This section describes the Abend-AID Viewer products architecture. Additionally, it lists the functions and features available for dump analysis, and it details how to access online help for the product’s screens, fields, messages, and commands.
Product Components
The Abend-AID Viewer architecture consists of two major components: the viewing server component and an optional component, the MVS Post-Dump exit. Installation of the Abend-AID Viewer is required for Abend-AID for CICS report/dump viewing. The Abend-AID Viewer is an optional viewing method for batch Abend-AID, but is required if your site wants to use the new Abend-AID Web Browser Interface for batch reports and dump analysis.
The Abend-AID Viewer also requires BMC AMI Enterprise Common Components, Release 17.02 or more current, which is comprised of the following single-image, SMP/E-installed components:
- BMC AMI Common Shared Services
- License Management System (LMS)
- BMC AMI Common Mainframe Services Controller
- Host Communications Interface (HCI)
- BMC AMI Base Services.
Important
New with Release 17.02, Embedded Source Support (ESS) requires ECC Release 17.02. Abend-AID 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 Enterprise Common Components (ECC) documentation set for a description of these ECC facilities. The ECC documentation set is available on the BMC Support site .
Viewing Server Component
The viewing server is an MVS address space that allows users to view captured dump information. It also performs import and analysis of region dumps for use by the product. The viewing server must be active for the Abend-AID Viewer to display batch/transaction abend information or to import or display SVC dumps. The viewing server does not have to be active for Abend-AID to capture batch, transaction, or SVC dumps.
The following figure illustrates the Abend-AID 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. See Advanced configuration guide for examples of situations requiring one versus multiple Abend-AID viewing servers.
Viewing Server Component
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’re 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 Viewer dump information from four interfaces: TSO/ISPF, a VTAM application, CICS, or the Abend-AID Web Browser Interface.
Distributed Viewing Support
Distributed Viewing Support (DVS) enables users to access Abend-AID Viewer source listing files that are on different MVS systems that don’t share DASD. Users can view dumps captured at remote sites using source information maintained at a central site. This support eliminates the need to distribute the source listing information to remote sites in order to view diagnostics for batch abends in source format. Users access the files through the Abend-AID Viewer online displays as they normally would.
MVS Post-Dump Exit
This optional exit performs the following tasks:
- Determine if your site wants to copy a SYS1.DUMPxx data set to another data set after an SVC dump is initially taken to the SYS1.DUMPxx data set.
- Schedule automatic import of SVC dumps copied from SYS1.DUMPxx data sets by the Abend-AID Viewer or for SVC dumps taken to automatically allocated dump data sets.
Remember, if your site does not configure the Abend-AID Viewer installation to import SVC dumps automatically, you can still import them manually via the dump data set import facility. See Manually importing dumps.
Product Functions
The Abend-AID Viewer provides dump navigation and diagnostic functions to help identify the problems that produce batch abends and SVC dumps. Some of these functions are always available, regardless of whether you have selected a dump to analyze. Collectively, they are referred to as dump-independent functions. The remaining functions are available only after you have selected a dump to analyze, and they are specific to either batch abend or SVC dump analysis.
Once you select a dump, the Abend-AID Viewer displays one of two Report menus. The version for batch abends is shown in Report Menu for Batch Abend Analysis, and the version for SVC dumps is shown in Report Menu for SVC Dump Analysis.
Report Menu for Batch Abend Analysis
Abend-AID -------------------- Report Menu ---------------------------------
OPTION ===>
1 DIAG Diagnostic Summary 5 *DB2 DB2 Information
2 PROG Program Information 6 *IDMS IDMS Information
3 FILE File Summary 7 *MQINFO WebSphere MQ Information
4 *IMS IMS Information 8 LEINFO LE Information
D DIRECTRY Abend-AID Directory R SRCDIR Source Directory
S SUMMARY Fault Summary U USER User Control Facility
I IMPORT SVC Dump Import C *CSSUTIL CSS Utilities
N NEWS Product News X EXIT Exit
Report Menu for SVC Dump Analysis
Abend-AID -------------------- Report Menu ---------------------------------
OPTION ===>
1 DIAG Diagnostic Summary 4 CB Control Blocks/Storage
2 ZOSSDMP z/OS SVC Dump Analysis 5 IPCS IPCS Command Facility
3 MVSINFO MVS Information
D DIRECTRY Abend-AID Directory I IMPORT SVC Dump Import
S SUMMARY Fault Summary U USER User Control Facility
N NEWS Product News X EXIT Exit
