Dumps

Types produced

The types of dumps that can be produced are as follows:

• SNAP dump

  This dump is usually produced as the first part of a BBI-formatted dump. The SNAP is issued only in the BBI address spaces (BBI-SS PAS and UAS), not in the target system.

  It is in the standard OS dump format, showing the PSW at abend, ASCB, TCB, CDEs, registers, RTM2WA, system trace table, and so forth. The most useful information is in the RTM2 Work Area (completion code, abending program name, PSW, registers at abend). It does not include any private storage.

  Refer to the following section on the BBI-formatted dump for a description of where this dump is written.
  
  

• BBI-formatted dump

  This dump is a short-form dump formatted to make the most important information easy to find and read. It is produced in BBI address spaces (BBI-SS PAS and UAS) as well as under the subtasks in the target regions.

  The formatted dump displays the System Diagnostic Work Area (SDWA), failing program information (PSW, ILC, INTC, TEA, name of program), registers at abend (and at the next RB level if different), the storage around the PSW and register locations, and selected BBI control blocks.

  This type of dump is written to a special DDNAME BBIDUMP rather than to the standard SYSUDUMP. The BBI dump data set is not defined in the JCL, but is allocated dynamically at startup with the SYSOUT class specified in BBISSP00 with the parameter DUMPCLAS. The default value is W.

  When the data set is allocated, the BBI banner page identifying the dump is written to it, ready for the first dump. (This process avoids the loss of current data at abend while doing dump formatting.)

  Once completed, the dump is spun off for immediate access and the dump data set is reallocated and primed.
  
  

• SVC dump

  An SVC dump is taken when the DUMPS option specifies SDUMP or ALL. DUMPS=SDUMP is the recommended setting to obtain all diagnostic information at the time of the first occurrence of a problem. A LOGREC record is always written and it is usually sufficient to identify the problem and sometimes resolve it.

  The SVC dump request will dump all of CSA, private storage for the BBI-SS PAS, and any secondary address spaces if the abend occurred in cross-memory mode.

  An SVC dump is written to a SYS1.DUMP xx data set, and a message is sent to the console operator. Copy the dump data set to another data set and clear the original SYS1.DUMP xx data set. Dump symptoms are set to prevent multiple dumps of the same problem being taken.

  Contact BMC Support for help in further analyzing the problem. They will request the dump, if required, or the LOGREC if it is sufficient to resolve the problem.
  
  

• SYSUDUMP / SYSABEND

  Standard dumps to the regular SYSUDUMP or SYSABEND DDs are written only if BBI recovery fails (or the specified recovery limit count was reached with BACKOUT=NO), which causes the affected address space to be terminated.

BBI dump parameters

BBI dumping procedures are controlled by various parameters specified in BBPARM for the different running environments.

Refer to these members for additional information about the DUMPS parameter.

• BBISSP00

  This member has a DUMPS parameter, with the default setting of SDUMP. This controls specific BBI routines in the BBI-SS PAS and in the product subtasks. DUMPS=YES specifies that a BBI-formatted dump should be taken. In the BBI-SS PAS, the formatted dump is preceded by a SNAP dump.

  BBISSP00 has parameters to specify the SYSOUT class for the BBI dumps (DUMPCLAS).
  
  

• BBITSP00 in BBPROF

  The DUMPS parameter controls BBI-formatted dumping in that user address space. The default is YES. The formatted dump is preceded by a SNAP dump.
  
  

• BBIXSP00

  The DUMPS parameter in this BBPARM member controls SVC dumps under BBI SRB routines. The default is NO to avoid unnecessary overhead.