10/63 magnetic slot reader

Some IBM® display terminals support a magnetic slot reader (MSR), a device that reads data from small magnetic cards, as an optional feature. The MSR has indicator lights and an audible alarm to prompt operator actions. Some terminals control the MSR themselves, but others, such as the IBM 8775 and the IBM 3643, let you control the functions of the reader by program.

CICS® provides an ASSIGN command option, MSR, that tells you whether the principal facility of your task has an MSR or not.

With BMS, you can control the state of such an MSR by using the MSR option of the BMS SEND commands. This option transmits four bytes of control data to the attached MSR, in addition to display data sent to the terminal. BMS provides a copybook, DFHMSRCA, containing most of the control sequences you might need. The CICS Application Programming Reference manual describes the supplied constants and explains the structure of the control data, so that you can expand the list if you need to.

The control sequence that you send to an MSR affects the next input from the device; hence it has no effect until a RECEIVE command is issued. Input from MSRs is placed in the device buffer and transmitted in the same way as keyboard input. If the MSR input causes transmission, you can detect this by looking at the attention identifier in EIBAID. A value of X'E6' indicates input from the MSR, and X'E7' signals input from the MSR extended (a second MSR that may be present). See the IBM 3270 Information Display System Data Stream Programmer’s Reference manual for information on how to format a screen for MSR input and other details on these devices.

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