Using the FOL= Option › Find the Program Table Entry

Find the Program Table Entry

When the FOL= option is in force and the control of the CPU is about to leave the code of the monitored program, CA InterTest for CICS attempts to find out the following:

• What program is about to receive control
• What options, such as breakpoints, apply to that program

CA InterTest for CICS does this by trying to find the CICS Program Table (PPT) entry belonging to the program that is about to receive control. If CA InterTest for CICS can locate this entry, it is possible for CA InterTest for CICS to use displacements that apply to the beginning of the new program rather than displacements that apply to the old program.

If the PPT entry is found, CA InterTest for CICS does the following:

• CA InterTest for CICS makes four special entries in the CICS Trace Table to indicate which program passed control and from where it passed control, and which program received control and from where.
• CA InterTest for CICS begins to show data pertaining to the new program in the breakpoint display. For example, any displacements in the backtrace portion of the breakpoint screen are calculated relative to the program that just received control. You also see a short message in the backtrace display to indicate which program passed control directly to the current one.

The PPT entry is only found if the target program is located, or if it resides in main storage. If the program is not permanently resident, it is considered only if its current use count is at least one. In addition, CA InterTest for CICS will not be able to find the PPT entry if control is being passed to a piece of code that does not reside in a storage area of the CICS Program Storage Class.