ABENDxxx procedure

Use this procedure when the system terminates abnormally with a system abend completion code.

Keyword: ABENDxxx

Compare the completion code and PSW address in both the z/OS®-formatted section of the dump and the IMS-formatted section of the dump. If the code and address do not match, use only the data from the IMS-formatted section, because the system dump data might be produced if an abend occurs during abend processing.

Replace the xxx part of the ABENDxxx keyword with the abend code from either the termination message or the abend dump.

Keyword: RCxx

This keyword applies only if the abend has an associated return code as described in z/OS MVS System Commands.

Replace the xx part of the RCxx keyword with the return code.

Keyword: module name

You can determine the name of the module that received the abend in one of the following ways:

  • Check both the dump title and message DFS629I, which might contain the name of the module that ended abnormally.
  • Check the summary section, called Diagnostic Area, in the offline formatted dump.
  • Find the PSW address at the time of abend. Locate this address in the storage section of the dump, and scan backward through the eye catchers until you find a module identifier.
Module-specific keyword: Failing instruction, register
You can use these module-specific keywords to further narrow the field of hits.
Failing Instruction

The PSW address at the time of abend usually points to the next instruction to be executed. If ABEND0C4 or ABEND0C5 occurs and the INTC (interrupt code) field on the PSW AT ENTRY TO ABEND line contains X'0011' (segment exception) or X'0010' (page translation exception), the PSW points directly to the instruction that failed.

Register in Error

Examine the code near the failure to determine the register that is invalid or in error, if possible.

For example, if the failing instruction is BALR (05EF), look at registers 14 (E) and 15 (F). If register 15 (F) contains zeros, the program cannot branch to that location. Therefore, register 15 is in error.

In performing system-abend analysis, another module might have passed the register in error. You might be able to determine this by looking at the registers on entry to the failing module. If the incorrect value is in one of the registers, that value might have been passed.

Module-specific keyword: Search argument example

If, for example, ABEND0C4 occurred in IMS module DFSFXC30 on a BALR (05EF) instruction because register 15 (F) contained zeros, use the following search argument: 

5655J3800 ABEND0C4 DFSFXC30

For a structured database search, use the following search argument: 

PIDS/5655J3800 AB/S00C4 RIDS/DFSFXC30

With this search argument, you might receive numerous hits, which would most likely include the APAR that describes your problem. You can add module-specific keywords to narrow the field of hits received. Use the OR operator with these additional keywords at first.

The additional keywords for this example are: 

BALR | R15  ZEROS

For a structured database search, use the following search argument: 

OPCS/BALR  |  REGS/GR15 VALU/H00000000