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Dictionaries and Runtime Environments › Dictionaries › Sharing Dictionary Areas

Sharing Dictionary Areas

Sharing Components

By separating dictionary components into segments, you can share those components between dictionaries, as illustrated next:

To share SEG1 between dictionary A and dictionary B, define a database name for each that includes the SEG1 segment.

System Dictionary Components

You should not share the base definition component and the catalog component of the system dictionary with application dictionaries. Since the system dictionary contains critical information needed to control and execute your CA IDMS environment, it should be accessed only by authorized personnel and should be reserved for the following information:

Sharing Individual Areas

It is possible to separate a component into multiple segments so that individual areas (such as a load area) can be shared across dictionaries. While this is supported, it is not recommended because of the potential for naming conflicts between the dictionaries. For example, a dialog in one dictionary could have the same name as a map in another dictionary, both of which have an associated load module.

Important: Under no circumstances should the DDLCAT and DDLCATX areas be placed in different segments.

Page Groups

All segments associated with a dictionary must have the same page group (and maximum number of records per page). If you have different page groups, you will receive errors when you attempt to access the dictionary through IDD or other dictionary tools.

This rule also applies to the system message area (SYSMSG.DDLDCMSG). It can only be included in dictionaries whose other segments have the same page group as the SYSMSG segment. When processing a dictionary with a difference page group, IDD cannot be used to display or update messages. Maintenance of the system message area can only be done from a dictionary that has the same page group as the SYSMSG segment.

Page Groups and SQL

When defining an application dictionary that contains a catalog component, the page groups of the base and catalog components may be different. The page group of the catalog component has no impact on the page group of data that may be accessed while connected to the dictionary.