Although all named counter values are held internally as doubleword unsigned binary numbers, the CICS® API provides both a fullword (COUNTER) and doubleword (DCOUNTER) set of commands, which you should not mix. These EXEC CICS commands allow you to perform the following operations on named counters:
Using the WRAP option: If the maximum number has been allocated to a previous request, the counter is in a counter-at-limit condition and the request fails, unless you specify the WRAP option. This option specifies that a counter in the the counter-at-limit condition is to be reset automatically to its defined minimum value. After the reset, the minimum value is returned as the current number, and the counter is updated ready for the next request.
Using the INCREMENT option: By default, a named counter is updated by an increment of 1, after the server has assigned the current number to a GET request. If you want more than one number at a time, you can specify the INCREMENT option, which effectively reserves a block of numbers from the current number. For example , if you specify INCREMENT(50), and the server returns 100 025:
This example assumes that updating the current value by the INCREMENT(50) option does not exceed the maximum value by more than 1. If the range of numbers between the current value and the maximum value plus 1 is less than the specified increment, the request fails unless you also specify the REDUCE option.
Using the REDUCE option: To ensure that a request does not fail because the remaining range of numbers is too small to satisfy your INCREMENT value (the current number is too near the maximum value), specify the REDUCE option. With the reduce option, the server automatically adjusts the increment to allow it to assign all the remaining numbers, leaving the counter in the counter-at-limit condition.
Using both the WRAP and REDUCE options: If you specify both options, only one is effective depending on the state of the counter:
Using the COMPAREMIN and COMPAREMAX options: You can use these options to make the named counter GET (and UPDATE) operation conditional upon the current number being within a specified range, or being greater than, or less than, one of the specified comparison values.