Technical Tips

PREFERENCE Help Requests are failing.  Could it be due to the jobname of the application region?

When PREFERENCE writers define the rules for a transaction descriptor entry, they may optionally specify that this rules processing is only available for specific application regions. This is accomplished by specifying the jobnames associated with specific application regions. If no jobnames are specified, then the help will not be restricted by jobname. If any jobnames are specified, then to match on the transaction descriptor entry the help request must have originated from an application region whose jobname is in the list.

The following situations may cause this issue to occur:

• A new application region is created and enabled for PREFERENCE help but its jobname is not added to the table

• Existing application regions may have their jobname changed due to an upgraded release of CICS without updating the corresponding PREFERENCE volume jobname table

• When a rules volume utilizing jobnames has been migrated from a test PREFERENCE region to production without changing the jobnames from the test application region jobname to the production

When help requests fail due to a faulty Jobname table, users are often navigated to the sign-on frame.

If you are experiencing a problem with help requests not finding a rules match, perform the following steps to determine if the problem is due to jobname specification:

1. Identify the application transaction ID and application jobname where PREFERENCE help is defined and previously worked.

2. Sign-on to PREFERENCE as a supervisor.

3. From the Supervisor Type Command line type "rules" and press ENTER.

4. From the Supervisor Rules Administrator screen, press "F10 Transid Search".

5. When prompted, enter the transid name (this is case sensitive) and press ENTER.

6. If the transid is found, you will be taken to a screen with a list of volumes containing the transid.

7. Record the volume name(s) and press "F3 End" to return to the main Rules Administration screen.

8. Press "F6 Trans Table".

9. When prompted, enter a recorded volume name and press ENTER.

10. This will take you to the Transaction Descriptors Table for your specified volume. Press "F10 Jobnames".

11. This will display the list of jobnames that are entitled to receive help from this volume.

12. If there are any jobnames present, ensure that the application region jobnames are present, if appropriate.

13. If more than one volume is listed in step 6, you may have to repeat steps 8-12 for each.