An IBMer from VTAM Level 2 in Raleigh talked about VTAM internals, as they apply to hung terminals. This was great stuff, with great handouts, and I only understood about every third word.

He confirmed my fears about VARY INACT FORCE (i.e. it can screw some things up), but recent maintenance supposedly helps. He described cases where you have to take down entire major nodes in order to release some resources. The moral is that you should probably have a major node for EACH of your major applications. He also described instances where VARY INACT FORCE has no effect, i.e. your only recourse is to restart VTAM.

He discussed some things to look for in dumps, should you find yourself in the position of collecting one.

The next time VTAM eats IDMS/DC's lunch, I oughta get some use out of this information.