Basics on defining and using Dispatch report & msgclass retention

Products

• Dispatch Output Mgmt
• Dispatch Output Mgmt

Issue/Introduction

This knowledge article provides an overview for defining and using Dispatch Online Viewing (OLV) and ARCHIVE report & msgclass retentions.

Environment

z/OS, Dispatch, 11.7, OLV, Online Viewing, Archive, Report, MSGCLASS, Retention

Cause

Generally speaking, the Dispatch LDS files are not meant to be a "long term" repository for report and/or MSGCLASS data.

Consequently, your Online Viewing (OLV) defined report and msgclass retentions would typically be for a much shorter duration than that of your archive defined report and msgclass retentions, as archival to TAPE or other external media would represent your "long term" data repository.

In Dispatch, you will define both Online Viewing (OLV) retention records, as well as ARCHIVE retention records, for all of your reports and msgclass data. These different OLV & ARCHIVE retention records are tracked and processed separately by Dispatch. 

Resolution

I) Dispatch Online Viewing (OLV) retention:

• To produce a listing showing the OLV retentions of your reports, execute job DSEXCULP using "MEMBER=DSCULP19" in your JCL setup.
• Online Viewing MSGCLASS retention values are specified on the VSGMU190-Sysgen Online Viewing Control Screen (Option 9.9 from the main menu) in the following fields:

     Define The Following For MSGCLASS Processing:                   
     Number Of Days To Hold MSGCLASS Online        (0-999)  ==> 
     Number Of Generations To Hold MSGCLASS Online (0-999)  ==>

• Online Viewing REPORT retention values can be specified on either or both of the following screens.

  a. The DEFAULT OLV retention for all reports is specified in the following fields on the VSGMU190-Sysgen Online Viewing Control Screen (Option 9.9 from the main menu). 

  Define The Following For Report Use Of Online Viewing:      
  Number Of Days To Hold Report Online          (0-999)  ==>
  Number Of Generations To Hold Report Online   (0-999)  ==>

  b. The VRDMU110-Report Base Definition Screen for the specific report. (Option 1.S from the main menu).

• If a report does not have any Online Viewing retention values defined in the DAYS and GENS fields on it's VRDMU110-Report Base Definition Screen, the report retention values defined on the VSGMU190-Sysgen Online Viewing Control Screen will be applied to the report.
• The Dispatch provided DSEXPSVW and/or DSEXVIEW batch maintenance jobs are used to delete expired Online Viewing entries from the database and from the LDS files.
• Any modifications made to a reports Online Viewing retention (Either on the VSGMU190 or VRDMU110 screen) will be applied to "all occurrences" of that report the next time the DSEXPSVW or DSEXVIEW batch maintenance job is executed. 

 

II) Dispatch ARCHIVE retention:

• To produce a listing showing the ARCHIVE retention of your reports, execute job DSEXCULP using "MEMBER=DSCULP21" in your JCL setup.
• Refer to Knowledge Article ID: 22914 for clarifying information on interpreting the DSCULP21 retention results.
• Archive retention values for reports are specified on either or both of the following screens:

a. The VSGMU210-Sysgen Archive Control screen (Option 9.A from the main menu - This is the sysgen DEFAULT archive retention for reports).

b. The VARMU100-Report Archive Definition Screen (Option A.1.S from the main menu - This is the REPORTS actual archive retention record).

• The Dispatch provided DSEXPSAR and/or DSEXTMIG batch maintenance jobs are used to delete expired ARCHIVE entries from the database.  
• A reports actual archive retention is reflected on the VARMU100-Report Archive Definition Screen.
• CA Dispatch uses the "VSGMU210-Sysgen Archive Control screen" defined retention under two specific circumstances:

1. The first time a report ever gets archived. (After which, we create a database record that will contain the retention for that report).

2. If the VARMU100 screen retention record for a report contains a value of 'SD' in the DAYS or GENS fields, this tells CA Dispatch to use the "sysgen default" retention, which is actually the VSGMU210 screens defined retention. 

• Any modifications made to a reports ARCHIVE retention (Either on the VARMU100 or VSGMU210 screen) will be applied to ALL occurrences of that report the next time the DSEXPSAR or DSEXTMIG batch maintenance job is executed.

Additional Information

For additional details and information, please click on this hyperlink to access a downloadable PDF version of the Dispatch documentation.