Creating application groups
Once you are finished creating all the CICS® region definitions and resource object
definitions, you may choose to associate some of them with a specific application,
such as Payroll. To use this feature:
- Click the Application Groups folder in the tree
pane on the left side of the CICS BAC main window. This is where new application
groups that you create are saved until uploaded to the host.
- Select File > New > Application group object or
click the down arrow next to the New icon on the toolbar
and select Application Group from the drop-down menu.
- This displays a dialog box that you can use to specify the new group name.
- Choose one of the following options:
- Enter a unique name for the group (such as "PAYROLL") and click OK. You cannot use NEWGROUP as the name
- Click Browse Host for Existing Application Groups and
use the resulting dialog box to view, select, and download existing application
groups from the host.
This opens the main window for your new application group.
- If you have already downloaded an application group from the host computer,
the list of objects is shown already. At this point, you have two additional
options:
- You can browse and load individual objects from the host computer by clicking
the button labeled Get object names from CICS region at
the lower right on this window. This opens the Retrieve Object Names dialog
box.
Use this dialog to obtain object names from the host using the EXEC CICS Inquire command, or by browsing the CICS region's CICS BAC control file. You can specify the
object type and optionally a generic name to be used as a filter in the upper
half of the dialog box and the acquisition method in the lower half. Click OK when finished.
- You can also choose specific object types from the bullet list at the
lower left side of the dialog box, enter specific object names in the text
field, then add the specified objects to the list by clicking the button labeled Add objects provided in box below. You may enter more than
one object name in the text box by using commas or spaces as delimiters between
the names. In this case, when you click Add objects provided
in box below, all the objects will be added to the group.
- Once you have selected all the objects to be included, use the controls
in the middle of the dialog box to arrange the objects in your application
group.
- To add an object to the group, select it from the right panel and click
the Add button.
- To remove an object from the group, select it from the left panel and
click the Remove button.
- To rearrange the list in the left panel, click an item to be moved and
then use the Move up or Move down buttons.
- To save your changes, select File > Save or click
the Save icon. To cancel any changes since the window
was opened or since the last save, click the Cancel icon.
- When you are finished customizing this application group, select File > Close Window to exit.
- Repeat this procedure for additional application groups that you want
to define in the current CICS region or in any others.