Temporary storage queue
A named list of items a CICS program can write, read back and update, used to keep data between tasks.
Also written TSQ, TS queue, WRITEQ TS, READQ TS, DELETEQ TS, CEBR
A temporary storage queue, or TS queue, is a named place where a CICS program can keep data for later. It holds a list of items, numbered from 1, and a program can write new items, read any item by its number, and replace an item.
Programs use them for data that is too large or too long-lived for a COMMAREA. A common example is a list screen: the program reads 200 matching accounts once, writes them to a TS queue, and then shows the user 20 at a time as they page forward and back.
The commands are EXEC CICS WRITEQ TS, READQ TS and DELETEQ TS. Queue names are up to 16 characters, and programs often include the terminal or user ID in the name so each user gets their own queue. Queues can be kept in memory, on disk, or shared across CICS regions.
A queue stays until a program deletes it, so a well-behaved program deletes its queues when the user finishes. The CEBR transaction lets you look at a TS queue's contents, which helps when testing.
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- CICSThe transaction manager that runs online mainframe applications, and the software behind a great many screens bank staff use.
- Pseudo-conversationalThe CICS programming style where a program ends after sending each screen, rather than waiting for the user to reply.
- COMMAREAThe communication area: a block of data a CICS program passes to another program, or keeps for the next step of a conversation.
- EXEC CICSThe way a program asks CICS to do something, such as read a record, send a screen or call another program.
- CICS transactionOne unit of online work in CICS: the whole exchange of receiving a request, doing the work, and sending a response.