Routing the Message

You can route a WTO or WTOR message to a console by specifying one or more of the following parameters:

ROUTCDE to route messages by routing code
CONSID to route messages by console ID
CONSNAME to route messages by console name
MSGTYP and MCSFLAG to route messages by message type.

The ROUTCDE parameter allows you to specify the routing code or codes for a WTO and WTOR message. The routing codes determine which console or consoles receive the message. Each code represents a predetermined subset of the consoles that are attached to the system, and that are capable of displaying the message. The installation defines the consoles that belong to each routing code. WTO and WTOR allow routing codes from 1 to 128. Routing codes 30 through 41 are reserved, and are ignored if specified. Routing codes 42 through 128 are available to authorized programs only, although the ROUTCDE parameter itself is available to non-authorized as well as authorized users. See any volume of MVS System Messages for more information on routing codes.

You can also use either the CONSID or CONSNAME parameter to route messages. These mutually exclusive parameters let you specify the ID or the name of the console that is to receive the message. When you issue a WTO or WTOR macro that uses either the CONSID or CONSNAME parameter with the ROUTCDE parameter, the message or messages will go to all of the consoles specified by both parameters.

You can use the SYSNAME, JOBID, or JOBNAME parameter to specify the system or job from which a WTO or WTOR message is issued. SYSNAME is mutually exclusive with the CONNECT parameter.

Only programmers familiar with multiple console support (MCS) should use the MSGTYP parameter, which is associated with message routing. The MSGTYP parameter is typically used for messages related to the MONITOR command. Specifically, MSGTYP (JOBNAMES) will queue message to consoles that have activated MONITOR JOBNAMES; MSGTYP (SESS) will queue messages to consoles that have activated MONITOR SESS; and MSGTYP (STATUS) will queue messages to consoles that have activated MONITOR STATUS.

The MCSFLAG parameter is used to specify various attributes of the message, such as whether the message is:

For a particular console
For all active consoles
For the hardcopy log
A command response
Note: IBM® recommends using desciptor code 5, rather than MCSFLAG, to indicate a command response. This is because MPF exits can change the descriptor code, but can not change the MCSFLAG.

For the convenience of the operator, messages can be associated with individual keynames. A keyname consists of 1 to 8 alphanumeric characters, and it appears with the message on the console. The keyname can be used as an operand in the MVS™ DISPLAY R console command, which operators can issue at the console. Use the KEY parameter on the WTO or WTOR macro for this purpose.