Filtering Data Using Selection Criteria

A request for CICSPlex SM managed object data can produce a large number of managed object records. Without filters, the Web User Interface returns all of the managed object records that exist within the current context and scope. To limit the number of resources retrieved by a request, use a filter. For example, you might want to view all enabled transactions with names starting with the characters PAY.

You use the View Editor to choose the filters that will be available on a view and the order in which they will appear.

Selection criteria

Selection criteria are used to specify the objects against which a query will operate. These criteria are:

• The context or CMAS context. The context is a CICSplex name and is used for all non-CMAS-level activity. The CMAS context is the name of a CMAS and is used only for CMAS-level activity, such as viewing CMAS status, and viewing the CICSplexes connected to a CMAS.
  Note:   You must specify either a context or a CMAS context for all operations. For more information, see Dealing with Context and Scope.
• The scope; that is a CICSplex name, a CICS system name, a CICS system group name, or a logical scope name. The scope is required only for certain resource types.
• Parameter filters; these may be required to access a view. For example, you need to enter a workload name in order to access a view for the WLMAWTOR object.
• Attribute filters; these are used to limit the amount of data displayed by allowing you to define an attribute expression. You use relational operators to define the relationship between an attribute and its value. For character fields, you can use generic characters.

Changing the selection criteria (either explicitly or implicitly through a link) affects only the current menu or view and any subsequent menus and views. The selection criteria for the previously visited menus and views are unaffected.

To set or change the selection criteria:

• Type in or select the new values, depending on the style of the field.
• Confirm the new values by clicking the Refresh or Set button, as appropriate.

To clear a field, remove the value in the field either by deleting the typed in value, or selecting the blank option from the selection list. Note that you cannot clear the context and scope fields.

Filters

There are two types of filter:

• Parameters, which, if present, are required. For each parameter, you define a value.
• Attributes, which, if present, are optional. For each attribute, you define two fields: a relational operator, and a value.

Relational operators

A relational operator is specified only for attributes. A relational operator may be:

=

Equal to.

<>

Not equal to.

>

Greater than.

<

Less than.

>=

Greater than or equal to.

<=

Less than or equal to.

Values

A value may be specified for both parameters and attributes. You can either choose a value from a selection list, for example the Enable status field offers a choice of ENABLED and DISABLED, or you type the value into an entry box. The following rules apply to entry boxes:

• A value typed in to an entry box is either a character string or a non-character string.
• For character strings:
  • For character attributes that allow mixed-case values, for example, transaction IDs, the filter character values are also case-sensitive.
  • You can use generic characters, if necessary. The conventions for using generic characters in filters are:
    • An asterisk (*) represents any number of characters, including zero. It must be the last or only character in the string. For example:

      ABC*

      Means all values beginning with the characters ABC.

      *

      Means all values.

    • A plus sign (+) represents a single character and may occupy any position. For example:

      TERM0+

      Means all six-character values beginning with TERM0

      A+BC+DE

      means all seven-character values with any character in the second and fifth positions, A in the first position, B in the third, C in the fourth, D in the sixth, and E in the seventh position.

• For non-character fields, follow the rules in Entering Data.

Note:  If the combination of relational operators and generic characters is meaningless, you will get an error. Generic characters only have meaning when used with the 'equal to' and 'not equal to' relational operators for character attributes; they cannot be used for parameters or numeric values.

To apply a filter, click on the Refresh button.

Expanding and collapsing filters

Filters on tabular views can take up large amounts of screen space restricting the data that can be displayed. You can mitigate this by collapsing the filters when you are not altering them. You can expand them again when you want to change them.

To collapse the filter, click the Collapse filter icon, , at the top left of the filter area.

To expand the filters, click the Expand filter icon, .

In order to determine whether filters should be displayed in their expanded or collapsed state by default use the optional WUI server initialization parameter:

FILTERSTYLE(EXPAND/COLLAPSE)

If you do not specify this parameter, the WUI displays filters in the expanded state by default.

When you navigate away from a view with filters in a non-default state, the filter area in the new view reverts to the default filter setting as specified in the FILTERSTYLE parameter.

If you navigate away from a view and then return in the same WUI session, the filters remain in the state you left them when the view was last displayed.

Filter confirmation screens

A filter confirmation screen allows you to specify filter criteria before the WUI retrieves the data for a view. When designing views in the view editor you have the option to specify that a filter confirmation screen should be displayed before the data retrieval is executed. There are no filter confirmation screens associated with supplied views.

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