Testing Applications

This chapter describes how CA Gen provides an Application Test Facility that allows you to test new systems or changes to systems in a TSO testing environment that simulates your target production environment. Online (IMS, CICS, TSO) and batch applications can be tested with the Application Test Facility. To test an application system, you generate Implementation Packages (IPs) on the code generation platform, move the IPs to the target system, install the IPs into the testing environment, and execute the test. During the test, you see how your system behaves at runtime.

CA Gen also provides a Debug Trace Facility that can be used to debug programs generated through CA Gen at the model input level. With Debug Trace, you are able to execute and debug CA Gen action diagrams as opposed to debugging the COBOL code that is generated for them. As your generated application executes, you see the sequence of action block calls and action diagram statements being executed. This allows you to step through the execution of your application. You can also display and modify the views (data stores) and system variables for each action diagram. To use the Debug Trace Facility, you must select debug support when you generate your application.

You can execute the Debug Trace Facility under CICS to test CICS online transactions and Distributed Process Server (DPS) applications. This facility allows the developer to test the application in the target environment.

For all other types of applications (IMS, TSO and batch), testing with the Debug Trace Facility must be done within the Application Test Facility.