meanings:
1
Master console action.
2
Master console information.
3
Tape pool.
4
Direct access pool.
5
Tape library.
6
Disk library.
7
Unit record pool.
8
Teleprocessing control.
9
System security.
10
System error/maintenance.
11
Programmer information.
12
Emulators.
The status of other routecodes is as follows:
13-20
Available for customer use.
29-40
Reserved.
41-128
Available to authorized programs only.

For more information about these routing codes, see the z/OS MVS Initialization and Tuning Reference manual for your version of MVS.

Default message-formatting initialization parameters

You can define message-formatting initialization parameters for the CICS subsystem in a member DFHSSIyy of the SYS1.PARMLIB library.

To use parameters defined in a DFHSSIyy member other than the DFHSSI00 member, you must specify DFHSSIyy on the IEFSSNaa member in the SYS1.PARMLIB library used to define CICS as an MVS subsystem. If you do not specify DFHSSIyy, the DFHSSIN routine tries to use the parameters that are defined in the DFHSSI00 member. If the DFHSSI00 member does not exist, it uses the default parameters that are defined in the DFHSSIN routine.

If you specify DFHSSIyy but it does not exist, the DFHSSIN routine uses the default message-formatting initialization parameters that are defined in the DFHSSIN routine

The default message-formatting initialization parameters defined in the DFHSSIN routine are:

FORMATMSG=YES,HIDEPASSWORD=YES
(generic routecodes are not added to messages)

The default facilities:

If you do not specify DFHSSIN in the IEFSSNaa entry that defines CICS, the message handling facilities are not enabled. Also, if you run CICS as a started task, you cannot use the name "CICS" for the procedure name.

Activating message formatting

After you have defined CICS as an MVS subsystem with support for the console message-handling facility (and have specified the message-formatting parameters in the DFHSSIyy member of the SYS1.PARMLIB library), the message-handling facility is activated by the next MVS subsystem to invoke the subsystem console message broadcasting service of MVS console support. This occurs when you start up a supported CICS region (see The console message-handling facility for a list) or if an automated-operation program, such as NetView, is active in the MVS image.

A newly-started CICS region determines its own applid during initialization. Until the applid is known, the message-formatting facility cannot operate. Therefore, messages issued very early in CICS initialization are not formatted.

Modules needed to use the console message-handling facilities

To use the console message-handling facilities that are provided by the MVS subsystem functions of CICS, the following CICS modules must be available at MVS IPL time:

DFHSSEN
The module that cleans up CICS resources at end-of-memory and at end-of-task.
DFHSSGC
The subsystem generic connect module that connects an active CICS region to the CICS subsystem.
DFHSSIN
The CICS subsystem initialization module.
DFHSSMGT
The subsystem message table that contains the text of messages for the subsystem interface modules.
DFHSSWT
The subsystem interface write-to-operator (WTO) router that determines whether WTO calls should be routed to the appropriate CICS-dependent modules.

These modules must reside in the LPA or in an APF-authorized library in the MVS linklist, as follows:

Note:
hlq is defined by the LINDEX parameter in the DFHISTAR installation job.

The current versions of these modules are compatible with earlier CICS releases that support console message handling.

For information about adding modules that are installed in the hlq.SDFHLINK library to the MVS linklist, see Installing CICS-required modules in the MVS linklist.

For information about adding modules installed in the hlq.SDFHLPA library to the LPA, see Installing CICS modules in the MVS link pack area.

Coexistence considerations

To use the message-handling facilities for CICS, you should note the following coexistence considerations:

Automated-operation programs

If your automation system needs to see the console messages before they are reformatted by CICS, its subsystem definition should be placed in IEFSSNXX before the definition for CICS. But if your automation system needs to see the reformatted messages, its definition must come after that of CICS. Consult the documentation of your automation package to determine which applies to you.

Other CICS releases

If the message-handling facility has been defined to MVS (by the CICS entry in the IEFSSNaa member of the SYS1.PARMLIB library), CICS regions running earlier releases of CICS in the same MVS image have the full benefit of the message handling that has been defined if either of the following is true:

Note:
A consequence of console messages now having a standard format is that they no longer include date, time and informational messages. If you use these as a token, you must make a change to the code so that it looks for a different token.
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