Recovering from abends

ISMF responds to abend conditions based on both the value (Y or N) you specify in the RECOVER FROM ABENDS field in your profile, and the way you invoke ISPF (in normal or test/trace mode). The value in the RECOVER FROM ABENDS field on the Logging/Abend Control Entry Panel determines whether ISMF retains control after an abend occurs, and the type of error related information that is recorded. The ISPF mode determines where control will be passed (to ISPF or TSO/E) when ISMF does not recover from abends.

If you specify

RECOVER FROM ABENDS     ===> Y

ISMF attempts to recover from the abend and retain control. When an abend occurs, an ISMF symptom dump at the time of the failure is placed in the ISPF log. In many cases the symptom dump is sufficient to diagnose the problem. See Figure 1 for an example of the format. The ISMF symptom dump contains the following information:

The application involved in the failure
The CDS name (if applicable)
The function involved in the failure
The current release level and function modification identifier (FMID) for ISMF
The abend code
The name of the module involved in the failure, if it is available
The name of the CSECT involved in the failure
The entry point address (EPA) of the failing module
The program status word (PSW)
The 16 bytes of data around the failing instruction
The contents of the registers when the abend occurred

Exceptions: ISMF cannot recover from user abends 111, 222, 989, 997, or 999. ISPF uses these abend codes for certain unrecoverable errors. If you add functions to ISMF, you must avoid using these abend codes.

Figure 1. ISMF—Symptom Dump in the ISPF Log

14:32   *****  ISMF ERROR  ***** - APPLICATION(DGTA - OPTLIB); FUNCTION(DEFINE)
14:32                            - WORK.SCDS
14:32                            - ISMF 3.3.1   FMID JDP3331   SYSTEM ABEND CODE 0C1
14:32                            - CSECT NAME DGTFLCDE   EPA 8260D5F8   PSW 078D2000 8000002A
14:32                            - DATA AT PSW 00000022 - 1000822E 3488078D 20008262 631E0000
14:32                            - R0  00000000   R1  0270A554   R2  026E6618   R3  000535E0
14:32                            - R4  00041698   R5  00000000   R6  000535E0   R7  00056800
14:32                            - R8  0270A56C   R9  026F98E7   R10 026E813C   R11 0270A4CC
14:32                            - R12 8260D5F8   R13 0270A4CC   R14 8260D750   R15 00000000