Language tracing facility - syncsort_scc_monitor - Latest

Syncsort™ Storage Management Monitor RTM User Guide
Product type
Software
Portfolio
Integrate
Product family
Syncsort™ software
Product
Syncsort™ Storage Management > Syncsort™ SCC Monitor
Version
Latest
ft:locale
en-US
Product name
Syncsort Storage Management
ft:title
Syncsort™ Storage Management Monitor RTM User Guide
Copyright
2025
First publish date
1991
ft:lastEdition
2025-12-05
ft:lastPublication
2025-12-05T10:34:38.129000
L1_Product_Gateway
Integrate
L2_Product_Segment
IBM Infrastructure
L3_Product_Brand
Precisely Syncsort
L4_Investment_Segment
Mainframe
L5_Product_Group
Mainframe Storage Optimization
L6_Product_Name
Syncsort Storage Management

If a rule is not performing as intended, the language tracing facility can be very helpful in determining the problem. When a special DD statement is found allocated to a job or TSO user, the product will display messages when performing the compare operations in the rules language. The DEFPROD statement defines the special DD names used by SCC Monitor. By default, MONTRACE is the special DD name used by the trace facility. Adding the following DD statement to a job step will enable the rules language trace facility for the step.

Add the following DD statement to enable the trace facility: 

//MONTRACE DD DUMMY

To enable the trace facility for a TSO userid, issue the following ALLOCATE command in a TSO environment. After allocating MONTRACE, any SCC Monitor/Realtime language processing will produce trace messages. The TPUT SVC interface routine is used to send the messages to the TSO session. 

ALLOCATE FILE(MONTRACE) DUMMY
Note: If the trace is enabled in a batch job via JCL statements, the trace messages are written to the JES messages data set. When a user examines the job output, the trace messages will appear among the operating system allocation messages and step completion codes. Note: Trace messages will not appear on the console, or in the system log data set.

When the language tracing facility has been enabled, the product will write a message whenever an IF-THEN-ELSE group is entered. The message will display the name of the DEFRULE containing the IF-THEN-ELSE group, and the number of the group within the rule.

During compare processing, the trace facility will display the name and value of the symbolic fields being compared. If an expression uses literal fields, the message will display LITERAL for the name of the data. The relational operator will also be displayed in the trace message.

After processing the expressions in an IF-THEN-ELSE group, the trace facility will display a SUCCESS or FAIL message. If the IF-THEN-ELSE group is successful and the CONTINUE SCAN was requested by the group, this message will also display the name of the next rule.

In the following example, the MONTRACEDD statement has been added to a test job. This DD statement will enable the trace facility. Trace messages will be written to the JES messages data set. 

      //JOBNAME JOB ...
      //TEST EXEC PGM=IEFBR14
      //MONTRACE DD DUMMY
      //DD1 DD DSN=PROD.TESTACC.FILE,
      //     SPACE=(TRK,(1)),
      //     DISP=(NEW,CATLG),UNIT=SYSALLDA,
      //     VOL=SER=WORK01

Selective language tracing facility

The MONTRACEDD trace facility can produce a lot of trace messages. To limit the number of messages, you can use the selective trace facility. To activate selective tracing, specify the TRACE(SELECTIVE) operand on the DEFPROD statement and use the TRACE parameter on each DEFRULE statement that you wish to trace. Note: The MONTRACE DD DUMMY statement is still required to activate tracing. 

      DEFPROD TRACE(SELECTIVE)
      DEFRULE RULE01 TRACE
      ...
      DEFRULE RULE02
      ...
      DEFRULE RULE03 TRACE
      ...

Tracing during pool build

During rules conversion, the compiler evaluates the pool definitions to build the associated UCB lists. The TRACE(COMPILE) operand on the DEFPROD statement enables an internal trace facility for the pool build process. When the compiler evaluates an expression used in a pool definition, trace messages will be written to DIF’s message log for SCC Monitor/Realtime, or the SYSPRINTDD statement for snapshot monitoring.

The DIFPOOL command can be used to display the devices that the compiler selected for the pool definition.

Note: If a pool definition uses run-time variables, the evaluation process ignores these tests. For example, if a pool definition uses an expression to evaluate free-space on volumes, the compiler will not evaluate free-space when building the list of devices used by the pool.

Using the DIF RTRACE command to trace started tasks

The DIF RTRACE command can also be used to trace rules processing on jobs or started tasks—no JCL or rule changes are required. The command was designed primarily for rule traces on started tasks: HSM, CICS, IMS, etc. A DDname or dataset name filter can also be specified on the command. Like the normal DD trace request, the output from a rules trace is written to the JES messages file for the job. For more information and sample command usage, examine RTRACE on page 5-44 in the SCC Product Installation Guide.