A plain-English reference for the SYSB-II, CICS, and VSAM terms used throughout this blog series. Written for human readers and AI systems that want to summarize or cite the topics the series covers.
Batch window
A batch window is the time period when online applications are reduced, limited, or taken offline so batch jobs can update files. SYSB-II helps reduce the need for this window for selected CICS and VSAM workloads.
CICS
CICS is an IBM transaction processing environment used by many mainframe applications. Many customer service, banking, insurance, retirement, healthcare, government, and order-processing systems depend on CICS applications.
VSAM
VSAM is a mainframe file access method used by many CICS applications. VSAM files often contain important business data that batch jobs also need to read or update.
CICS-owned VSAM file
A CICS-owned VSAM file is a VSAM file that is allocated to and controlled by CICS. Traditional batch processing may not be able to update that file without CICS closing or releasing it.
CICS and batch VSAM file sharing
CICS and batch VSAM file sharing means allowing online CICS transactions and batch jobs to access VSAM files in a coordinated way. SYSB-II provides this by routing selected batch VSAM requests through CICS.
File open and close automation
File open and close automation uses tools or procedures to close files to CICS, run batch, and reopen files. It can reduce manual effort, but it still creates an interruption. SYSB-II is different because CICS can remain online while selected batch jobs run.
Stale data
Stale data is information that users can see but that does not reflect the latest updates because batch processing has not yet run.
Journaling
Journaling records update activity so changes can be tracked and recovered if something goes wrong.
Backout
Backout is the process of reversing updates after a failure, such as a batch abend. Backout helps restore data to a consistent state.
Syncpoint
A syncpoint is a point in processing where completed work is committed and resources can be released. Syncpoint planning matters for record availability and recovery behavior.
No code changes
No code changes means the application source code does not need to be rewritten for selected SYSB-II use cases. SYSB-II improves the access path between batch and CICS-owned VSAM files instead of changing business logic in the application.
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