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Product components

The Abend-AID for CICS architecture consists of three major components:

  • Transaction dump capture component
  • Region dump capture component
  • Viewing server component.

Abend-AID for CICS also requires BMC AMI Enterprise Common Components (ECC), Release 17.02 or more current with all current maintenance applied. ECC is comprised of the following single-image, SMP/E-installed components:

  • BMC AMI Common Shared Services (CSS)
  • BMC AMI License Management System (LMS) 
  • BMC Common Mainframe Services Controller (CMSC) 
  • BMC AMI Host Communications Interface (HCI)
  • BMC AMI Base Services 
Warning

Note

New with Release 17.02, Embedded Source Support (ESS) requires ECC Release 17.02. Abend-AID for CICS  automatically uses ESS records at view time to provide source support for COBOL 5.1 and more current programs preprocessed or postprocessed with the Language Processor.

Refer to the BMC AMI Enterprise Common Components (ECC) documentation set for a description of these ECC facilities. The ECC documentation set is available on BMC Support.

Transaction dump capture component

The following figure illustrates the transaction dump capture component. For transaction dumps, the dump capture component consists of the transaction dump interface and the transaction dump capture address space (TDCAS).

image2021-1-19_15-30-36.png

Transaction dump interface

The transaction dump interface is the portion of the transaction dump capture component that runs in the CICS address space. It is started and stopped using the AAON transaction, or with entries in the CICS PLT. Very little Abend-AID for CICS code actually runs in the CICS address space. Most of the dump capture and processing is done in the transaction dump capture address space (TDCAS).

The transaction dump interface is a CICS dump domain exit. The transaction dump interface determines whether Abend-AID for CICS is to process a transaction abend. If the interface determines that the abend requires processing, it passes control to the TDCAS using the transaction dump capture subsystem to facilitate communication.

Abend-AID for CICS  will not process a transaction abend if any  of the following situations exist:

  • Abend-AID for CICS is currently processing an abend for the same task.
  • The site has suppressed duplicate dumps, the abend is a duplicate of a previous abend, and the duplicate dump expiration interval has not expired.
  • The abend matches an exception condition for which the site has specified dumps are not taken.
  • The CICS region is currently at a short-on-storage condition.
  • The CICS region does not currently have enough storage for Abend-AID for CICS to process the abend.
  • CICS is in the process of shutting down.
  • The transaction dump capture address space is not active.

Transaction dump capture address space (TDCAS)

The transaction dump capture address space (TDCAS) is responsible for transaction dump capture and processing. One TDCAS is required on every MVS image where you use Abend-AID for CICS. You can have more than one TDCAS per image, but this is normally not necessary. The TDCAS must be active to capture Abend-AID for CICS transaction dumps, so we recommend that you start it as an automatically started task after each IPL. If the TDCAS is not available, Abend-AID for CICS invokes an IBM transaction dump instead of an Abend-AID for CICS transaction dump.

The first TDCAS started on an MVS image starts a subsystem that is used for communication between the CICS region and the TDCAS. All TDCASs on the image use this single subsystem for communication. This subsystem must be unique; it cannot be the same subsystem you use for Abend-AID for CICS TSO/ISPF and/or CICS viewing access.

When a dump occurs, the TDCAS allocates a data space into which it writes dump data. You control how much of the captured data is written to the data space, using the DATASPACE TDCAS configuration parameter. We recommend that you write only part of the data — the volatile storage areas — to the data space. The remainder of the captured storage is written directly to the transaction database. This option offers excellent performance while minimizing the amount of auxiliary storage used by the transaction dump capture process.

You can also choose to write all of the dump data to a data space. While this approach has significant performance benefits, it could possibly cause an MVS system problem, such as an auxiliary storage shortage, if multiple transaction dumps are being taken in rapid succession. For this reason, ensure that you have sufficient auxiliary storage available before selecting this option.

Finally, you can choose to bypass the data space creation, and write transaction dump data directly to a transaction database. This method is significantly slower than using a data space, and may impact your CICS region if multiple transaction dumps are being taken in rapid succession. BMC does not recommend that you write dumps directly to transaction databases.

The CICS region references information from the Abend-AID for CICS customization file to determine which shared directory is associated with the CICS region. Customization information also indicates what transaction databases are candidates to contain dumps for this CICS region. Using this information, the TDCAS determines to which transaction database it should write dump information.

Warning

Note

The TDCAS also writes some parameter information to the customization file directly, but it does not reference this file during normal processing.

After the data is written to the data space, TDCAS routines analyze the data. Analysis information and dump storage are written to the appropriate transaction database, and the data space is deleted.

Region dump capture component

Warning

Note

Abend-AID for CICS does not require any modifications to CICS to capture region dumps. The information in this section describes optional facilities that you can install to capture additional region information or to automatically import region dumps into Abend-AID for CICS.

The optional dump capture component for region dumps consists of a region dump interface, and an MVS post-dump exit. Abend-AID for CICS uses these facilities to import dumps automatically, to copy dumps, to gather program change summary information, and to notify users when CICS region dumps occur.

The following figure illustrates the region dump capture component, which is an optional part of the Abend-AID for CICS architecture. Further, the region dump interface, and MVS post-dump exit are independent of one another, so you only have to install the ones you want.

Warning

Note

If you do not install the MVS post-dump exit, you can still manually import SDUMPs into Abend-AID for CICS  via the product’s online dump data set import facility. See Importing Region Dumps for more information.

image2021-1-19_15-38-37.png

This figure illustrates the region dump capture flow. The numbers in this figure have the following explanations:

  1. SYS1.DUMPxx or SDUMP to an MVS automatically allocated data set, without auto import. This method is normal dump capture, without the MVS post-dump exit.
  2. SYS1.DUMPxx or SDUMP to an MVS automatically allocated data set, with auto copy/auto import. This method uses the MVS post-dump exit.
  3. Dump information file updated by the viewing server whenever a region dump is imported, regardless of how it is being imported, and occurs for all methods, including manual dump import.

Region dump interface

The Abend-AID for CICS region dump interface does not participate in dump capture. Its purpose is to capture the data necessary to build the Program Change Summary display. If the region dump interface is not active, this data is not captured, but dump capture and processing continues.

The region dump interface is a CICS dump domain exit. This optional interface allows Abend-AID for CICS to gather the information necessary to produce a Program Change Summary, which highlights programs that have been recently linked or zapped.

Warning

Note

The region dump interface is not required to capture region dumps. It is required only to capture information about recently changed programs in the DFHRPL concatenation. If this list is captured, you can view it through the Abend-AID for CICS region dump display screens. Entering the CHANGES fast-path command displays the Program Change Summary screen.

Capturing the program change summary information adds a small amount of overhead to the dump capture process. Usually this amount is insignificant, but if you see any performance degradation at dump capture time, you can turn off the region dump interface while still leaving the transaction dump interface active.

MVS post-dump exit

This optional exit performs the following tasks:

  • Determines if your site wants to copy a SYS1.DUMPxx data set to another data set after a CICS region dump is initially taken to the SYS1.DUMPxx data set.
  • Schedules automatic import of region dumps copied from SYS1.DUMPxx data sets by Abend-AID for CICS or for region dumps taken to automatically allocated dump data sets.
  • Notify a user when a region dump is taken. 

Remember, if your site does not configure the Abend-AID for CICS installation to import region dumps automatically, you can still import them manually via the dump data set import facility.

Viewing server component

The viewing server is an MVS address space that allows you to view captured dump information. It also performs import and analysis of CICS region dumps for use by Abend-AID for CICS. The viewing server must be active for Abend-AID for CICS to display transaction abend information or to import or display region dumps. The viewing server does not have to be active for Abend-AID for CICS to capture transaction or region dumps.

The following figure illustrates the Abend-AID for CICS viewing server component. You must have at least one viewing server, but you can configure more than one. The number of viewing servers you have depends on your site’s configuration requirements. 

image2021-1-19_15-43-23.png

A Scratchpad listing file (CWPDDIO) is included in the viewing server startup JCL. This file is required — without it the viewing server will not start. The Scratchpad listing file is a single DDIO source file. It will be allocated and formatted during the creation of the other viewing server data sets. It will hold the listings that are created from compiler listings. As new listings are added to the file, older listings are removed.

The viewing server handles automatic and manual import of region dumps. If you are using automatic region dump import, the viewing server periodically scans for the presence of new dumps to import. This scan results in minimal CPU overhead, and you can tune the scan interval using the IMPORT_SAMPLE_RATE viewing server configuration parameter.

You can view Abend-AID for CICS dump information from three interfaces: TSO/ISPF, a VTAM application, or CICS. Refer to the Advanced configuration guide for more information about configuring the viewing access methods.


 

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BMC AMI DevX Abend-AID for CICS 17.02