CICS Log

karthi_ind · Posted: Thu Jul 03, 2014 11:51 am

Hi,

I would like to know about how to read CICS log. generally we go and read the MSG LOG to find out if any error is written there.

But in general, how to read the log and pinpoint the exact errors. there may be storage violations, Asra, AICA and many other abends with tranid.
but if something is not working in online regions then how can we relate and pinpoint the errors from the CICS Log.

Is it always we need to refer MSGLOG alone ? Please let me know.

Regards
KK

Robert Sample · Posted: Thu Jul 03, 2014 7:42 pm

Your question is so broad it is meaningless. The easiest, and most common, way to read the log is WITH YOUR EYES! Look at the log, find error messages, interpret them, and proceed.

If you want to read the log with a program, the first question becomes ... WHY? The log is open by CICS until the CICS region goes down, so using it for post-processing is possible as long as it is copied to a data set. But since the region is not active by this time, any errors uncovered by the log are not going to be helpful for that CICS execution.

And you do NOT want to attempt to read the log while CICS is running. First, the log records may -- or may not -- be written by CICS in a timely manner, and second, you have to be able to access the data across address spaces (unless you want to read the log from a program running in the CICS region). This is not a simple matter, even though it is technically possible.

Furthermore, if your site has one of the CICS monitoring tools such as Omegamon or Mainview, your site already can monitor the logs.

karthi_ind · Posted: Fri Jul 04, 2014 9:39 am

Robert,

I am talking about the errors during the business time, so the region will be active. Also we can refer the log in the previous day region Job in SAR , right ?

I asked about identifying the exact problems with respect to online tran id's and other CICS abends. I never used omegamon or mainview.
will it be helpful for our analysis.

what about abend-id, also we have different regions like test, sit, uat and prod. based on the request, we may need to analyse and find out the error in the respective regions.

PeterHolland · Posted: Fri Jul 04, 2014 1:17 pm

karthi_ind · Posted: Fri Jul 04, 2014 2:04 pm

Thanks Peter.

Can't we use those tools for our internal analysis.
I know we can see different region abends thru abend-aid. but
the problem at my shop is the access. I dont have access to DDIO file to view the details.

yes, we receive the mails from CICS admin with SVC Dump to anlyse for few abends. But in general, if we do unit testing of our modules, how can we identify and spot the errors. I know with our tranid, the message will be displayed.

Is there anything else or more info can be retrieved from Log. generally how peopl will do analysis for CICS abends/errors.

Regards
KK

Rohit Umarjikar · Posted: Sun Jul 06, 2014 9:26 am

To perform a unit testing there are tools like interest which enables you to perform line by line execution of your programs. However if you don't have such tools then you can add displays to the required code and check the output in cics job . Why do need to see the log? Also when there is a exceptional error then usually sufficient information needs to be displayed while coding.

karthi_ind · Posted: Sun Jul 06, 2014 12:45 pm

Thanks Rohit.

yes by using intertest we can see the line by line execution.
sometimes what happens is in production there might be some error in the screen and user want to know the exact problem.

If we replicate the same scenario in test regions it will work fine. so those problems might be environment related or deadlock or any other abends.
so to analyse further we need to see the log the execution time of tran id's, abends or deadlocks.

so for such reason we need to refer CICS log only. Also all the activities performed in the region can be tracked in log. in case of storage violation errorwe may need to refer CICS log. I want to know in that perspective.

Regards
Karthik

Rohit Umarjikar · Posted: Mon Jul 07, 2014 8:57 am

Okay, so for this your site support or a cics admin will help to provide a dump and then it will be easy to find the issue. Also over a web and on this forum there are many threads which will give an idea as to how it works. So if you have any failed trx and dump or log then you can share and then a help can be easily provided.

karthi_ind · Posted: Mon Jul 07, 2014 10:04 am

Thanks Rohit.
Sure, I will publish those details whenver I face such problem.

Regards
Karthik