Setting the CICS Terminal to Mixed Case

Walker transaction developers sometimes need to turn off CICS's
"upper case" feature. This page tells you how.

What "Upper Case" Feature?

There are two reasons why most data entry into Walker occurs only in upper case:

	First, by default, CICS converts all input characters to upper case. (The input echoes as mixed case, but when ENTER or a function key is pressed, the characters are passed to the program in upper case.) Most shops leave this default behavior in place.
	Second, the terminal input portion of the Walker bridge also automatically converts most input fields to upper case. (This is controlled by the "Low case" attribute of the screen field. The default for this attribute is to force input to upper case.)

However, there are some fields, mostly used for transaction-building activities, that should allow mixed case characters to be input. (Examples include the Screenbuilder screen-painting fields, transaction titles, and various DOP description fields.)

Fortunately, if you are allowed access to the appropriate CICS commands, you can turn off the CICS upper case feature and switch your CICS terminal to allow mixed case input.

How do you do it?

	First, you must determine your terminal ID. One way to accomplish this is with the command: CEMT I TASK Find your own task in the list. (You will be the one executing the 'CEMT' program under your own signon ID.) Your terminal ID will be reported inside the 'FAC(xxxx)' block. (Note: On many systems, your terminal ID will be different each time you sign on.)
	Next, issue the command to turn off uppercasing. (Substitute your terminal ID for the 'xxxx'.): CECI SET TERM(xxxx) NOUCTRAN
	I usually test to make sure I did it right by entering (in lower case): wlkr If the system complains that 'wlkr' (in lower case) is not a valid transaction, then you were successful. (By the way, you can now invoke Walker by entering 'WLKR' in upper case.) Note: A few clients define both upper and lower case 'wlkr' as a CICS transaction, which means you will have to find a different test. You will now find that your Walker session now only converts those fields to upper case that it's supposed to!

Contributed by JC Cunningham