CICS 3.1 Structure and Debug

Course Overview

Suitable for the BCS Mainframe Technology professional Exams for level 3 Consultant (CICS)

Audience

This course is for system programmers and technical support staff responsible for supporting a CICS system. CICS application programmers who are responsible for reading their own CICS dumps would also benefit.

Skills Gained

Delegates will learn to:

• Describe the internal structure of CICS/TS, including the domain structure.
• Explain how failures are internally handled and how the user can participate in ABEND processing.
• Present the control blocks and internal logic.
• Transaction dumps and system dumps are used as examples.
• IPCS is also reviewed so that students become familiar with this product.

Prerequisites

Systems programmers should have at least six months CICS experience and a basic knowledge of CICS Internals. Application programmers should have a minimum of nine months CICS programming experience.

Course Outline

Architecture

• Domain
• Kernel Linkage
• Common Format
  • Parameter List
  • Module

• Kernel Repository
• Kernel Functions
• Important Kernel Structures

Messages

• Introduction
• Relation to Dumps
• Identifiers
  • DFHnnnn
  • DFHccnnnn

• Format

Dumps

• Identifiers
• Tables
• Transaction
  • Processing
  • Output Format
  • Determining Category

• System
  • Processing
  • Desirable Parameters

Tracing

• Where
• What
• CETR
  • Main Panel
  • Component Panels
  • Terminal/Transaction Panel
  • JVM Panels

• Formats
  • Abbreviated
  • Extended or Full

• Recommendations

Significant Application Domain Control Blocks

• Task Control Area (TCA)
• EXEC Interface Block (EIB)
• Task Abnormal Condition Block (TACB)
• Storage Check Zone (SCZ)
• Terminal Storage
  • Terminal Control Table Terminal Entry (TCTTE)
  • Terminal Input-Output Area (TIOA)
  • Storage Accounting Area (SAA)

Relating to Source

• Finding COBOL statements
• Examples
• Finding Variables
  • Common
  • Working-Storage
  • Linkage

• Examples
  • Common
  • WORKING-STORAGE
  • LINKAGE

Key Domain Structures

• Kernel (KE)
• Dispatcher (DS)
• Transaction Manager (XM)
• Application (AP)
• Program Manager (PG)
• Loader (LD)
• Enqueue Domain (NQ)

System Dump Solving

• General
• Waits
• Storage Violations
  • Structure of Storage Manager (SM)
  • Using the Dump