Transaction ID
A four-character code that tells CICS which program to run, typed on the screen or triggered by a key.
Also written tranid, TRANID, transaction code
Every CICS transaction is identified by a code of up to four characters, and that code is how work is started. Typing it on a clear screen starts the associated program.
The limit of four characters produces the terse, cryptic identifiers mainframe applications are known for. Sites develop conventions so that codes group sensibly, often with a common first character for an application area and the rest indicating the function.
The mapping from code to program is held in CICS definitions, along with everything else about how the transaction should behave: which program to run, what security applies, what resources it may use. Changing which program a code runs is a definition change, not a code change, which is how a new version of a program is put live.
CICS supplies its own transactions too, with codes beginning with C, used for administering the system rather than doing business work.
When someone at a bank describes their work as "running the enquiry transaction", this four-character code is what they type.
Related terms
- CICSThe transaction manager that runs online mainframe applications, and the software behind a great many screens bank staff use.
- CICS transactionOne unit of online work in CICS: the whole exchange of receiving a request, doing the work, and sending a response.
- CICS regionOne running copy of CICS, with its own programs, files and users. A site typically runs several.
- CEMTThe CICS transaction used to see and change what is running in a region, enquiring on resources and acting on them.
- BMS mapThe definition of a CICS screen: where each field sits, how long it is, and how it is highlighted.