Administration using PCF commands

The purpose of WebSphere MQ programmable command format (PCF) commands is to allow administration tasks to be programmed into an administration program. In this way you can create queues and process definitions, and change queue managers, from a program.

PCF commands cover the same range of functions provided by MQSC commands. However, unlike MQSC commands, PCF commands and their replies are not in a text format that you can read.

You can write a program to issue PCF commands to any queue manager in the network from a single node. In this way, you can both centralize and automate administration tasks.

Each PCF command is a data structure that is embedded in the application data part of a WebSphere MQ message. Each command is sent to the target queue manager using the MQI function MQPUT in the same way as any other message. The command server on the queue manager receiving the message interprets it as a command message and runs the command. To get the replies, the application issues an MQGET call and the reply data is returned in another data structure. The application can then process the reply and act accordingly.

Briefly, these are some of the things the application programmer must specify to create a PCF command message:

Message descriptor
This is a standard WebSphere MQ message descriptor, in which:
Application data
Contains the PCF message including the PCF header, in which:

For a complete description of the PCF data structures and how to implement them, see WebSphere MQ Programmable Command Formats and Administration Interface.