FACT SHEET: ABEND-AID FOR CICS

You can’t regain the hours lost searching by hand for the underlying cause of application failure — especially when inexperienced staff members try handling complicated issues. The longer the downtime, the greater the impact on your business.

ADVANCED CCCICCS FAULT DIAGNNNNOSIS AND MMMANAGEMENT

Complex and sophisti cated applications, unfamiliar code, distributed environments and tightened time constraints for testing and problem resolution can create a hectic development atmosphere, increasing the opportunity for system failure. No matter the underlying reasons, the key to controlling the cost of downtime is immediate notifi cation and identifi cation of a problem followed by quick prioritization and resolution.

In CICS environments, where thousands of transactions are processed every day, quick fault resolution is essential. When system and region errors occur, the ability to immediately determine what happened, where and why it happened saves valuable time and resources. Compuware Abend-AID for CICS provides both system and application programmers with in-depth diagnostics to quickly pinpoint the cause of region and application errors and identify solutions. Information is presented in an easy-to-understand format, so even the novice programmer can resolve critical application failures effi ciently.

COMPREHENSIVE ONLINE SUPPORT AND NOTIFICATION

Abend-AID for CICS supports more languages, databases and operating systems than any other product, including DB2, IMS DL/I and Hogan Systems Software. Because the Compuware tool easily adapts to different versions of CICS, productivity remains unaffected by learning curves. Abend-AID for CICS provides a detailed overview of the CICS structure, identifying control blocks and relationships between components, so system programmers can determine what’s new or different between supported releases and minimize migration problems.

The Abend-AID for CICS Directory provides a complete overview of all program failures. During testing, managers and programmers can use the directory to verify and document results. In production, the directory provides a quick view of which transactions are abending, which abends are most common and which abends need to be resolved fi rst. This capability allows devel opers to triage problems and focus on the most critical fi rst.

ONLINE ABEND DIAGNOSTICS HELP RESOLVE CICS TRANSACTION ERRORS

With Abend-AID for CICS, programmers can access complete abend diagnostics online to resolve faults quickly in mission-critical applications, regardless of their expertise level. Programmers can be notifi ed automatically when problems occur. Abend-AID for CICS provides clear, concise information describing errors — detailed analysis explains why the abend occurred, and in many instances, recommends solutions.

The Abend-AID for CICS Directory provides an overview of all program failures.

DETAILED DIAGNOSTIC SUMMARY

The Diagnostic Summary is the most important part of the Abend-AID for CICS analysis and provides the logical starting point for the debugging of transaction failures. Abend-AID for CICS conducts a thorough analysis of CICS transaction abends, including DL/I, DB2 and Hogan, and creates a Diagnostic Summary for programmers to use to identify the cause of transaction failure. This information includes:

• type of abend causing the problem

• diagnosis of the abend

• statement or offset in error

• information on problem fi elds, including current values

• highlighted fi elds in error

• next sequential instruction

• last CALL or EXEC CICS command

• program linkage information

• task, terminal and program detail

• fi le statistics and record contents

• storage areas and control blocks

• trace table entries

• last 3270 screen image and datastream analysis

• specifi c database environmental data.

ACCESSIBLE SOURCE CODE

Abend-AID for CICS integrates COBOL and PL/I source code into the diagnostic report to help determine how a failure occurred. Programmers no longer have to search for a current source listing to review the logic surrounding the abending statement. Instead, they can view COBOL and PL/I source code when viewing transaction abend reports and display formatted storage and program listings. To simplify end-user management, Abend-AID for CICS’s COBOL and PL/I source code support is integrated with source code support provided by Abend-AID and Xpediter.

Resolving COBOL or PL/I application abends that occur while testing or in production is a tedious, time-consuming process. Programmers frequently rerun programs to display storage contents, write routines using various “on” conditions or try to re-create problems with debugging tools.

COBOL and PL/I support in Abend-AID for CICS provides:

• the location and text of the abending statement, along with fi eld names, defi nitions and current contents

• the location and text of the last CICS call, as well as paragraph names

• the source listing statements of the selected program, identifying the abending statement and displaying the names and contents of all individual fi elds in Working Storage and Linkage sections

• access to the program listing

• the ability to convert the current contents of each fi eld to decimal/character format.

The Abend-AID for CICS Diagnostic Summary identifi es the cause of the transaction failure. Point-and-shoot capabilities from the Diagnostic Summary allow access to detailed error report information.

LAST 3270 FACILITY

Sometimes resolving abends is as easy as seeing the last entry made by the user. The Last 3270 facility displays the last screen accessed by the user at the time of the abend, identifying the exact position of the cursor at that time. Analysis of the 3270 data stream is also provided, highlighting the order of each fi eld and its attributes, and any data stream errors.

IMPROVED DB2 APPLICATION AVAILABILITY

Problem resolution is a diffi cult task in CICS and MVS. It’s even more of a challenge when DB2 is added to the mix:

• endless tables, large volumes of data and frequent new releases to deal with

• the system may be distributed on multiple machines and DB2 environments

• the DB2 life cycle is in fl ux — applications are constantly changing, affecting the DB2 database structure.

Abend-AID for CICS provides comprehen sive, up-to-the-minute information on all DB2 fault activity. When an abend occurs, agent-based technology within DB2 is activated, permitting Abend-AID for CICS to automatically detect faults. The tool provides diagnostics for all DB2 DSNC abends and non-zero SQL codes. Information provided in addition to the standard sections of the Abend-AID for CICS output includes:

• the complete text of the SQL statement in error

• a diagnosis of the specifi c DB2 reason and SQL return code

• host variable names and contents

• columns referenced

• complete DB2 environmental data

• DB2 plan and package bind, precompile and dependency data

• Resource Control Table (RCT) details

• DB2 release information.

With Abend-AID for CICS, actual source code and storage contents can be reviewed when an error occurs, helping reduce problem resolution time.

Abend-AID for CICS provides diagnostics for all DB2 SQL return codes and DSNC abends.

ANALYSIS AND EASY NAVIGATION HELP RESOLVE CICS REGION ERRORS

Many system programmers are responsible for hundreds of CICS regions running multiple CICS releases. With the growing complexity of CICS, responding quickly to region problems is diffi cult. Abend-AID for CICS helps program mers quickly and easily resolve CICS region faults — no matter which version of CICS is used.

Abend-AID for CICS automatically manages the dump process with no required modifi cations to CICS. The tool not only provides signifi cant improvements over IPCS functionality, it allows multiple users to invoke IPCS simultaneously, whether or not they are viewing the same dump.

Abend-AID for CICS:

• automates dump management

• provides a single point of control for thorough analysis and viewing

• identifi es errors and their potential causes

• easily identifi es programs involved in storage violations

• provides a concise summary of results with supporting detail.

Abend-AID for CICS conducts a thorough analysis of a CICS region dump and then produces a Diagnostic Summary to help determine the cause of the region failure.

DIAGNOSTIC SUMMARY

The Diagnostic Summary provides the logical starting point for debugging CICS region dumps. The report highlights critical information needed to quickly determine the cause of the problem, including:

• type of failure

• diagnosis of the failure

• location of the corrupted storage

• tasks causing the error

• programs with access to a corrupted area or having data matching the corrupted data

• the number of programs changed in the last 14 days.

TASK/WAIT ANALYSIS

Task/Wait Analysis provides a consolidated view of all tasks in a CICS region, including pertinent information from kernel, dispatcher and transaction manager domains. Wait information on any listed task can be obtained by selecting the resource name or type. Similar information is provided for CICS or MVS.

Abend-AID Fault Manager provides reports on all DB2 activity, including negative SQL codes, to help pinpoint and resolve recurring problems.

DOMAIN ANALYSIS

Abend-AID for CICS provides a list of all domains, customized to the specifi c CICS release being used. When a domain is selected from this list, summary information includes the status of the domain and detailed information about the control blocks within the domain. Programmers can view any displayed control block in DSECT, hexadecimal or interpreted format, allowing them to quickly understand the differences between supported releases.

PROGRAM CHANGE SUMMARY

Frequently, the cause of region failure is due to a recently changed program or a program being accessed from an incorrect library. The Program Change Summary identifi es all recently changed programs and provides the latest link-edit and zap dates. It also indicates from which library each program was loaded and identifi es the date on which each CICS load module used in the execution was changed.

CICS ENVIRONMENT SUMMARY

The CICS Environment Summary option on the CICS Information menu provides overview information about CICS operational status at the time of a dump, including:

• job name of the CICS region

• VTAM application identifi cation (APPLID)

• CICS start time and date of the dump

• CICS release level

• extended recovery facility (XRF) on/off indicator

• maximum number of tasks that can exist or be dispatched at one time

• dynamic storage area (DSA) sizes and utilizations.

MVS INFORMATION

Abend-AID for CICS provides an MVS Environment Summary screen detailing MVS operational status at the time of a dump. Highlighted information includes:

• job step runtime

• CPU time

• CPU/runtime percentage

• paging statistics

• EXCP count

• MVS region size

• TCB summary

• JES2 system log.

MVS Storage Analysis identifi es virtual storage areas from which the address space was dumped, private areas, allocated storage by subpool in the private and extended private area for all TCBs or one TCB, and allocated subpools in LSQA and SQA queue areas.

INTELLIGENT COMMANDS

Abend-AID for CICS smart commands help programmers identify storage ownership when a region fault occurs.

• The WHO command identifi es storage ownership and fi nds tasks or programs with addressability to a specifi ed storage area.

• The MATCH command determines ownership of data, matching data with overlaid storage.

• The WHERE command lists storage areas and control blocks containing specifi ed hexadecimal address, symbol name or table entry in CICS DSA.

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PRODUCT INTEGRATION DELIVERS THE TOTAL SOLUTION

Integrate Abend-AID for CICS with other Compuware products for complete fault management and resolution.

ABEND-AID FAULT MANAGER

The advanced technology behind Abend-AID Fault Manager provides a high-level view of fault activity, allowing programmers and managers to pinpoint and resolve recurring problems. Abend-AID Fault Manager archives data created by Abend-AID for CICS to provide real-time and historical reports that help managers analyze, manage and control IT problems more effectively.

ABEND-AID

Abend-AID and Abend-AID for CICS integrate to support problem-solving in all batch and online environ ments — for program, transaction and region failures.

XPEDITER

Hot-key access from Xpediter, Compuware’s powerful tool for testing and debugging applications, to an Abend-AID or Abend-AID for CICS report provides detailed problem explanation, saving time in interactive testing sessions. Shared source listing fi les between Abend-AID, Xpediter and Abend-AID for CICS insure the proper code is used for problem resolution and prevent redundant compiles from wasting both CPU cycles and DASD space.

COMPUWARE PROGRAM ANALYZER

Abend-AID for CICS, in conjunction with Compuware Program Analyzer, provides developers with additional information on an abending program. Using the same Compuware source listing fi le, they can view a program’s structure chart and its paragraphs, as well as valuable information on the fl ow of data through the program. This enables developers to quickly understand unfamiliar programs and resolve abends sooner.

ABEND-AID FOR WEBSPHERE MQ

Abend-AID for WebSphere MQ, used with Abend-AID and Abend-AID for CICS, provides support for WebSphere MQ/MQSeries in batch, IMS and CICS environments. Abend-AID for WebSphere MQ extends Abend-AID’s traditional batch and online problem-solving support to cover WebSphere MQ/MQSeries integration and CICS Web Interface.

To learn more about Abend-AID, visitcompuware.com/abendaid

Technical Requirements

OPERATING ENVIRONMENT SUPPORT

• IBM z/OS • CICS/ESA • IBM OS/390 • CICS/MVS • CTS

DATABASE SUPPORT

• DB2 • IMS

PROGRAMMING LANGUAGE SUPPORT

• COBOL

• Language Environment

• Assembler

• PL/I

• REXX

• Hogan Systems Software

• Geac Enterprise Server (formerly Dun & Bradstreet Software) E Series applications (MSA DCI)

See FrontLine for more specifi c support information, visit frontline.compuware.com