Product Overview (Code Debug CICS PL/I)

Code Debug CICS gives the CICS programmer complete control over the execution of application code, trapping of abends, and access to data files and CICS storage, including tables and control blocks in DSECT format. An easy-to-use architecture allows you to interactively debug application programs quickly and accurately.

Code Debug CICS lets you control the execution of your program and monitor its status at any time. You can set breakpoints to suspend execution (with or without conditions), change the program logic flow, intercept abends or storage violations, and many other functions, all without leaving the test session or recompiling.

Code Debug CICS allows you to interact directly with the program as it executes, allowing you to perform the following functions:

• View and interact with program source code, online.
• Display and update records in files, transient data, temporary storage, Db2 tables, and DL/1 databases. Code Debug also gives you the option of logging any changes.
• List, browse, and update MQ message queues.
• List a task’s active channels and containers and browse container data.
• Stop execution of a program at any point and examine working storage.
• Resume execution at any point in the program.
• Execute statements one at a time while examining program logic.
• Modify any unprotected program data, CICS table, or CICS area.
• Monitor remote transactions.
• Ensure region integrity through storage protection.

Using Code Debug CICS, you can observe a program as it executes, stop execution, look at intermediate results, correct problems as they arise, and proceed with the test. When Code Debug CICS traps an abend, it displays a wealth of information that aids in understanding and correcting that abend. You can even resolve multiple problems during a single test session. Code Debug’s Script Facility allows you to record selected primary and line commands entered during a debugging session, save them in a data set, and then replay them later.

Code Debug CICS provides alternatives for problem resolution. When the product identifies a problem, you can select particular statements at which to suspend execution, then analyze both working storage and a program trace. If a program stops at an abend, you can correct the problem or bypass the abend. To bypass an abend, just instruct Code Debug to resume execution at a statement number or offset past the point of the abend.

Three restricted modes of operation — Diagnosis Mode, Utilities Mode, and Diagnosis/Utilities Mode — allow a site to tailor its Code Debug implementation to suit the processing integrity and throughput requirements of its various CICS regions. This means you can deploy Code Debug CICS as a crucial, safe, and effective tool in your production CICS regions. Utilizing Code Debug in a restricted operating mode, especially along with Abend-AID for CICS, lets you quickly diagnose and resolve critical production failures without wasting time and effort recreating the problem in a test region.