Temporary storage queues

Temporary storage queues are identified by symbolic names that may be up to 16 characters, assigned by the originating task. Temporary data can be retrieved by the originating task or by any other task using the symbolic name assigned to it. To avoid conflicts caused by duplicate names, a naming convention should be established; for example, the operator identifier or terminal identifier could be used as a suffix to each programmer-supplied symbolic name. Specific items (logical records) within a queue are referred to by relative position numbers.

Temporary storage queues remain intact until they are deleted by the originating task, by any other task, or by an initial or cold start; before deletion, they can be accessed any number of times. Even after the originating task is terminated, temporary data can be accessed by other tasks through references to the symbolic name under which it is stored.

Temporary data can be stored either in main storage or in auxiliary storage. Generally, main storage should be used if the data is needed for short periods of time; auxiliary storage should be used if the data is to be kept for long periods of time. Data stored in auxiliary storage is retained after CICS® termination and can be recovered in a subsequent restart, but data in main storage cannot be recovered. Main storage might be used to pass data from task to task, or for unique storage that allows programs to meet the requirement of CICS that they be quasi-reentrant (that is, serially reusable between entry and exit points of the program).

Temporary storage data sharing provides another type of temporary storage queue that can be supported concurrently. The temporary storage queues can be defined as local, remote, or shared, and they can be stored in temporary storage pools in the coupling facility.

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