Can a CICS Commarea be larger than 32K

Question

We have some limitations due to the size of CICS Commarea.

A google search shows questions asking how to have more than 64K. But I have not found how to get more than 32K.

Is the max CICS Commarea 32K? If not how can it be increased.

Answer 1

A CICS commarea is limited to 32K - 1, the maximum value that can be stored in a signed halfword.

There is no way to have a commarea larger than 32K - 1. One mechanism to get around this limitation is to use channels. There are also Redbooks on the subject.

Answer 2

In certain circumstances, it can be less than 32K. The theoretical upper limit can be 32763 (32K - 4).

If you're going between CICS regions, or between EXCI and CICS it is 32,500. IBM documentation states that to be safe you should limit yourself to 24K.

If you need to have more storage, Channels and Containers are the way to proceed, as they are more flexible and allow much more storage to be used if required.