Parameters › Command-related Parameters › EXTRAEXTPREFIX Parameter

EXTRAEXTPREFIX Parameter

Specifies a one-to six-character prefix for CA OPS/MVS to use when it generates extra extended console names. The prefix must begin with an uppercase alphabetic character or one of the following special characters: #, $, or @. The second through last characters of the prefix must be alphanumeric characters or any of these special characters: #, $, or @.

Along with the EXTRAEXTCONSOLES parameter, the EXTRAEXTPREFIX parameter enables you to allocate a set of extended consoles for the exclusive use of particular pieces of CA OPS/MVS. For example, perhaps your site uses an application that issues CICS commands, and all commands must be issued through the same console.

As many as 99 extended consoles may be active; the setting of the EXTRAEXTCONSOLES parameter determines the number of extra extended consoles CA OPS/MVS activates at startup. To create a unique name for each extra extended console, CA OPS/MVS adds a two-digit suffix (01-99) to the prefix. For example, if the value of EXTRAEXTPREFIX is EXTEXT and the value of EXTRAEXTCONSOLES is 3, CA OPS/MVS activates these consoles:

• EXTEXT01
• EXTEXT02
• EXTEXT03

When you specify a value for the EXTRAEXTPREFIX parameter, make sure that the value does not conflict with the values of the EXTCONSPREFIX parameter. If CA OPS/MVS detects a conflict, it reverts to its default prefix values.

Default value

CA OPS/MVS uses this pattern to generate a default prefix:

• Character 1 is X, to indicate extra.
• Characters 2-5 are the 4-byte SMFID of the current system. Because some SMFIDs contain characters that are not allowed in extended console names, in certain cases you will not be able to use the default prefix; instead, specify a value for the EXTRAEXTPREFIX parameter.
• Character 6 is the fourth character of the subsystem ID.
• Characters 7-8 are a number from 01 to 99, depending upon the number of consoles requested.

Other possible values

Any valid one- to six-character prefix having these characteristics:

• The prefix must begin with an uppercase alphabetic character or any of these special characters: #, $, or @.
• The second through last characters must be alphanumeric characters or any of these special characters: #, $, or @.

Set or modify this parameter…

At initialization

Example: EXTRAEXTPREFIX

This function sets the extra extended console prefix to EXTRAC.

OPSPRM('SET','EXTRAEXTPREFIX','EXTRAC')