Selecting output for the transaction dump utility program (DFHDU730)

The output from the CICS® dump domain is written to DASD or tape, depending on which you specified when the transaction dump data sets were created and defined to CICS. The transaction dump utility program, DFHDU730, prepares the transaction dump output for printing and prints the formatted information.

About this task

The contents of a transaction dump data set are not erased, but they are lost when the data set is next opened for use. This happens only when:
  • The data set is opened during initialization.
  • You switch to the data set by using the CEMT SET DUMPDS SWITCH command, or by the corresponding EXEC CICS SET command.
  • The data set is opened explicitly by the CEMT SET DUMP OPEN command, or by the corresponding EXEC CICS SET command.

If you use the dump utility program to print a dump data set that is still in use by CICS, any transaction dumps written during the current run are printed. These could be followed by an unidentified partial transaction dump from a previous run, whose header has been overwritten during the current run. Any such partial transaction dumps could be followed by further transaction dumps from the previous run.

Do not use the dump utility program to print a dump data set that has not been opened during the most recent execution of CICS. If you try to, either transaction dumps from a previous execution are reprinted, or the program is unable to recognize the records on the data set.

Procedure

  1. Before printing a transaction dump data set, close the data set. Use the CEMT SET DUMPDS SWITCH command, or the corresponding EXEC CICS command, to switch to another dump data set, and close the active dump data set.
    To make CICS perform the switch automatically when the dump data set is full, use the CEMT SET DUMPDS AUTOSWITCH command, or the corresponding EXEC CICS SET command. Do not switch a dump data set while printing its contents.
  2. To select the dumps that you want printed, use control statements in the SYSIN data set.
    In addition to the dumps you select, the DFHDU730 program always writes a summary in the form of an index of the dumps that are on the data set being processed. The index information is taken from transaction dump header records, and is written either to a data set defined with a DD name of DFHTINDX, or to the SYSPRINT data set if the DFHTINDX DD statement is missing.