Viewing and changing CICS resources

To view data stored in a CICS file, use the FM/CICS View Utility or the FM/CICS Edit Utility:

View Utility

The View Utility (option 1) allows you to view and temporarily change the data, but without the ability to save any changes.

When you initiate the FM/CICS editor with the View Utility, this is referred to as being in a "View editor session" (or just "View").

The view function, similar to ISPF view, provides an editor session that works essentially the same as the Edit Utility, but without the need for exclusive access to the data set. It presents you with an interface that is capable of holding your temporary changes to data. This may be useful, for example, for assessing a change but without any risk of altering live data.

The first time you make a change to the data in a View editor session, FM/CICS displays the following warning:

      ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ 
      │ Save is not possible in a View session. Use Edit if you │ 
      │ want to be able to save changes.                        │ 
      └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

When you exit from a View editor session by pressing the Exit function key (F3), if you have made a change to the data in the editor session, FM/CICS displays a warning as shown in Warning pop-up displayed when exiting from a View editor session if changes made to data.

Figure 1. Warning pop-up displayed when exiting from a View editor session if changes made to data

 ┌─────────────────────── View Warning ────────────────────────┐
 │                                                             │ sssssssssssssss
 │          You are currently in Data View mode:               │      At top
 │                                                             │    Format TABL
 │ Press Enter to confirm exit from View.  No changes will be  │
 │ saved.                                                      │              +
 │                                                             │
 │ Enter the END or EXIT command to return to View, where you  │ -4----+----5--
 │ can use the  CREATE or REPLACE commands to save your        │
 │ changes.                                                    │ AAAAAAAAAAAAAA
 │ Command ===>                                                │
 │ F1=Help     F3=Exit     F7=Backward F8=Forward              │ AAAAAAAAAAAAAA
 │ F12=Cancel                                                  │ AAAAAAAAAAAAAA
 └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ AAAAAAAAAAAAAA
⋮

Edit Utility

The Edit Utility (option 2) allows you to view and change your data (by inserting, deleting, or otherwise modifying records), and save any changes you make.

When you initiate the FM/CICS editor with the Edit Utility, this is referred to as being in an "Edit editor session" (or just "Edit").

FM/CICS Browse

FM/CICS Browse allows you to view CICS data, but without the ability to save any changes.

When you start up the FM/CICS editor in browse mode, this is referred to as being in a "Browse editor session" (or just "Browse").

From a list of FM/CICS resources, to start up a Browse editor session, enter the prefix command, B.

When you start up a Browse editor session, FM/CICS displays the relevant FM/CICS Browse entry panel.

Related references

These instructions are given within the context of the FM/CICS editor. In most cases, you can perform these actions in either Edit or View, in which case the term "editor" is used. Similarly, the term "editor session" can indicate either a View editor session or an Edit editor session.

To display one of the View Entry panels, select option 1 ("View") from the FM/CICS Primary Options Menu panel.

To display one of the Edit Entry panels, select option 2 ("Edit") from the FM/CICS Primary Options Menu panel.

You can view or edit a CICS resource with a number of formats. You can use a copybook or template to provide a logical view of the data set. The logical view describes the field format of the records. In addition, a template can be used to:

Select the records to be displayed.
Select the fields to be displayed.
Format how the fields are displayed.

The FM/CICS editor displays a full screen of data, and allows you to overtype the data that is displayed. You can scroll the data in any direction: backward, forward, left, and right. It allows you to perform general editing operations by entering primary commands in the command field of the display. It also allows you to perform record-oriented operations by entering prefix commands in the prefix area of the display.

Note: Once the FM/CICS editor is started, the way in which you use the editor (commands, template usage, PF keys, and so on) is the same as for File Manager for z/OS® ("base"). For further information about using the browser, see Viewing and changing data sets in the File Manager for z/OS User’s Guide and Reference.