Structure and content of CICS TS format journal records

System logs are always presented in CICS TS format. Each general log comprises a stream of contiguous blocks of journaled data. Each block comprises a block header followed by a variable number of CICS journal records. Each CICS journal record comprises a record header followed by caller data.

Layout of a general log

Figure 1 gives a graphical overview of a general log, showing the format of a complete block, and the format of a complete journal record.

The format of the caller data depends on the CICS component that is issuing the journal record, and also on the function being journaled at the time. Thus, for example, the format of caller data in journal records issued by file control differs from that of caller data in journal records issued by FEPI.

Figure 1. Layout of a general log
The picture shows three rectangles, one above the other. The top rectangle consists of a series of log blocks. The middle rectangle is an expansion of one of the log blocks from the top rectangle. It consists of a block header, followed by a series of CICS journal records. The bottom rectangle is an expansion of one of the CICS journal records from the middle rectangle. It consists of a record header, followed by caller data.

General log block header

The log block header contains information of a general system-wide nature such as the CICS applid writing the journal block.

Figure 2 shows the format of the log block header.
Figure 2. Format of a general log block header
This fields in this picture are described in the list that follows.
LGBH_GLOBAL_INFO
8-bytes containing '>DFHtrnn', where:
  • t is the log type.
  • r means reserved.
  • nn is block version number.
LGBH_GENERIC_APPLID
8-byte CICS applid.
LGBH_START_GMT
8-byte start time (GMT).
LGBH_START_LOCAL
8-byte start time (local).
LGBH_BLOCK_NUMBER
8-byte sequence number.

General log journal record

The journal record comprises a record header followed by caller data. The record header contains information that describes some of the attributes of the record, such as the time it was written. The caller data differs depending on the CICS component issuing the record, and on the function being journaled. See The caller data for details.

Figure 3 shows the format of the record header.
Figure 3. Format of a general log record header
This fields in this picture are described in the list that follows.
GLRH_RECORD_LENGTH
4-byte record length.
GLRH_HEADER_LENGTH
4-byte header length.
GLRH_REC_DATA_LEN
4-byte record data length.
GLRH_GMT
8-byte time (GMT).
GLRH_LOCAL
8-byte time (local).
GLRH_TRAN_ID
4-byte transaction identifier.
GLRH_TASK_ID
4-byte task identifier.
GLRH_TERM_ID
4-byte terminal identifier.
GLRH_REC_TYPE
2-byte record type. The possible values are as follows:
X'0001'
Start of run record
X'0002'
Any other record
GLRH_REC_COMPID
2-byte domain identifier.
GLRH_REC_JOURNAL
8-byte journal name.
Start of task indicator
1-byte which may contain one of the following values:
X'8n'
Equivalent to JCSPSOTK (start of task)
X'4n'
Equivalent to JCSPLSTK (start of UOW)
Reserved
3-byte reserved field.