FEPI dump

CICS® dump routines are available for FEPI. These routines are under the control of the usual CICS selection mechanisms.

You generate interpretation of the FEPI areas of a CICS dump by specifying the SZ keyword from within the interactive problem control system (IPCS). SZ can take the following values:

SZ value
What is printed
0
No FEPI areas are interpreted.
1
All FEPI areas are interpreted, excluding the stacks.
2
All FEPI areas are interpreted, including the stacks.

If you are looking at a FEPI problem, first ensure the SZ TCB is active, and the FEPI Resource Manager is running. Look at the kernel and dispatcher prints to verify their presence.

If the SZ TCB is present, and the FEPI Resource Manager is running, the problem is probably caused by a wait or an abend. In the case of a wait, the dispatcher and kernel prints should show where it is located.

After looking at any FEPI trace entries, you should direct your attention to the output from the ‘SZ=2’ dump formatting keyword. This displays all known FEPI control blocks. If you think a storage violation has occurred, use the dump storage manager options to display the contents of the FEPI storage subpools.

Here are some things that might help you identify a problem when you read the dump:

Using CICS dump facilities to investigate FEPI problems

This section describes how FEPI relates to the rest of CICS, and how its presence is revealed by the other CICS dump formatting commands.

The problem determination process for FEPI is driven from the usual CICS dump interpretation routines. The following sections describe what to look for in the major CICS areas.

Dispatcher

You should see a task (CSZI) running under the SZ task control block. (However, note that CSZI can run under the QR TCB while executing certain CICS functions, such as starting transactions and writing to transient data queues.) If CSZI is not present, then either FEPI is not in the system, or the FEPI Resource Manager has failed.

Application programs waiting for responses from the FEPI Resource Manager are shown as waiting on FEPI. (For details of FEPI waits, see the CICS Problem Determination Guide.)

Interval control

Any transactions that have been started by the FEPI Resource Manager, but not yet run, appear in the interval control section.

Kernel

In the kernel, you should find a running task named KETCB SZ representing the SZ TCB that FEPI uses. If KETCB SZ is not present, then either FEPI is not in the system, or the TCB has abended.

You should find the CSZI task either running or waiting. If CSZI is not present, then either FEPI is not in the system, or the FEPI Resource Manager has failed.

If an abend has occurred, the usual information is available. The location of the abend is indicated by the failing module, as follows:

DFHESZ
The application programming EXEC stub
DFHEIQSZ
The system programming EXEC stub
DFHSZATR
The FEPI adapter
DFHSZRMP
The FEPI Resource Manager.

Storage manager

Table 9 lists the CICS storage subpools used by FEPI. You can use the storage manager dump facilities to display the contents of these subpools. If you suspect a storage violation, a comparison of the contents of these subpools with the areas interpreted by a FEPI dump may show where the corruption has occurred.

Table 9. FEPI storage subpools
Name Type Chained Above or below 16MB line? Usage
SZSPFCAC Fixed Yes Below ACBs
SZSPFCCD Fixed Yes Any Connections
SZSPFCCM Fixed Yes Any Common area
SZSPFCCV Fixed Yes Any Conversations
SZSPVUDA VAR Yes Any Various data areas
SZSPFCDS Fixed Yes Any Device support extensions
SZSPFCDT Fixed Yes Any Device-type control areas
SZSPFCNB Fixed Yes Any NIBs
SZSPFCND Fixed Yes Any Nodes
SZSPFCPD Fixed Yes Any Pools
SZSPFCPS Fixed Yes Any Property sets
SZSPFCRP Fixed Yes Any RPLs
SZSPFCRQ Fixed Yes Any Requests
SZSPFCSR Fixed Yes Any Surrogates
SZSPFCTD Fixed Yes Any Targets
SZSPFCWE Fixed Yes Any DQEs
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