Task-related user exits and the Execution Diagnostic Facility (EDF)

When a task-related user exit (TRUE) is invoked for a call to a non-CICS® resource manager from an application that is being monitored by the Execution Diagnostic Facility (EDF), the default action of EDF is to display the parameters that are addressed by the parameter list passed by the DFHRMCAL macro. By specifying FORMATEDF on the EXEC CICS ENABLE command that enables the TRUE, the parameter list can be transformed into a more meaningful display.

The TRUE is invoked several times, before and after the invocation to satisfy the call to the resource manager, to format the data to be displayed by EDF and to deal with any changes made by the user to the data on the EDF screen.

For more information about how to format screens for EDF, see CICS EDF build parameters and Using EDF with your task-related user exit program.

If a task-related user exit program contains EXEC CICS commands, EDF can be useful in debugging the TRUE itself. If you want EDF to display commands from the TRUE, you must specify the EDF option when the TRUE program is translated. The standard EDF screens for the CICS commands are then displayed between the About to Execute and Command Execution Complete screens for the call to the resource manager. However, as EDF is primarily an application debugging tool and the CICS commands within the TRUE would not generally be of interest to the application programmer, the TRUE program is normally translated with the NOEDF option; in this case, screens for CICS commands within the TRUE are suppressed.