z/OS Systems Features › z/OS Menu › External Filters/Classes

External Filters/Classes

Use the External Filter/Class Manager to add, modify, or delete External Filters/Classes. The External Filter/Classes Manager option is located in the z/OS menu.

Note: You can also use the object Filter option to save an object filter as an External Filter. For more information, see the section Defining a Filter.

Filters let you specify, in detail, the type of data you want to gather. You can save filters in a common global repository on the host (the External Filter Library) and make them available for reuse by any user, these are referred to as External Filters/Classes. To apply an External Filters/Class you refer to it in a standard filter.

Note: For an overview of the External Filters that exist in the External Filter Library on a host, display the External Filters object located in the System Activity subfolder in the CA Vantage Internal Management folder of the host's Object Tree.

When adding a new External Filter/Class or editing an existing External Filter/Class basically the same options apply as building a standard object filter and when you apply a standard filter to an object view you transmit the filter from the PC to the z/OS host. When you create an External Filter it is stored on the host. You can refer to External Filters in two ways using icons on the toolbar in the object Filter dialog:

- Insert External Filter

Lets you select and insert an External Filter's filter string from the External Filter library which is applicable to the current object displayed. When you select an External Filter using this option, the External Filter's filter string is copied to the filter string area of the Filter dialog. You can then change the copied External Filter filter string without effecting the External Filter's filter string in the External Filter library. Observe the following:

• An object filter string can have a maximum of about 1900 characters. Use Insert Class if you want to use an External Filter that is over this limit or causes the total characters in the object filter string to exceed this limit.
• When an External Filter is imported to the Filter dialog, you can use the Filter dialog to modify the imported External Filter's filter string without effecting the filter string in the External Filter stored in the External Filter library.
• If you save the object view with the External Filter string imported in the Filter dialog and a user modifies or deletes the External Filter in the External Filter/Class library, then the External Filter modification or delete is not carried over to your object filter and the modification or delete does not effect the object view the next time it is activated.

- Insert Class

Lets you select an applicable filter from the External Filter library and insert a reference to it using its Class name. When you select an External Filter using the Insert Class option, the filter expression simply refers to it by its Class name, instead of copying the actual filter string into the Filter dialog. Observe the following:

• Using the Insert Class option you can refer to multiple Classes in your object filter string.
• Using the Insert Class option provides a method for circumventing the limit of roughly 1900 characters in an object filter.
• You cannot modify the filter string of an inserted Class from the object Filter dialog. You must use the External Filter/Class Manager to modify External Filter expressions.
• You can use the External Filters/Class Manager to create External Filters that have a filter string that exceeds 1900 characters and then use the Insert Class option to include it in an object filter string.
• If you save the object view with the Class name inserted in the filter and a user modifies or deletes the Class in the External Filter/Class library, then the Class modification or delete can affect the object view the next time it is activated. If you open an object that has a Class inserted in its filter and the Class has been deleted from the External Filters/Class library, you will first receive an error message that the External Filter is not found and then the object is displayed without the External Filter applied.

Observe the following:

• You cannot create External Filter/Classes from any of the wizards (for example; the Summary Object Designer, the Automation Scripts Builder, the Log Scripts Builder, and so on). However, wizards allow you to insert existing External Filters/Classes. That is, you have to first create the External Filter first and then you can insert existing External Filters using the Filter option in the Object display or the Filter page in the wizards.

For more information about External Filters and Classes, see the Help topic External Filters. This Help topic advises you on creating long (or short) filters and saving them in the external filter library. You should also review the sections External Filter Member Syntax, Filter Syntax Rules, and Filter Lengths in the CA Vantage Reference Guide. The following is a sample of the External Filters/Class Manager dialog:

More Information

Create a New External Filter

Modify an Existing External Filter

Delete an Existing External Filter