IMFEXEC MV CONNECT

Channels are the equivalent of a terminal session that interacts with MainView products. They are a simple abstraction of a terminal session: they do not require you to log on to anything and they do not require any specific definition; you must acquire one.

One advantage of channels is that you can have multiple channels just as if you had set up any number of terminal sessions. Therefore, if your EXEC has to address many different products or views, it is easy to set up more than one channel.

The IMFEXEC MV CONNECT command has two parameters: CHANNEL (a required parameter) and MSG (an optional parameter).

The CHANNEL() parameter is required to address a specific channel (because you can have more than one) in all IMFEXEC MV operations. You can provide the name of a TSO/E variable that receives a token that uniquely identifies the channel you are addressing. The contents of this variable is used in later IMFEXEC MV operations.

Use the MSG parameter to write any error messages to the BBI Journal. During MainView terminal sessions you might have experienced a sequence of cascading error messages that explain why a specific operation could not be executed. These exact same statements are turned to an EXEC when an operation failed. By default these messages are added as variables LINE.0 to LINE.xx. In a TSO/E CLIST, the messages are returned as LINE_0 to LINE_ xx.

While you can process these error messages programmatically, during development of a new EXEC it may be useful to see them in the BBI Journal without having to explicitly write them out, which is what the MSG parameter does. If specified, any error message associated with an operation that is using this channel is written to the BBI Journal. When the EXEC reaches a production stage, you can remove the MSG parameter to avoid cluttering the Journal.

In summary, a channel is a data transport vehicle that is requested with the IMFEXEC MV CONNECT command and identified by the contents of a variable that you specify.