Recording the statements that you run

The PLAYBACK ENABLE command includes a set of parameters to specify:

• Which compile units to record
• The maximum amount of storage to use to record the statements that you run
• Whether to record the following additional information about your program:
  • The value of variables.
  • The value of registers.
  • Information about the files you use: open, close, last operation performed on the files, how the files were opened.

The PLAYBACK ENABLE command can be used to record the statements that you run for all compile units or for specific compile units. For example, you can record the statements that you run for compile units A, B, and C, where A, B, and C are existing compile units. Later, you can enter the PLAYBACK ENABLE command and specify that you want to record the statements that you run for all compile units. You can use an asterisk (*) to specify all current and future compile units.

You cannot change the storage value after you have started recording. The more storage that you specify, the more statements that z/OS Debugger can record. After z/OS Debugger has filled all the available storage, z/OS Debugger puts information about the most recent statements over the oldest information. When the DATA parameter is in effect, the available storage fills more quickly.

You can use the DATA parameter with programs compiled with the SYM suboption of the TEST compiler option only if they are compiled with the following compilers:

• Enterprise COBOL for z/OS, Version 6
• Enterprise COBOL for z/OS, Version 5
• Enterprise COBOL for z/OS, Version 4¹
• Enterprise COBOL for z/OS and OS/390®, Version 3 Release 2 or later
• Enterprise COBOL for z/OS and OS/390, Version 3 Release 1 with APAR PQ63235
• COBOL for OS/390 & VM, Version 2 with APAR PQ63234

Refer to the following topics for more information related to the material discussed in this topic.

• Related tasks
• Stop the recording