MESSAGE

Send non-destructive messages to terminal

Have you needed a way to let your CICS users know you need to shut down your system in 5 minutes? Or that you need to notify users that you need to close the master file for maintenance? Or let the staff know that the company meeting has been postponed? MacKinney Systems Message can help.

CICS/Message allows you to send messages to:

  • an individual CICS terminal by Termid or Netname
  • all CICS terminals (including console operator)
  • all CICS terminals matching a generic Termid or Netname
  • an individual CICS user by OPID or USERID
  • all CICS terminals matching a generic operator id (OPID or USERID)
  • all terminals/operators in a user specified list or
  • the console while preserving the contents of the user’s previous screen

Common examples of CICS/Message usage include:

  • notifying users that the system is coming down
  • notifying users that a file is being closed/re-opened
  • asking users to end a transaction
  • notifying console of a problem
  • notifying a group of users about a meeting
  • user to user communication

With CICS/Message, messages can be up to nine 18-line screens long and can be sent to any terminal. After receiving the message the terminal operator simply presses a PF key and the original screen and transaction are fully restored.

A message can be originated by:

  • Entering a CICS transaction
  • LINKING to the message program from a CICS program
  • Batch JCL if our MacKinney Batch to CICS is installed.

CICS/Message recipients can send a reply by simply pressing a PF key and entering a response. Messages (and replies) can be printed on your CICS printers. All Message installation options are completed online. If our MacKinney Batch to CICS is installed, Message can automatically notify a user when his batch job finishes. Programmers won’t be constantly checking to see if their test or compile is done. If MacKinney Systems’ CICS/Morning News is installed, messages can also be automatically loaded to the NEWS file so users who were not logged on when the message was sent can view the message later. CICS/Morning News displays one or more screens of news to all eligible users when they log on or sign on to CICS.