IBM Problem Determination Tools for z/OS Common Component Overview (Eclipse plug-in component)

IBM Problem Determination Tools for z/OS Common Component is used by Debug Tools for z/OS, Fault Analyzer for z/OS, File Manager for z/OS, and Workload Simulator for z/OS and OS/390. The main purposes of Problem Determination Tools Common Component are 1) to establish connection to the Problem Determination Tools servers, and 2) to distribute common client features that are shared among Problem Determination Tools plug-ins.

Installation

Prerequisites: IBM Explorer for z/OS V1.1 (z/OS Explorer) is required to install the Problem Determination Tools for z/OS common component. z/OS Explorer is shipped as part of IBM CICS Explorer for z/OS V1.1.1, and IMS Enterprise Suite Explorer for Development V2.1.2. Alternatively, you can choose to install z/OS Explorer SDK into your preferred Eclipse environments such as Rational Developer for System z V8.0.3 or later.

z/OS Explorer installer is shipped as part of Problem Determination Tools plug-ins as an optional installation feature.

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Establishing Connections

Problem Determination Tools for z/OS Common Component defines three connection types to z/OS Explorer's connection framework (see the picture below). Namely, Problem Determination Tools for z/OS (used by Debug Tool DTSP plug-in, Fault Analyzer, and File Manager) and DTCN (used by Debug Tool DTCN plug-in). Refer to the respective product's customisation guide for the server configuration.

Host Connections View
Host Connections View

Using the view, you can specify the details of a host for a specific connection type (eg. Problem Determination Tools connection type) and also which login credentials to use. When you select to Add a new connection for a specific connection type, the framework brings up the Add Connection dialog (see the picture below), which allows you to specify the IP address of a host, its port number, and its description (optional).

New Connection Dialog
New system dialog

Using the view, you can also specify the login credentials (see picture below). You can link the same credentials to multiple connection types - this allows you to re-use the same credentials hence avoiding the multiple sign-ons across different products.

Login Credentials Dialog
Dialog for specifying user name and password

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Lookup View

Lookup view allows you to lookup abend code, messages, and miscellaneous information (see the picture below). You can open the view by selecting Window --> Show View --> Other.... Then select Lookup under Problem Determination Tools category.

Lookup View
Lookup view

You can search for abend codes, messages and miscellaneous information by specifying the search string (eg. type 0C to search for abend codes, messages, and miscellaneous information containing 0C, or by naviging the tree structure which is located on the left hand side of the view.

If the searched string results in the exact match or double-click on an item in the tree, then its explanation is displayed in the Explanation name. If the search identifies multiple abend codes, messages, and miscellaneous information, then the results are displayed in the Results tab as a table (see the image below). You can double-click on an item in the table to bring up its explanation.

Lookup Search Results
Lookup search result tab

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