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Program Properties Table Analysis

Certain z/OS programs must run with special powers. For example, a program might need to access password-protected data without actually knowing the correct password. The z/OS program properties table (PPT) lists these special programs and the special properties they have.

The full name for the PPT is IEFSDPPT. IEFSDPPT resides as a load module in SYS1.LINKLIB. PPT entries that the data center defined or that IBM updated are specified in the SCHEDxx logical parmlib member. Each entry in the PPT consists of a program name, attribute bytes, and a storage protection key field. Special properties are designated as flags in the attribute byte. These attribute flags are inclusive, letting a program gain multiple powers at the same time. It is important to ensure that programs in the PPT have only the privileges that they require to function and that all of these programs are properly protected.

The PPT Table Analysis panel lists PPT program names and the type of privileges that each program has. It can also show you the library where each program resides. Besides providing information to assist in a system audit, the display also provides details about each program that can be useful to systems programmers, such as whether the program can be swapped out of main storage, if a system operator can cancel the program, the CPU affinity if the program is run in a multiprocessor environment, and other details.

For information about PPT flags, see the IBM publications z/OS MVS: Initialization and Tuning Guide, and z/OS MVS Initialization and Tuning Reference.

To analysis the program properties table

1. From the Primary Menu, select option 3.

   The z/OS Technical Information screen is displayed.

2. Select option 6.

   The PPT Table Analysis panel is displayed.

3. Enter an S (Select) next to any PPT program name on the panel to search eligible APF libraries and the link pack area (LPA) for this program.

   The system builds the PPT by merging the IEFSDPPT member of SYS1.LINKLIB with the SCHEDxx members that were specified in IEASYSxx according to the following rules:

   • If an entry is found in the SCHEDxx member of the logical parmlib that is not in the PPT, the system adds the entry to the PPT at the first available spot.
   • If there are duplicates in the non-IBM PPT entries, the first of the duplicate entries is used. The system ignores the second entry. CA Auditor displays all entries in IEFSDPPT and the contents of all SCHEDxx members in the logical parmlib.

   CA Auditor displays all PPT entries and all SCHEDxx members specified in the logical parmlib on the PPT Analysis panel.

4. To view additional information about programs in the PPT with the Program Properties Table Info panel, enter I (Information) next to the name of the program.

   The Program Properties Table Info screen is displayed.