CPMS offers mainframe print management tools within CICS
CICS Print Management System (CPMS), which runs under CICS, is an alternative to Spool Display and Search Facility (SDSF) and JES328x. CPMS allows CICS users to monitor and display the JES2 spool, route and delete jobs, and manually or automatically print JES2 SYSOUT data sets.
Like SDSF, CPMS allows CICS users to monitor batch jobs and review resulting output, but CPMS provides this functionality without the need to leave the CICS session, and without requiring users to have TSO.
Spool manager
The facility for spool display and search in CPMS provides secured and restricted online access to spooled report information. Criteria defined in the CPMS user profile can limit the depth of user access and permit display of only those jobs to which the individual has been assigned view authority.
The four-screen split/swap feature allows authorized personnel to view multiple pictures of a job. With up to four sessions running concurrently, they can swap back and forth and scroll to specific areas. Split/swap can be used to compare jobs, check on printing progress while working on another project, or view the JES2 and CPMS printing statistics while maintaining access to a report.
Print manager
As a print controller, CPMS allows users to print on any system or convenience printer defined to CICS or any departmental printer that JES2 drives. CPMS allows CICS printers to function as JES2 writers without JES2 remote definitions. After someone views a report, CPMS can be used to control final disposition.
Mainframe printing features
CPMS offers these features for mainframe printing:
- Full printer recovery
- Job output routing and queuing to a CICS printer; printed spool files stay on the JES spool for future printing
- Special forms and form change requests
- Optional banner pages placed between jobs selection criteria to specify single reports or entire jobs
- Extra wide (up to 255 characters) carriage size support
- JOE writer disposition processing to requeue printed reports
- Laser printer fonts, image, and orientation selection
- Forms Control Buffer (FCB) driven
Status information
- Printer is waiting for a forms change
- Hold has been placed on a job
- Print buffer is draining
- Page adjust has been requested
- Printer is waiting for work
JOE writer
A job output element (JOE) writer is started for every active printer in the system. However, there is only one global scanning task, which uses the JOE table in SYSD instead of a JES2 subsystem inquiry. The global scanning task scans JES for SYSOUT data sets that meet the selection criteria of all active JOE writers.