Testing the application program with AR/CTL

Whether you implement AR/CTL in an existing application program or include AR/CTL in the development of a new program, you should test the program as thoroughly as possible before using it for production work. The following items highlight some important areas to test; however, the list is not necessarily complete:

  • Ensure correct repositioning on the databases and data sets after a checkpoint and after restart.
  • Ensure that the user areas are saved in the checkpoint record with valid addresses, that all expected saved data areas within working storage are restored at restart, and that the restored data areas are complete.
  • Ensure that all of the calls are issued in the expected order, according to application program design.
  • BMC Software recommends that the application program issue a checkpoint at every logical unit of work boundary and that you use checkpoint pacing to control the frequency of checkpoints allowed to complete. If you do not use checkpoint pacing, you should check and adjust the frequency of checkpoints.
  • Test a variety of abend conditions, such as abends before the first checkpoint call, after the first checkpoint call, and after the second checkpoint call. AR/CTL provides early termination options you can use during testing without changing the program logic.

After your testing is complete, the REGISET Record Copy utility, available through the ISPF interface, can help you transfer records quickly from a test environment to a production environment. The utility can copy a record from a REGISET to the same REGISET with a change to the record ID. It can copy a record to different REGISET with or without a change to the record ID.

For more information, see Administering.

 

Tip: For faster searching, add an asterisk to the end of your partial query. Example: cert*