It is a long time ago I wrote a tip about MQ, so it is about time. This tip originates from Websphere MQ version 6.0 while the newest version is 7.5 which I do not have access to. So maybe the search capabilities have improved further. That would be very nice.

As a user of the MQM administration interface you probably have discoved that the search capabilities are quite limited. It is something like specifying an object type and a name which may be followed by a *. And that is it. I have managed with this for many years. Recently I discovered that F4 is available on almost all lists although it is only displayed on some lists.

Pressing F4 gives you access to search for values for almost all fields on the type of object you have listed. Try for instance to list a lot of queue definitions and then press F4 on the list. Specify a N in the field for persistent queues and press Enter. Another popup is displayed where you must specify whether you want to search equal to or not equal to the value. Choose one of the options and press Enter. The list is now updated and it will contain only persistent or non-persistens queues. All extended searches works like this no matter what list you are pressing F4 on.

As usual you will soon be disappointed after the first euphouria. If you want to make a search involving specifications for two or more fields you will discover that MQM does not support this. Please only one limitation at a time. But apart from this limitation the F4 search capability increases the user friendliness of TSO MQM dramatically. More and more often I start with a * as object name and then I press F4 in order to filter the list on something much more interesting.