MBC/FA Add-on feature

MBC/FA, an optional licensed feature for the MacKinney Batch to CICS (MBC) product, uses CICS File Availability (CFA) components to help narrow CICS files' 24/7 availability. MBC/FA suspend and release MBC/FA also provides multi-threading to reduce the time to send the suspend and release commands to multiple CICS regions in a single step.

The problem: Closing file results in users seeing ABENDS or errors

After a file is closed and disabled for batch updates, users attempting to access the file receive "file closed" or "file unavailable" messages or, worse, ABENDS if not handled. 

How MBC/FA solves the problem:

MBC/FA commands suspend I/O to a file before closing and disabling the file. As a result, users see a temporary clock until the process completes instead of a message or ABEND. When the process finishes, a resume releases I/O to the file, and the user continues where they were before the suspension with no messages or ABENDS.

Does MBC/FA support RLS VSAM files?

MBC/FA supports both VSAM and RLS VSAM files. Except during the suspension process, RLS VSAM files are QUIESCED before being closed and disabled. After the batch process is complete, RLS VSAM files are UNQUIESCED and opened.