ISPW environments
BMC Software usually recommends that there be more than one ISPW environment installed.
Having more than one ISPW
Which data repository will be used to manage ISPW is determined by the option chosen from your ISPF/PDF menu. You could have several sets of data repositories if there’s a need to have independent operating environments. For example, every site might have one system for production use where all users would normally work. Other environments could be used for staff training or testing newISPW versions.
Multiple ISPW environments are represented by the diagram shown in the following figure.
Multiple ISPW Environments
Dataset allocations for ISPW clients
The TSO/ISPF Client consists of site-specific and ISPW base datasets. The site-specific datasets should contain any ISPW component that is modified and any new components created by your site.
The CLIST WZU@PRIM (invoking CLIST) is an example of an ISPW component that must be modified. Compile Skeletons and special technology CLISTs are components created by each site. Though few ISPW components require modification, they must be copied and modifications made to them in your site-specific datasets so that changes to the ISPW base system can be easily identified.
Concatenation of datasets
All the site-specific datasets are allocated in front of the ISPW Base datasets. The dialogue box can then be split into two adjoining pieces as shown in the following figure.
Site Specific datasets
ISPW is used to maintain the site-specific customization, so a development lifecycle is set up for the Site modifications. The simplest example of this consists of TEST, HOLD, and PROD datasets, which can be concatenated in front of the BASE datasets for the reasons listed in the following table.
Site-Specific Datasets
Concatenation | Reason |
|---|---|
PROD SITE | Day-to-day production use of ISPW. |
HOLD SITE | Acceptance testing of a new internally developed feature. The updated modules would exist in the HOLD datasets. Users doing acceptance testing would change their allocations so that they can work with the updates. |
TEST SITE | Testing of a new feature or release by the ISPW support person. The updated modules would exist in the TEST datasets so that only ISPW support would be affected by the change. |
Updating the ISPW base datasets
Each site should have their own procedures for maintaining system software, and the ISPW Base datasets should be treated as such.
Invocation of ISPW
ISPW is invoked as an option on the ISPF menu. The file allocations are controlled either by a Logon procedure or an allocation CLIST. It is useful to have standard allocation CLISTs that will do the TEST-HOLD-PROD, HOLD-PROD, and PROD allocations for you. Different ISPW options can be used to control which concatenation of datasets is used. The correct connection definition should be allocated for the correct ISPW Environment.
Planning requirements
- Which ISPF menu will ISPW be invoked from?
- What Options will be used to invoke each ISPW variant?
- Review theISPW Installation and Configuration space to determine the names that are required for each ISPW environment.