Real World Problems

In an image repair and recovery situation, difficulties often arise during the problem analysis phase. It is likely that identical member names with different contents have been used to define various system images. Without specific knowledge, the members would appear to differ only by the fact that they are resident on different physical or logical volumes. Which one is the correct target for repair? You need to know! If the wrong member is edited, time is lost in the recovery and the repair is complicated by a newly introduced error. Add the fact that each Load Parm will reference any number of additional resource members and the complexity of the repair and restoration process becomes apparent.

Image Services

Like all SAE applications, Image Services benefits from the SAE Stand Alone Environment, an environment so complete that it operates 100% outside of MVS and its sub-systems. This assures you rapid full-screen access to all attached DASD when OS/390 is down. In addition, Image Services benefits from the synergy of total integration with the other SAE applications. ERASE, RESTORE, and ACTION SERVICES. Collectively this means that with Image Services, you resolve image and IPL failures fast.

Image Focus performs 3 vital functions:

1. Image Selection

Image Focus simplifies image selection by letting you quickly supply the IPL address and Load Parm values of the image you wish to target. The values provided are exactly the same IPL address and Load Parm values that you would use if you were actually IPLing the target system. Image Focus will use these values to determine the volumes, datasets and parameters used in its search and analysis.

Image selection criteria include:

IPL Address: This is the four digit device address of the IPL device.

Load Parm: This is the one to eight character Load Parm value. When the Image Selection screen is first displayed (at the beginning of each new session), the Load Parm of the processor the SAE is IPLed on is displayed as the default value for this field.

SYSCATxx SUFFIX: If the system is configured to prompt for a Master Catalog Parameter, enter the value that is normally specified as the SYSCATxx SUFFIX. If the system is configured not to prompt for a Master Catalog Parameter, this field will be ignored.

IEASYSxx SUFFIX: If the system is configured to prompt for System Parameters, enter the value normally specified as the IEASYSxx SUFFIX. If the system is configured not to prompt for System Parameters, this field will be ignored. The targeted image is selected using ONLY the parameters that would be used to IPL the actual system.

2. Image Search and/or Analysis

Searching based on the provided IPL and Load Parm values, Image Focus determines which libraries, members and parameters would be used to IPL the system. Once determined, Image Focus will analyze only the parameters, datasets, and volumes that make up that specific image.

Once the search is complete, an analysis is performed to determine if the target image contains errors that would prevent an IPL. A byproduct of this process is the Image Analysis Report. The Report shows how the system components were identified in the search and each step in the analysis. If any errors were found, they are highlighted and commented.

3. Image Access for repair and recovery

Image Focus provides focused access to the volumes and datasets that comprise the targeted image. When changes or repairs to a system image are needed, Image Focus eliminates the need for guess work by guiding access to only the datasets for the failing image that needs editing.