Using Symbolic Support › Access Symbolic Information at Execution Time

Access Symbolic Information at Execution Time

After the symbolic information is stored in a PROTSYM or CSL file, the information can be accessed by CA SymDump Batch to provide symbolic support for your Abend and Snap reports.

When an Abend or Snap report is initially written to CAIPRINT at execution time, CA SymDump Batch automatically searches each of the PROTSYM and CSL files defined in your installation defaults member, CAOUDFRX. You can define as many symbolic files as needed for your installation, and you can freely mix PROTSYM and CSL files. You can display the list of symbolic files defined at your installation using the SYM command from the CAIPRINT Repository Viewer.

You can also add one additional symbolic file, a PROTSYM or CSL, to your execution JCL using the CAISYM DD statement. Your installation may use an alternate DD name for CAISYM. Check with your system administrator if you are not sure. Alternatively, you can have one symbolic file dynamically allocated at execution time using the SYMDSN option in the CAIOPTS file.

The search order for symbolic information at execution time is as follows:

• The symbolic file defined using the CAISYM DD, if any
• The symbolic file defined using the SYMDSN option in CAIOPTS, if any
• The globally defined symbolic files from your installation defaults member CAOUDFRX at the time of execution, in the order that they are defined, if any

If no exact match is found, the symbolic information retrieved from the symbolic file defined by the CAISYM DD or by the SYMDSN option is used. If neither is available, the most recent symbolic information is selected.

Note: A symbolic mismatch can cause unpredictable results or misleading symbolic information in the formatted reports. This situation can be mitigated by installing and activating DSS. For more information, see Dynamic Symbolic Support.