4. EXCEPTIONS › 4.2 Setting Exception Values

4.2 Setting Exception Values

Exception test routines contain exception tests which
completely define the tests made to determine the exception
condition.  The exception tests also contain the definitions
which define and classify the exception for reporting and
analysis.  A sample exception test is:

*
** 00151
** EXCESSIVE TSO USER INTERVAL COMMAND RATE
*;
  IF TSUTCOM > 500 THEN DO;
    EXCCODE ='00151';
    SEVERITY='W';
    MGMTAREA='WORKLOAD';
    EXCDESC1='EXCESSIVE TSO USER INTERVAL COMMAND RATE';
    EXCDESC2='COMMAND COUNT=' || PUT(TSUTCOM,8.);
    LINK HIT;
  END;

This exception test is processed for each observation that is
in the latest cycle of the DETAIL TSO User Activity File
(TSOTSU).  The test is positive when the variable TSUTCOM has
a value greater than 500, which indicates that a single
command was issued by one user more than 500 times in a
single TSO/MON recording interval.  When the test is
positive, the exception is categorized by providing the
appropriate values for EXCCODE, SEVERITY, and MGMTAREA.
EXCDESC1 provides a constant title for the exception.
EXCDESC2 provides variable information for the conditions
that caused the test to be positive.  The LINK HIT statement
invokes a routine that causes the exception condition to
eventually be written to the Exception Activity File (ADMEXC)
for later processing by the standard reports or MICF II
inquiries.

Five hundred is the value that caused this exception to test
positive.  For most organizations, this value would cause
either too many exceptions or too few exceptions to be
reported, which defeats one of the purposes of exception
processing--to report on "out of the ordinary" conditions
that warrant attention.  Therefore, each organization must
determine and set its own unique exception values.

Furthermore, the values for some exception conditions should
be determined uniquely for different environments within a
single organization.  For example, a system paging rate that
would be excessive during the nightly batch processing may be
normal during the daytime hours which have heavy interactive
usage.  Also, different processors can support different
paging rates.  Numbers used as exception values should not be
defined without some analysis of installation history,
performance, and user requirements.

The exception value analysis routine uses the CA MICS data
base to produce a report that provides a statistical analysis
of the values of the variables used in the standard exception
tests distributed with the products.  Using the results of
this analysis, along with your installation's internal
political, security, or standards policies, industry
publications and possibly your own analysis of data element
behavior, you can determine the modifications that you should
make to each exception test to provide meaningful exceptions
in your environments.

You can also modify the exception test routine to add your
own tests for additional exception conditions not detected by
the standard tests delivered with the product.