The 'EXEC CICS START TRANSID' command with the 'USERID' parameter initiates a transaction while specifying a particular user identifier in CICS. This command initiates a transaction on behalf of a specific user or manages access rights and privileges within the CICS environment. The command can be used in two ways: 

·        Command with “USERID” parameter: This command ensures that the transaction is started and operates within the permissions and privileges assigned to the user. 

·        Command without ‘USERID’ parameter: This command initiates a new transaction without specifying a user identifier. The transaction starts with the default user identity associated with the executing program or the CICS region. 

Modifications have been made to the command flow feature to distinguish between the two commands (EXEC CICS START with USERID and EXEC CICS START without USERID), displaying the function code as '1009' and the function name as ‘START USERID’ for the EXEC CICS START command with the USERID parameter. 

Before the changes, both the commands were displayed with the same function code as ‘1008’ with the function name ‘START’.

Executing the command with and without USERID parameter:

A sample program with the commands EXEC CICS START without USERID and EXEC CICS START with USERID must be coded.

The user must define the transactions and then start executing the commands.

Examples:

MRR1 is the transaction associated with program Demo101 run under default user (as it is coded with START TRANSID without the USERID parameter)

MRR2 is the transaction associated with program Demo201 run under IATEST2(coded with EXEC CICS START TRANSID(MRR2) USERID(IATEST2))

MRR3 is the transaction associated with program Demo301 run under user CICSUSER (coded with EXEC CICS START TRANSID(MRR3) USERID(CICSUSER))

MRRR is the main transaction associated with the program STRT005 and runs under the user ID that triggers the transaction.

Note:

The syntax is as follows - EXEC CICS START TRANSID (transaction-ID) USERID (userid).

Steps to see the flow of command execution:

Scenario 1: With login user as IATEST2 and trace user USERIDs as IATEST2.

Step-1: Reviewing valid users and data collection.

                  i.   Login into the CICS region and enter CINT to navigate to the main administration menu

                 ii.    Enter option 4 in the Main Administration menu and press Enter.

     iii.                        iii. Now, the user is redirected to the user administration menu.

     iv.                        iv. Press F3 twice and type CINC to go to the command flow collector.

      v.                        v. Enter IATEST2 in the Traced user USERIDs field and run the command flow.

     vi.                         Vi.  Press F5 to start the collector.

    vii.                       vii.  Press F3 and run the main transaction (MRRR).

  viii.                        viii. After successful execution of the transaction, press F6 to stop the collector.

     ix.                        ix. The number of records collected will appear as shown below.

Step-2: Execute the below steps to load the data from VSAM files to the database.

                  i.          Login into Mainframe Emulator.

                 ii.          Execute the command flow batch jobs CIUJLCPY and CIUUPDB5 available in CICSIAD.ATR library to load data from GDG files to tables.

Step-3: Verify Output in CICS IA and database:

Execute the following steps to view the data on the client side on the CICS IA plug-in:

                    i.          Open z/OS Explorer to view the command flow execution.

Note: EXEC CICS START without the USERID parameter has a function ID as ‘1008’, and EXEC CICS START with USERID has a ‘1009’ Function ID. 

                  ii.          Connect to the data studio to view the transaction execution in the database tables.

Conclusion:

        i.                           i. Only the main transaction MRRR and the transactions MRR1 and MRR2 will be shown in the execution.

      ii.                           ii. The main transaction MRRR is run under IATEST2 by which the transaction got triggered.

     iii.                           iii. The transaction MRR1 runs under IATEST2 as it is coded with EXEC CICS START without USERID as a parameter and uses the user ID by which it got triggered.

     iv.                           iv. MRR2 is executed as it is coded with EXEC CICS START with USERID parameter as IATEST2.

      v.                           v. MRR3 is not traced as the transaction is defined with EXEC CICS START TRANSID with USERID parameter as CICSUSER and the login user id is IATEST2.

Scenario 2: With login user as IATEST2 and traced user USERIDs as *.

Step-1: Reviewing valid users and data collection.

        i.                          i. Login into the CICS region and enter CINT to navigate to the main administration menu.

      ii.                           ii. Enter option 4 in the Main Administration menu and press Enter.

     iii.    

      , t                   iii. Now the user is redirected to the user administration menu.

     iv.                        iv.  Enter option 4 and press Enter in the user administration menu to view the required user details.

    Up                     v. Update the user details as PRIVILEGED and press Enter.

      v.   

     vi.                         vi. Now, the user can trace all the USER IDs.

    vii.                          vi. Press F3 and enter CINC to go to the command flow collector.

  viii.                          vii. Run the command flow collector by specifying * in the Traced user USERIDs field to trace the transactions of all the users.

     ix.                          ix. The number of records collected will appear as shown below.

Step-2: Execute the below steps to load the data from VSAM files to the database:

                 i. Login into Mainframe Emulator.

                ii. Execute the command flow batch jobs CIUJLCPY and CIUUPDB5 available in CICSIAD.ATR library to load data from GDG files to tables.

Step-3: Verify output in CICS IA and database:

A.    Execute the below steps to view the data on the client side on the CICS IA plug-in:

                   i. Open z/OS Explorer to view the command flow execution.

                  ii. Command flow execution details will appear as shown below.

Visualization:

B.     Connect to the data studio to view the transaction execution in the database tables (command flow table name - CIU_CMDFLOW_DATA).

Conclusion:

        i.                        i.  The user can now see that all the transactions are executed under respective USERIDs.

      ii.                          ii. The main transaction MRRR is run under IATEST2 by which the transaction got triggered.

     iii.                         iii. The transaction MRR1 runs under IATEST2 as it is coded with EXEC CICS START without USERID as a parameter and uses the user ID by which it got triggered.

     iv.                         iv. MRR2 is triggered under IATEST2 as it is invoked by EXEC CICS START TRANSID with USERID(IATEST2).

      v.                         v. MRR3 is run under user CICSUSER as it is invoked by the command EXEC CICS START TRANSID with USERID(CICSUSER).

Now users can track the EXEC CICS START command with USERID parameter with the function code as '1009' and the function name as ‘START USERID’ in the CICS IA Command flow feature.

Sai Chaitanya Para

QA Engineer – CICS IA