Using XML services in ChangeMan ZMF (CMN/ZMF) is great. It has allowed many CMN/ZMF users to create all sorts of customizations and applications that interface with CMN/ZMF, all based on the XML services that are delivered with CMN/ZMF.However, many of these CMN/ZMF users also want to automate various tasks that are typically repeated for a “list” of:
- CMN/ZMF application Ids (e.g. update the audit rule for hundreds of application Ids).
- Change packages (e.g. recreate the X-node data set (F5) for hundreds of FRZ packages).
- Components (e.g. restage thousands of components of library type ABC).
- Data sets (e.g. allocate a new set of CMN/ZMF managed DSNs, related to a new application).
- Etc.
Clearly, for each of these individual entries in such list of applications, packages, etc there is an XML service available to apply to each of them. But what is really needed is some type of recursive processing, whereas the result (output) from an XML service (like PACKAGE/GENERAL/SEARCH to build a list of FRZ package) can be used as input for a subsequent service (like PACKAGE/SERVICE/SUBMIT to recreate the X-node data set).
That’s exactly what can be done with what in ASC is called basket processing, which is the process which applies a selected XML service to each input record contained in the basket data set. What makes basket processing so powerful is that as part of the basket processing can you save the result (output) as a new basket, which you can then use as input for a subsequent basket processing step. Using this iterative basket processing approach, you can create dozens of combinations of XML filters. Whereas otherwise XML filtering is limited to the searchFor inputtags that come with a specific XML service.
Here are some sample usages of basket processing:
- Apply mass-updates to the CMN/ZMF control files like CMNPMAST, CMNCMPNT, etc (using XML services with message CREATE, UPDATE or DELETE).
- Perform mass-CHECKOUTs, mass-CHECKINs or mass-reSTAGEs for a list of components in 1 or more packages.
- Launch promote requests for a list of packages and components.
- Perform component history CREATEs, UPDATEs or DELETEs for a list of existing components or components newly added to CMN/ZMF.
- Perform mass application administration updates (for hundreds of application IDs in 1 shot), such as:
- Clone the existing A.A.P definitions of a defined production site into 1 or more additional sites (including renames of some library types).
- Rename a promotion nickname or promotion level (not supported via CMN/ZMF's admin panels ...).
- Change part of all DSNs (e.g. some DSN qualifier) for all DSNs defined as baseline, promotion library, production library, etc.
- Export a set of application admin definitions from one CMN/ZMF subsystem, and then import them in another one (to facilitate managing ChangeMan ZMF by ChangeMan ZMF, now applied to application definitions also ...)
- Create some ChangeMan ZMF report with AbitMORE SCM Reporting (e.g.: some report that cannot be created with existing XML services, such as a list of all empty packages) and store it as a basket. Then use ASC to process this basket.
- ...
To get more details (and previews) about these basket processing features, checkout some of the use cases pages related to basket processing.