Identifying the loop

About this task

Note: The PSW is of no value in locating loops that are not detected by CICS. The contents of the PSW are unpredictable, and the PSW is not formatted in the transaction dump for ATCH abends.

Procedure

  1. Examine the trace table, and try to detect the repeating pattern of trace entries.
    If you cannot do so straightaway, remember that many different programs might be involved, and the loop could be large. Another possibility is that you might not have captured the entire loop in the trace data set. This could be because the loop did not have time to complete one cycle before you purged the transaction, or the trace data sets might have wrapped before the loop was complete.

    Consider also the possibility that you might not be dealing with a loop, and the symptoms you saw are due to something else - poor application design, for example.

  2. If you are able to detect a pattern, you should be able to identify the corresponding pattern of statements in your source code.