Testing your CICS program

You can use different tools to test a CICS® program, depending on the type of program.

The following table summarizes the tools that are available for online DBCTL, batch, and BMP programs.

Table 1. Tools you can use for testing your program
Tool Online (DBCTL) Batch BMP
Execution Diagnostic Facility (EDF) Yes1 No No
CICS dump control Yes No No
CICS trace control Yes Yes No
DFSDDLT0 No Yes2 Yes2
DL/I image capture program Yes Yes Yes
Notes:
  1. For online, command-level programs only.
  2. For call-level programs only. (For a command-level batch program, you can use DL/I image capture program first, to produce calls for DFSDDLT0.)

Using the Execution Diagnostic Facility (command-level only)

You can use the Execution Diagnostic Facility (EDF) to test command-level programs online. EDF can display EXEC CICS and EXEC DLI commands in online programs; it cannot intercept DL/I calls.

With EDF you can:

  • Display and modify working storage; you can change values in the DIB.
  • Display and modify a command before it is executed. You can modify the value of any argument, and then execute the command.
  • Modify the return codes after the execution of the command. After the command has been executed, but before control is returned to the application program, the command is intercepted to show the response and any argument values set by CICS.

You can run EDF on the same terminal as the program you are testing.

Related Reading: For more information about using EDF, see Execution (Command-Level) Diagnostic Facility in CICS Transaction Server for z/OS® CICS Application Programming Reference.

Using CICS dump control

You can use the CICS dump control facility to dump virtual storage areas, CICS tables, and task-related storage areas. For more information about using the CICS dump control facility, see the CICS application programming reference manual that applies to your version of CICS.

Using CICS trace control

You can use the trace control facility to help debug and monitor your online programs in the DBCTL environment. You can use trace control requests to record entries in a trace table. The trace table can be located either in virtual storage or on auxiliary storage. If it is in virtual storage, you can gain access to it by investigating a dump; if it is on auxiliary storage, you can print the trace table. For more information about the control statements you can use to produce trace entries, see the information about trace control in the application programming reference manual that applies to your version of CICS.