Debugging with EDF

Robert.Barnes · Posted: Wed Jan 13, 2016 5:16 am

Is there an EXEC CICS command that I can put into a COBOL program that I can use with EDF like "Display"? Imagine
EXEC CICS DISPLAY Something END-EXEC
that causes EDF to show the same kind of displays as you would for any other EXEC CICS command. ("Something" = a COBOL field or constant). I wondered about INQUIRE but this seems oriented to various system control blocks, and doesn't seem to have an option that can be used as INQUIRE UserData(Something)

Robert Sample · Posted: Wed Jan 13, 2016 5:35 am

Depending on how your site is set up, you might be able to use the COBOL DISPLAY statement. Check with your site support group.

Bill O'Boyle · Posted: Wed Jan 13, 2016 8:08 pm

Adding to Robert's post, check with your System folks to see if you can write to external TDQ's "CSMT", "CSSL", etc. In many shops, "CSMT" writes are routed to DD "MSGUSR".

Under the covers, when using the COBOL "DISPLAY" Verb, messages are routed to external TDQ "CESE".

Note that since the introduction of LE as an integral part of the COBOL Compiler (COBOL/370 - Circa 1992), the DISPLAY Verb is managed by LE.

Whereas, in earlier COBOL compilers. it wasn't and generated an SVC, which should never be used in CICS.

HTH....

Robert.Barnes · Posted: Fri Jan 15, 2016 3:21 am

Thank you Robert and Bill. I had believed that DISPLAY was invalid, but I find that I CAN write a DISPLAY statement and the COBOL compiles without complaint. (I'm using IBM Enterprise COBOL for z/OS 5.1.1 with CICS 5.1).

I am testing a web service provider, so I start testing with "CEDX CPIH,ON", so next I need to figure out how to access the TDQ "CESE" as I step through a CEDX session. Getting systems assistance is a bit fraught: they're in Dallas TX, and I'm in Auckland New Zealand, so we communicate via email and time zone issues mean that 24hr response to an email is the best I can do.

Thinking aloud: I need to coordinate the CEDX display with the display from COBOL DISPLAY statement. It occurs to me that I could probably achieve this by inserting EXEC CICS LINK PROGRAM('IEFBR14'). In fact if I use
EXEC CICS LINK PROGRAM('IEFBR14') COMMAREA(MyData) LENGTH(length of MyData)
I may have achieved what I want without the COBOL DISPLAY statement. I'll experiment and find out.

BTW: if anybody is interested in what I'm up to, have a look at my web site www.jazzsoftware.co.nz

Thanks for your help.
Regards, Robert Barnes.

boyti ko · New User Joined: 03 Nov 2014 Posts: 78 Location: Malaysia

In my shop, I can see my DISPLAY statements in CICS > CEEMSG. But as Robert told, depends on site set-up.

Robert.Barnes · Posted: Tue Jan 19, 2016 2:22 am

I wrote my own COBOL subprogram BR14 that does nothing, compiled this into my CICS load library, and then defined and installed it in my CICS group with CEDA. Now statements like: -
EXEC CICS LINK("BR14") COMMAREA(My-Variable)
are visible with CEDX. Exactly what I wanted.