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CICS

About the Tutorial

CICS stands for Customer Information Control System. CICS was developed in
1968 by IBM. CICS allows users to develop and execute online application in an
MVS environment. CICS has become the most commonly used server for Internet
applications.

CICS is a transaction processing system which is also called as Online Transaction

Processing (OLTP) Software. CICS is a data communication system that can
support a network containing hundreds of terminals.

Audience
This tutorial is designed for software programmers who would like to understand
the concepts of CICS starting from scratch. This tutorial will give you enough
understanding on CICS from where you can take yourself to higher levels of
expertise.

Prerequisites
Before proceeding with this tutorial, you should have a basic understanding of
COBOL programming. A basic knowledge of MVS and TSO/ISPF subsystem will
help you grasp the concepts of CICS better.

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Table of Contents
About the Tutorial .................................................................................................................................. i

Audience ................................................................................................................................................ i

Prerequisites .......................................................................................................................................... i

Disclaimer & Copyright ........................................................................................................................... i

Table of Contents .................................................................................................................................. ii

1. CICS – OVERVIEW............................................................................................................... 1

Functions of CICS ................................................................................................................................... 1

Features of CICS ..................................................................................................................................... 2

2. CICS – ENVIRONMENT ....................................................................................................... 3

CICS Environment .................................................................................................................................. 3

Data Communication Services ............................................................................................................... 4

Data Handling Services .......................................................................................................................... 4

Application Programming Services ........................................................................................................ 4

Monitoring Services ............................................................................................................................... 5

3. CICS – BASIC TERMS ........................................................................................................... 6

IBM 3270 Terminal ................................................................................................................................ 6

CRT Monitor .......................................................................................................................................... 6
Keyboard ............................................................................................................................................... 7

Transaction ............................................................................................................................................ 8

Task ....................................................................................................................................................... 8

LUW....................................................................................................................................................... 9

Application ............................................................................................................................................ 9

4. CICS – NUCLEUS ............................................................................................................... 10

Control Programs ................................................................................................................................ 10

TCP ...................................................................................................................................................... 10
KCP ...................................................................................................................................................... 10
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PCP ...................................................................................................................................................... 10
FCP ...................................................................................................................................................... 10
SCP ...................................................................................................................................................... 11

Control Tables ..................................................................................................................................... 11

TCT ...................................................................................................................................................... 11
PCT ...................................................................................................................................................... 11
PPT ...................................................................................................................................................... 11
FCT ...................................................................................................................................................... 12

Transaction .......................................................................................................................................... 12

Transaction Life Cycle .......................................................................................................................... 13

5. CICS – TRANSACTIONS ..................................................................................................... 16

CESN .................................................................................................................................................... 16

CEDA ................................................................................................................................................... 16

CEMT ................................................................................................................................................... 16

CECI ..................................................................................................................................................... 17

CEDF .................................................................................................................................................... 18

CMAC .................................................................................................................................................. 18

CESF ..................................................................................................................................................... 18

CEBR .................................................................................................................................................... 18

CICS Concepts ...................................................................................................................................... 19

Multitasking ........................................................................................................................................ 19
Multi-threading ................................................................................................................................... 19
Re-entrancy......................................................................................................................................... 19
Quasi-reentrancy ................................................................................................................................ 19

6. CICS – COBOL BASICS ....................................................................................................... 20

CICS Program ....................................................................................................................................... 20

Program Compilation .......................................................................................................................... 22

7. CICS – BMS....................................................................................................................... 24

Formatted Screen ................................................................................................................................ 24

BMS Basic Terms ................................................................................................................................. 25

Map ..................................................................................................................................................... 25
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Mapset ................................................................................................................................................ 25
BMS Macros ........................................................................................................................................ 25

8. CICS – MAP ...................................................................................................................... 31

Physical Map ....................................................................................................................................... 31

Symbolic Map ...................................................................................................................................... 32

Skipper and Stopper Field .................................................................................................................... 32

Skipper Field ....................................................................................................................................... 32
Stopper Field ....................................................................................................................................... 33

Attribute Byte...................................................................................................................................... 33

Modified Data Tag ............................................................................................................................... 34

Send Map ............................................................................................................................................ 34

Receive Map ........................................................................................................................................ 36

Mapset Execution ................................................................................................................................ 36

9. CICS – INTERFACE BLOCK ................................................................................................. 38

Restricted COBOL Verbs ...................................................................................................................... 38

Execute Interface Block ....................................................................................................................... 38

EIB Fields ............................................................................................................................................. 39

CICS Programs Classification ................................................................................................................ 39

Non Conversion Programs .................................................................................................................. 39

Conversion Program ............................................................................................................................ 40

10. CICS – PSEUDO PROGRAMMING ...................................................................................... 43

Pseudo-Conversion Program ............................................................................................................... 43

Pseudo Conversion Techniques ........................................................................................................... 44

COMMAREA ........................................................................................................................................ 44
DFHCOMMAREA ................................................................................................................................. 45

Pseudo Code ........................................................................................................................................ 45

Advantages of Pseudo Conversion ....................................................................................................... 48

Return Statements .............................................................................................................................. 48

Return-1 .............................................................................................................................................. 48

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Return-2 .............................................................................................................................................. 48

11. CICS – AID KEYS ................................................................................................................ 49

Validating AID keys .............................................................................................................................. 49

DFHAID ................................................................................................................................................ 49

Cursor Positioning ............................................................................................................................... 51

Dynamically Modifying Attributes ....................................................................................................... 51

12. CICS – FILE HANDLING...................................................................................................... 54

Random Access.................................................................................................................................... 54

Read .................................................................................................................................................... 54
Read Command Options ..................................................................................................................... 56
Read Command Exceptions ................................................................................................................ 57

Write ................................................................................................................................................... 57
Write Command Exceptions ............................................................................................................... 58

Rewrite ................................................................................................................................................ 59
Rewrite Command Exceptions ............................................................................................................ 60

Delete .................................................................................................................................................. 60
Delete Command Exceptions .............................................................................................................. 62

Sequential Access ................................................................................................................................ 62

STARTBR .............................................................................................................................................. 62

READNEXT / READPREV ....................................................................................................................... 63

RESETBR .............................................................................................................................................. 63

ENDBR ................................................................................................................................................. 64

13. CICS – ERROR HANDLING ................................................................................................. 65

CICS Errors ........................................................................................................................................... 65

Error Handling Commands ................................................................................................................... 65

Handle Condition ................................................................................................................................. 65

Handle Abend ...................................................................................................................................... 66

Abend .................................................................................................................................................. 67

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Ignore Condition .................................................................................................................................. 68

Nohandle ............................................................................................................................................. 68

14. CICS – CONTROL OPERATIONS ......................................................................................... 70

Program Logical Levels ........................................................................................................................ 70

XCTL .................................................................................................................................................... 71

Link ...................................................................................................................................................... 72

Load .................................................................................................................................................... 72

Release ................................................................................................................................................ 73

Return ................................................................................................................................................. 73

Interval Control Operations ................................................................................................................. 73

ASKTIME .............................................................................................................................................. 73
FORMATTIME ...................................................................................................................................... 73

15. CICS – TEMPORARY STORAGE .......................................................................................... 75

COMMAREA ........................................................................................................................................ 75

Common Work Area ............................................................................................................................ 75

Transaction Work Area ........................................................................................................................ 75

Temporary Storage Queue .................................................................................................................. 75

WRITEQ TS ........................................................................................................................................... 76

READQ TS ............................................................................................................................................ 76

DELETEQ TS ......................................................................................................................................... 77

Transient Data Queue.......................................................................................................................... 77

WRITEQ TD .......................................................................................................................................... 77

READQ TD ............................................................................................................................................ 77

DELETEQ TD ......................................................................................................................................... 78

16. CICS – INTERCOMMUNICATION ....................................................................................... 79

Benefits of Intercommunication .......................................................................................................... 79

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Basic Terminologies ............................................................................................................................. 79

Intercommunication Methods ............................................................................................................. 80

17. CICS – STATUS CODES ...................................................................................................... 81

18. CICS – INTERVIEW QUESTIONS......................................................................................... 82

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1. CICS – OVERVIEW

CICS is a DB/DC system which is used in online applications. CICS was developed
because batch operating system can execute only batch programs. CICS programs
can be written in COBOL, C, C++, Java, etc. These days, users want information
within seconds and in real time. To provide such quick service, we need a system
which can process information online. CICS allows users to communicate with the
back-end system to get the desired information. Examples of online programs include
online banking system, flight reservation, etc. Following image shows the
components of CICS and how they are inter-related:

Functions of CICS
The main functions performed by CICS in an application are as follows:

 CICS manages requests from concurrent users in an application.

 Although, multiple users are working on CICS system but it gives a feel to user
that he is the single user only.

 CICS gives the access to data files for reading or updating them in an
application.

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Features of CICS
The features of CICS are as follows:

 CICS is an operating system in itself, as it manages its own processor storage,

has its own task manager which handles execution of multiple programs, and
provides its own file management functions.

 CICS provides online environment in batch operating system. Jobs submitted

are executed immediately.

 CICS is a generalized transaction processing interface.

 It is possible to have two or more CICS regions at the same time, as CICS runs
as a batch job in the operating system at the back-end.

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 2. CICS – ENVIRONMENT CICS

CICS itself acts as an operating system. Its job is to provide an environment for
online execution of application programs. CICS runs in one region or partition or
address space. CICS handles scheduling for programs running under it. CICS runs as
a batch job and we can view it in the spool by issuing the command PREFIX CICS*.
There are five major services which are provided by CICS. All these services together
perform a task.

CICS Environment
Following are the services which we will be discussing in detail step by step:

 System Services

 Data Communication Services

 Data Handling Services

 Application Programming Services

 Monitoring Services

 System Services

CICS maintains control functions to manage the allocation or de-allocation of

resources within the system which are as follows:

 Task Control – Task control provides task scheduling and multitasking

features. It takes care of the status of all CICS tasks. Task Control allocates
the processor time among concurrent CICS tasks. This is called multitasking.
CICS tries to prioritize the response time to the most important task.

 Program Control – Program Control manages loading and releasing of

application programs. As soon as a task begins, it becomes necessary to
associate the task with the appropriate application program. Although many
tasks may need to use the same application program, CICS loads only one
copy of the code into memory. Each task threads its way through this code
independently, so many users can all be running transactions that are
concurrently using the same physical copy of an application program.
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 Storage Control – Storage Control manages acquiring and releasing of main

storage. Storage control acquires, controls, and frees dynamic storage.
Dynamic storage is used for input/output areas, programs, etc.

 Interval Control – Interval Control offers timer services.

Data Communication Services

Data Communication Services interface with telecommunication access methods such
as BTAM, VTAM, and TCAM for handling data communication requests from
application programs.

 CICS releases application programs from the burden of dealing with terminal
hardware issues through the use of Basic Mapping Support (BMS).

 CICS provides Multi Region Operation (MRO) through which more than one
CICS region in the same system can communicate.

 CICS provides Inter System Communication (ISC) through which a CICS region
in a system can communicate with the CICS region on another system.

Data Handling Services

Data Handling Services interface with data access methods such as BDAM, VSAM,
etc.

 CICS facilitates servicing of data handling requests from application programs.

CICS provides application programmers a set of commands for dealing with
data set and database access and related operations.

 Data Handling Services interfaces with database access methods such as

IMS/DB, DB2, etc. and facilitate servicing of database requests from
application programs.

 CICS facilitates management of data integrity by control of simultaneous

record updates, protection of data as task ABENDs and protection of data at
system failures.

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Application Programming Services

Application Programming Services interface with application programs. The
application programming services of CICS provide features such as command level
translation, CEDF (the debug facility) and CECI (the command interpreter facility).
We will be discussing more in detail in upcoming modules.

Monitoring Services
Monitoring Services monitor various events within CICS address space. It provides
series of statistical information that can be used for system tuning.

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 3. CICS – BASIC TERMS CICS

We must have knowledge of the basic terms used in CICS to get a better
understanding of how it works. Application programs use CICS for communication
with remote and local terminals and subsystems.

IBM 3270 Terminal

The 3270 Information Display System is a family of display and printer terminals.
3270 terminals were being used to connect to the mainframe via IBM controllers.
Today, 3270 emulation software is available which means that even normal PCs can
be used as 3270 terminals. 3270 terminals are dumb terminals and do not do any
processing themselves. All processing needs to be done by the application program.
IBM terminals consist of the following components:

CRT Monitor
The CRT monitor displays the output or the input fields of the application program. A
screenshot of a 3278 Model of CRT monitor is shown below. It has the following
characteristics:

 It is capable of displaying 1920 characters.

 Each of these 1920 character positions is individually addressable.

 A COBOL application program can send data to all the positions on the screen.

 The display characteristics like intensity, protected, non-protected of the field

can be set using BMS which we will be discussing in detail in upcoming
modules.

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Keyboard
IBM keyboard keys are divided into following two categories:

 Non-AID Keys – All other keys for alphabets, numeric, punctuation etc. are
Non-Aid keys. When the user types text or numbers using non-aid keys, CICS
will not even know if the user is typing anything or not.

 AID Keys – AID keys are known as Attention Identifier Keys. CICS can detect
only AID keys. After typing all the input, only when the user presses one of
the AID keys, CICS takes control. AID Keys : ENTER, PF1 to PF24, PA1 to PA3,
CLEAR. AID keys are further divided into two categories:

o PF Keys – PF keys are known as function keys. PF keys allow transfer of

data from terminal to CICS. PF Keys are ENTER and PF1 to PF24.

o PA Keys – PA keys are known as Program Access keys. PA keys do not

allow transfer of data between terminal and CICS. PA Keys are PA1 to PA3
and CLEAR.

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Transaction
A CICS program is invoked through a transaction. A CICS transaction is a collection
of logically related programs in an application. The whole application could be logically
divided into several transactions.

 Transaction identifiers which are 1 to 4 characters long are used to identify the
transactions which the users want to do.

 A programmer links one program to the transaction identifier which is used to

invoke all the application programs for that particular transaction.

Task
A Task is a unit of work which is specific to a user.

 Users invoke an application by using one of the transaction identifiers. CICS

looks up for the transaction identifier to find out which program to invoke first
to do the work requested. It creates a task to do the work, and transfers control
to the mentioned program.

 A transaction can be completed through several tasks.

 A task can receive data from and send data to the terminal that started it. It
can read and write files and can start other tasks also.

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Task vs. Transaction

The difference between a transaction and a task is that several users can invoke a
transaction but each user initiates his own task.

LUW
LUW stands for Logical Unit of Work. LUW states that a piece of work should be done
completely or not done at all. A task can contain several Logical Unit of Works in
CICS. We will discuss more about it in upcoming modules.

Application
An application is a series of logically grouped programs to form several transactions
which is used to complete a specific task for the end-user.

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 4. CICS – NUCLEUS CICS

The five CICS system components described earlier are a convenient grouping of
CICS system programs, each of which performs its own specialized functions. The
core of CICS known as the CICS Nucleus which consists of IBM-supplied CICS Control
Programs and Control Tables.

Control Programs
CICS nucleus is constructed by the control programs and corresponding control
tables. It provides unique advantages. It makes the CICS system highly flexible and
thus easy to maintain. Following are the important control programs of CICS:

TCP
TCP is known as Terminal Control Program.

 TCP is used to receive messages from the terminal.

 It maintains hardware communication requirements.

 It requests CICS to initiate the tasks.

KCP
KCP is known as Task Control Program.

 KCP is used to simultaneously control the execution of tasks and its related
properties.

 It handles all the issues related to multi-tasking.

PCP
PCP is known as Program Control Program.

 PCP is used to locate and load programs for execution.

 It transfers the control between programs and in the end, it returns the control
back to the CICS.

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FCP
FCP is known as File Control Program.

 FCP is used to provide application programs with services like read, insert,
update or delete records in a file.

 It keeps exclusive control over the records in order to maintain data integrity
during record updates.

SCP
SCP is known as Storage Control Program. It is used to control allocation and de-
allocation of storage within a CICS region.

Control Tables
CICS consists of IBM-supplied CICS control programs and tables. These tables need
to be updated accordingly with the application information for successful execution
of CICS application programs. Following are the important Control Tables:

TCT
TCT is known as Terminal Control Table.

 When we login to a CICS terminal, an entry is made in the TCT table.

 TCT contains the terminal ID's that are connected to current CICS region.

 Terminal Control Program along with terminal control table recognize the
incoming data from the terminal.

PCT
PCT is known as Program Control Table.

 It contains the Transaction IDs (TRANSID) and the corresponding program

names or program IDs.

 TRANSID is unique in PCT table.

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PPT
PPT is known as Processing Program Table. PPT contains Program name or Mapset
name, Task Use Counter, Language, Size, Main storage address, Load library address,
etc.

 Program or Mapset name is unique in a PPT table.

 CICS receives the transaction and a corresponding program name is allocated

to the transaction from the PCT. It checks if the program is loaded or not. If it
is loaded, then the task use counter is increased by 1. If the program is not
loaded, then the program is first loaded and the task use counter is set to 1.
It gets the load library address from the PPT table.

FCT
FCT is known as File Control Table.

 It contains File names, File type, record length, etc.

 All the files used in a CICS program must be declared in FCT and they are
opened and closed by CICS itself.

Transaction
When a transaction identifier TP02 is entered on the CICS terminal, first it checks if
there is a program associated with this Transaction identifier in the PCT table. If it
finds one, then it checks in the PPT table to find the location of the Program to execute
it.

If the program is already available in the memory, it starts executing that particular
program; if not, it loads the program to the memory from the secondary storage and
then starts executing it.

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Transaction Life Cycle

The transaction life cycle has the following steps:

Step 1
The terminal operator initiates the transaction by typing a 1 to 4-character
transaction-id and pressing the ENTER key.

Step 2
The TCP periodically checks all the terminals for input. When a message is received,
it does the following:

 Instructs the SCP to create a TIOA.

 Places the message in the TIOA.

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