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7.2.1 Define Account Code Structure (VCAACCT)


The Space Analyzer provides nine levels of account codes for
you to associate users and user groups with data set
ownership.  The account codes are used as file
(summarization) keys in the following CA MICS files:

    VCADAA - Data Set Allocation File
    VCA_VS - VSAM Data Set Allocation File
    VCADCS - DATACLAS Summary File
    HSMMIG - Migrated Data Set File
    HSBBAC - Backup Data Set File

To define the account codes to the Space Analyzer, you need
to modify the sample member VCAACCT in
sharedprefix.MICS.PARMS.  VCAACCT defines the number of
account codes that are to be carried in the above files and
the length and the label associated with each account code.
Its definitions apply to CA MICS database units that contain
the Space Analyzer.


PREPARATION

Each installation has its own method for associating data set
allocations with the responsible user, projects, or
departments.  Before defining VCA account codes, it is
important that you investigate your installation's accounting
standards to:

    o  Identify the current organizational coding system
       (cost center coding system identifying the division,
       department, project, and employee) and determine how
       the account codes are specified.  For example, the
       division and department may be determined by a table
       lookup operation that associates the high-level
       qualifier of a DSNAME with the owner's organizational
       codes.

    o  Identify if, and how, the codes are verified to ensure
       that they correspond to a valid definition.  We
       recommend that account code validation be performed in
       all cases and that unidentified or invalid account
       codes be assigned to a special installation overhead
       account code.  This approach provides you with two
       benefits.  First, it groups all invalid codes under
       the same category and therefore requires less DASD
       space for storing the VCA Information Area files.
       Second, it enables you to easily determine how much of
       this overhead activity is taking place.

Consider the following suggestions in determining the number
of account codes required to meet your installation's
reporting and analysis needs:

    o  Account codes are part of the summarization keys for
       the files that support them.  As such, at least one
       record is generated for each combination of values.
       Therefore, the higher the number of account codes, the
       more DASD space the database will require.   But at
       the same time, a higher number of account codes also
       supports data analysis at a greater detail.

    o  If you anticipate needing to expand the account code
       structure in the future, establish an extra account
       code now to eliminate the need to retrofit the
       database later to add the new account code.


DEFINING ACCOUNT CODES

You can define up to nine levels of account codes to the
Space Analyzer.  The account codes are named VCAACT1 to
VCAACT9 (and HSMACT1 to HSMACT2) in the CA MICS database.

Figure 7-1 provides a worksheet for defining the account
codes.  You can fill in the worksheet as you go through the
following explanation on coding VCAACCT.

The VCAACCT member in sharedprefix.MICS.PARMS contains one
statement per account code definition.  Each statement
contains several parameters, which are free-form (separated
by one or more blanks) but positional.  Blank statements are
not permitted.  Comments can be coded by beginning the
statement with an asterisk (*).

The statement format is:

    level  length  'descriptive title'

       or

    level  mask  length 'descriptive title'

where:

level =      The level of importance of each account code,
             with level 1 being the most important and the
             highest level number being the least important.
             The levels are defined sequentially starting
             with 1.  You can define up to nine levels.  This
             parameter is required.

mask =       An optional parameter that can be used to
             deactivate the account code in specified time-
             spans.  Specifying a timespan mask requires
             coding T(......) as the second parameter in a
             statement, where each "." represents a file
             timespan, in the order of DETAIL, DAYS, WEEKS,
             MONTHS, YEARS, and TABLES.  For each timespan,
             you can specify a Y to indicate that the account
             code is active or an N to indicate that the
             account code is inactive.

             If this parameter is skipped, it has a default
             value of T(YYYYYY).

             The following rules apply if you code the mask:

                o  DETAIL must always be Y.  Account codes
                   may not be deactivated in this timespan.

                o  If DAYS is N, then WEEKS, MONTHS, and
                   YEARS must also be N.  If the account code
                   is inactive in the DAYS timespan, it
                   cannot be active in higher timespans.

                o  If MONTHS is N, then YEARS must be N.
                   If the account code is inactive in the
                   MONTHS timespan, it cannot be active in
                   the YEARS timespan.

length =     The length of the account code.  The length may
             range from 1 to 30.  This parameter is required.

descriptive  The title that describes the account code.  The
title =      length of the title is 1 to 40 characters.  The
             title is embedded in quotes (').  This is a
             required parameter.


EXAMPLES

A sample VCAACCT with three account codes is shown below:

     1 2 'DIVISION'
     2 1 'REGION'
     3 3 'USER'

A sample VCAACCT with three account codes, the last two of
which are turned off in the MONTHS and YEARS timespans:

     1            2 'DIVISION'
     2 T(YYYNNN)  8 'DEPARTMENT'
     3 T(YYYNNN)  4 'USERID'



+--------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | INSTALLATION PREPARATION WORKSHEET: VCA Account Code Specifications | | | | PARMS Library Member is VCAACCT | | Reference: Section 7.2.1, CA MICS Space Analyzer Guide | +--------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | | | ACCOUNT TIME-SPAN | | CODE LEVEL MASK LENGTH DESCRIPTIVE TITLE | | (1-9) | | | | _ T(______) __ '________________________________________' | | | | _ T(______) __ '________________________________________' | | | | _ T(______) __ '________________________________________' | | | | _ T(______) __ '________________________________________' | | | | _ T(______) __ '________________________________________' | | | | _ T(______) __ '________________________________________' | | | | _ T(______) __ '________________________________________' | | | | _ T(______) __ '________________________________________' | | | | _ T(______) __ '________________________________________' | | | | | | | | | | | +--------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | ....5...10...15...20...25...30...35...40...45...50...55...60...65...70.. | +--------------------------------------------------------------------------+


 Figure 7-1.  VCA Account Code Specifications Worksheet