Rexx format file pool - return code -4

[mstram]

The REXX/CICS on the system I'm using seems to be "almost" setup.

I.e. I can "sign on" to CICS (with "L CICS")

I can then enter the REXX transaction, and the expected "Enter a REXX command or EXIT to quit" message is posted, and interactively entered Rexx does work.

However, any attempt at using FLST or running a REXX PANEL .. program results in an error.

It seems the File pool has not been formatted yet.

Attempting to run "FILEPOOL FORMAT POOL1" results in return code -4.

According to the docs I'm using, this return code is returned when the user is not logged on to the region.

I think the problem is the "L CICS" signon, which is not requesting any user name / password. That in turn, I think is because
only the default (or none) security has been installed for CICS logons.

If that is the problem, then :

1) Is it possible to "Logon" to the CICS region (without security) so that "FILEPOOL FORMAT POOL1" will be accepted ?
else
2) Is there an alternate way to format the file pool, rather than using the Rexx/CICS interactive FILEPOOL FORMAT .. command ?

else
Does CICS/VTAM security need to be installed ?

thx

Mike

[mstram]

If it helps :

Cicstslevel(030200)

[mstram]

and it's z/OS 01.10.00

[Robert Sample]

I Googled filepool format and one of the first results returned has

Problem(Abstract)

You are in the process of setting up REXX for CICS. When you enter transaction REXX followed by 'FILEPOOL FORMAT POOL1' you receive a return code of -4 or a return code of 1836.
Cause

The return code of -4 is an authorization failure. The return code of 1836 indicates 'Could not format file pool' and is occurring because the FILEPOOL command was entered twice. The first time a record was written to the filepool but the second time it failed because it was trying to write a duplicate record.
Diagnosing the problem

CICS aux trace of the 'FILEPOOL FORMAT POOL1' that returned RC=1836 contains the following trace entry:

AP 04E1 FCFR EXIT - FUNCTION(WRITE) RESPONSE(EXCEPTION) REASON(DUPLICATE_RECORD)'

This indicates that the FILEPOOL command was entered twice.

Resolving the problem

To get around the return code -4, sign on to CICS with an authorized user id. You can define an authorized user id by adding an AUTHUSER statement with a user id to CICSTART. You should also change the SIT parameter SEC to YES. See Identifying special USER ids and their usage in the CICS Transaction Server for z/OS Installation Guide for more details.

There is no action required for the return code 1836. Although, you can do the following to verify that the record is written successfully to the filepool:

Delete and redefine your RFS files using job CICVSAM.

Enter 'FILEPOOL FORMAT POOL1' to format the RFS filepool. If successful, the FILEPOOL command does not return anything.

Enter say rc to display the return code that is the result of the FILEPOOL command. It should be 0.

Do steps 2 and 3 for each filepool replacing the 1 with the additional filepool numbers.


If you enter the same FILEPOOL command a second time, it will return 'Subcommand return code = 1836'.

[mstram]

I Googled filepool format and one of the first results returned has

Problem(Abstract)

Heh... gotta love google.

I tried "CICS filepool format" ... "filepool format" "filepool format -4" ...

I never tried "file pool" (two words), since the Rexx command is "filepool"

thanks.

Mike