SPARTA News February 2013

February 2013

SPARTA President’s Corner

by Brad Carson

February is here and it looks like winter has come with it to central North Carolina. We've had some snow, sleet, ice, and rain in the space of about 4 weeks. I guess Mother Nature wants us to know she still rules the weather here. I've seen some strange drivers around the Triangle as we ventured out during and after these storms. We saw a number of ice idiots out this past Sunday when we were taking my Dad to brunch. We both commented that this was the sort of thing we moved south to get away from! Oh well, at least my Dad had a good visit with Martha and I over the weekend.

Our January meeting brought us a "remote" presentation by Patty Little from IBM to talk to us about newer debugging techniques for z/OS that us old dogs should know about. The WebEx and teleconference call went very well. Patty was able to show us how IBM displays a 128 bit PSW in 64 bits, and introduced us to the BEAR (Breaking Event Address Register) making it easier to locate the last out of order execution of code. Some interesting features for us bit crackers on z/OS.

Our DB2 V10 New Function Mode work has come to a standstill waiting for the applications group to get the latest version of our billing software installed into production. They want to have the same level of DB2 in both DBQ (for QA) and DSN (for PROD) until things calm down post release. They tried to move the application up this past weekend and had issues with the required data conversions for ICD-10 code (new level of government mandated diagnostic codes) and had to back out the release. They are reviewing the conversion programs and will be trying again very soon. Until that is complete, we will not be allowed to convert those two DB2 subsystems to New Function Mode. If IBM can figure out what is preventing our DBG subsystem from migrating, we will be able to convert that one since it is not involved with our billing application.

With the failed billing release we had to forgo our February maintenance window, so no upgrade to z/OS 1.13 on our Production LPAR. Our goal now is for the March window on the 17th. What a way to spend Saint Patrick's Day. We really need to get this migration completed before our Single Version Charge period for NetView runs out. Our z/OS custompac order included the new version of NetView to support System Automaton for z/OS.

This month our speakers will be Ed Webb from SAS Institute and me (Brad) to talk about SHARE in San Francisco. I look forward to seeing you all on the 26th at LabCorp in RTP.


Future Speakers
(subject to change)


Feb. 26 SHARE Conference Reports by Ed Webb of SAS and Brad Carson of LabCorp
Mar. 26 TBA

We need ideas and volunteers for future speakers. Presentations don’t have to be fancy, just informative and interesting. Even a 5 or 10 minute talk can start an interesting interaction. Contact Ron Pimblett by phone as noted below.

2012-2013 SPARTA
Board of Directors

Brad Carson - President
LabCorp 336-436-8294
3060 S. Church St.
Burlington, NC 27215

Ron Pimblett - Vice President
DTS Software 919-833-8426
4350 Lassiter at North Hills Ave, Suite 235
Raleigh, NC 27609

Mike Lockey - Secretary
Guilford Co. Information Services 336-641-6235
201 N. Eugene St.
Greensboro, NC 27401

Tommy Thomas - Treasurer
LabCorp 336-436-4178
3060 S. Church St. 919-361-7267
Burlington, NC 27215

Ed Webb - Communications Director
SAS Institute 919-531-4162
SAS Campus Drive
Cary, NC 27513

Meetings

Meetings are scheduled for the last Tuesday evening of each month (except no meeting in December), with optional dinner at 6:15 p.m. and the meeting beginning at 7:00 p.m.

These monthly meetings usually are held at LabCorp’s Center for Molecular Biology and Pathology (CMBP) near the Research Triangle Park (see last page). Take I-40 to Miami Boulevard and go north. Turn right onto Alexander Drive. Go about a mile or so. Then turn right into LabCorp complex and turn Left to the CMBP Building. In the lobby, sign in as a visitor to see Tommy Thomas. Tommy will escort you to the conference room.

Call for Articles

If you have any ideas for speakers, presentations, newsletter articles, or are interested in taking part in a presentation, PLEASE contact one of the Board of Directors with your suggestions.

Newsletter e-Mailings

The SPARTA policy is to e-mail a monthly notice to our SPARTA-L Group. The newsletter is posted to the website about five (5) days before each meeting so you can prepare. The SPARTA-L Group is maintained by Brad Carson; if you have corrections or problems receiving your meeting notice, contact Brad at 336-436-8294.

December 2012 “CBT Tape” Shareware Online

The directory and files from the latest CBT tape V485 (dated December 16, 2012) are available from www.cbttape.org.

If you need help obtaining one or more files, contact Brad Carson at LabCorp or Ed Webb at SAS (see Board of Director’s list for contact info).

Minutes of the January 29, 2013 Meeting

•Meeting was called to order at 7:00 PM by Brad Carson, the Chapter President.
•The meeting was held at LabCorp in RTP, N.C.
•Seventeen (17) people were present of which thirteen (13) were members.
•Everyone in the room introduced themselves, told where they worked, and briefly described their job functions.
•Presentation given by Patty Little of IBM on z/OS Debugging Techniques (presented remotely).
•The minutes of the November 29, 2012 meeting was approved as published in the January 2013 newsletter.
•Tommy Thomas, the Chapter Treasurer, gave the Treasurer's Report. As of January 14, 2013, the balance is $784.84. Motion was made and approved to accept the Treasurer's Report as published in the January 2013 newsletter.

OLD BUSINESS

•Articles are needed for this newsletter. If you would like to write an article for this newsletter, please contact Ed Webb. Keep in mind that you don't really need to write the article, it can be an article that you read that you would like to share with the membership.

•The SPARTA Web page is available. To access the SPARTA Web page, point your Web browser to this site: http://www.spartanc.org. Please send any comments or suggestions about the Web page to Mike Lockey. Be sure to check the Web page every once in a while to see any new or changed information.

•Brad Carson reminded everyone to leave the LabCorp conference room clean.

•Future Speakers and Topics (subject to change based on internal politics, budget, the weather):

If you have suggestions about speakers and topics, contact Ron Pimblett (919-833-8426).

•The February SPARTA meeting will be February 26 at LabCorp in RTP.

•Food for the February 2013 meeting will be subs.

NEW BUSINESS

•Thanks to LabCorp and Brad and Tommy for hosting the January meeting.

•Send any e-mail address changes to Brad Carson so he can update the SPARTA Listserv.

•The business portion of the meeting ended at 8:35 p.m.

PRESENTATION

• Presented remotely by IBM’s Patty Little on z/OS Debugging: Old Dogs and New Tricks

• Agenda
- Debugging with the PSW
- SYSTRACE enhancements for identifying CPU time usage
- Using BEAR for problem diagnosis

• Debugging with the PSW
- Together with the registers, it is the fundamental way of problem diagnosis
- Gives you clues about the problem:
- The environment at the time of error
- The module related to the problem
- The reason for the failure
- Other related information

• ESA/390 mode PSW (64 Bit)
- PSW Example = 070C1000 81234568
- Bits 6-7 - Enabled for I/O and External interrupts) = (7)
- Bits 8-11 - Key = (0)
- Bit 12 must be one (C) = ESA 390 Mode
- Bit 15 - Supervisor State = (C = problem state, D = Supervisor state)
- Bits 16-17 - primary mode = 00
- Bits 18-31 (Bytes 6-8) - always all zeroes
- Bit 32 - Amode (24 or 31) (this case = 31 mode) = (8)
- Bits 33-63 - Instruction Address (31-bit) = 1234568

• z/Architecture mode PSW (128 Bit)
- PSW Example = 07041000 80000000 00000000 01234568
- Same as ESA/390 (bits 0-30) (except bit 12 must be zero)
- Bits 31-32 - Amode (24, 31 or 64) (this case = 31 mode) = (8)
- Bits 64-127 - Instruction Address (64-bit) = 00000000 01234568)

• PSW Scrunching: 128-bit to 64-bit
- 07041001 80000000 00000000 01234568
- 070C1001 8 1234568 (Turn on bit 12) or scrunched below)
- 070C1001 81234568
- PSW scrunching is performed by z/OS system modules
- This is possible if the PSW instruction address resides below the bar

• IPCS ST FAILDATA & VERBX LOGDATA
- Time of Error Information can have scrunched or 128-bit PSW
- For TCB mode errors, you can find the 128-bit PSW in the RTM2WA
- Finding the 128-bit PSW in RTM2WA

• Debugging with the PSW - Summary
- PSW and registers are the signature of a program
- Use them to explain the error in the dump
- Use the 128-bit PSW (if available) for debugging

• SYSTRACE enhancements for identifying CPU time usage
- IPCS SYSTRACE
- z/OS R13 supports program execution above the bar, as long as that program does not invoke system services
- Some system trace records now contains 128-bit PSWs
- Instruction address is displayed on the first line, followed by the first half of the PSW on the next line

• SYSTRACE PERFDATA
- Introduced at z/OS R12
- Provides a “performance breakdown” on system trace data
* Caveat - You need to know your application or program
- Command: IPCS SYSTRACE PERFDATA
- For each CP, shows time range of events that were analyzed
- For each address space in designated trace table time range
- Individual and Total SRB CPU times
- SRB dispatch PSW and Frequency of occurrence:
- Formatted in order that ASIDs are encountered in trace
- For Each Device = SSCH time, I/O time, and elapsed time
- For Each Device = Summary: fastest, slowest, average, and total time

• Spin Locks and CPU Usage
- z/OS uses spin locks to serialize various functions
- When a unit of work obtains a spin lock, it is automatically disabled so that it cannot be interrupted
- If a unit of work “B” wants a spin lock that is held by another unit of work “A”, then “B” is placed into a system-monitored spin until the lock is available
- Sample SPIN LKX entry

• Is a System Trace SPIN entry a problem?
- Spin processing happens regularly on the operating system
- The operating system does not get excited about short spins and you are encouraged to follow its example!
- Bottom line: big requests take time, perhaps several seconds
- If you see a SPIN record in the trace while investigating a performance problem, consider it a possible clue
- Otherwise, consider it normal processing

• A Real Life Example: Using SYSTRACE PERFDATA)
- Example: Interpreting PERFDATA
- Example: Drilling down in PERFDATA
- Example: Using SYSTRACE to focus on DUMPSRV
- Example: Interpretation of SYSTRACE
- Example: Conclusion (and success!)

• BEAR - Breaking Event Address Register
- A 64-bit register containing the address of the last instruction that causes a break in sequential execution
- Content of BEAR is stored in PSA when a program check occurred. This is propagated by z/OS environments.

• Debugging with BEAR
- Diagnosing a wild branch
- Wild branch can result in ABEND0C1, ABEND0C4 or ABEND0C6
- In most cases PSW at time of error does not point to anything meaningful
- Together with the registers, BEAR can now be used to debug the problem
- A clue for the module flow prior to an error
- BEAR is stored by H/W on any program check
- For any problem resulting from a program check, you can always use BEAR as a clue for the module flow prior to the error
- But be careful: BEAR may point to a system module
- Finding BEAR in a dump
- Debugging an ABEND0C1 with BEAR
- Using BEAR in SLIP

• Reference Information (Manuals)
- z/OS MVS IPCS Commands
- z/OS MVS IPCS Customization
- z/OS MVS IPCS User’s Guide
- z/OS MVS Diagnosis: Reference
- z/OS MVS Diagnosis: Tools and Service Aids
- z/OS MVS System Codes

• Contact Information
Patty Little
IBM Poughkeepsie
plittle@us.ibm.com

•The presentation ended about 8:10 p.m.

Treasurer’s Report for February 2013

contributed by Tommy Thomas

The balance in the account is $706.42 as of February 14, 2013.

Financial Report
3/01/2012 through 02/14/2013

Items of Interest


SPARTA Schedule and Menu for 2013

contributed by Tommy Thomas and Chris Blackshire

Feb. 26 - Subs
Mar. 26 - BarBQ
Apr. 30 - Pizza
May 21 - Chicken
June 25 - Subs
July 30 - BarBQ
Aug. 27 - DBAP Buy Your Own
Sept. 24 - Pizza
Oct. 29 - Chicken
Nov. 19 - Subs
Dec. 31 - No Meeting, Happy Holidays


Marna’s Musings, Or IDCAMS You Suck!

contributed by Ed Webb

Our SHARE friend from IBM, Marna Walle, now writes a System z blog of her own. Here’s one of her latest posts encouraging the laggards to implement z/OS Health Checks:

http://www.share.org/p/bl/et/blogid=12&blogaid=213

But an earlier post caught my eye, when Marna tells us how she really feels about IDCAMS:

http://www.share.org/p/bl/et/blogid=12&blogaid=200

Make Marna’s Musings one of your Favorites at the SHARE site so you can get updates when she posts.


SHARE 2013 San Francisco Presentations Are Available

contributed by Ed Webb

SHARE in San Francisco has come and gone. But you can still get much of the great education that occurs there by reviewing the presentations online.

Here’s a handy link to SHARE sessions that have presentations available. With at least 150 presentations, there is a wealth of information to be gleaned.
 
https://share.confex.com/share/120/webprogram/uploadlistall.html


The Very Best of z/OS V2R1

contributed by Ed Webb

Mary Anne Matyaz, the Manager for the MVS Program’s Core Technologies Project at SHARE, posted this very interesting list of her choices for best z/OS V2R1 features. Review her ideas and use them to help you get your management interested in moving to V2R1 as soon after availability (announced for September 2013) as possible. Here’s Mary Anne’s thoughts on the new z/OS: http://www.share.org/p/bl/ar/blogaid=211.


More About Secure FTP to Get IBM Service

contributed by Ed Webb

As I mentioned in the January 2013 SPARTA Newsletter, IBM has stated that it will require Secure FTP to download product service beginning in Third Quarter 2013.

For me, the key thing to know, once you’ve got your digital certificate and Security setup complete (see the Connectivity Test info below), is how to tell SMP/E to access your Secure FTP Client options. If your SMP/E RECEIVE jobstream already includes a CLIENT parameter you are almost there. Our shop did not have a CLIENT parameter or the related DD statement coded. So add or use your existing CLIENT parameter to refer to a DD statement with the Secure FTP options data set name. Once I added this information to my existing RECEIVE jobstream, secured transfer just happened.

Before trying to use SMP/E for the secure transfer, be sure your shop is ready for this significant change. Go to this Shopz page (cleverly obscured at the bottom of the Shopz home page) to set up a Connectivity Test for Secure FTP:

http://www.ibm.com/services/forms/preLogin.do?lang=en_US&source=cbct

The site provides a Read Me set of instructions, sample JCL for the test, and FTP control statement changes you need to make.


Humor


Cold is Relative

contributed by Chris Blackshire

Something to ponder as the wind chills go negative… 
 
65 above zero:
Floridians turn on the heat.
People in Michigan plant gardens.
 
60 above zero:
Californians shiver uncontrollably.
People in Michigan sunbathe.
 
50 above zero:
Italian & English cars won't start.
People in Michigan drive with the windows down.
 
40 above zero:
Georgians don coats, thermal underwear, gloves, wool hats.
People in Michigan throw on a flannel shirt.
 
35 above zero:
New York landlords finally turn up the heat.
People in Michigan have the last cookout before it gets cold.
 
20 above zero:
People in Miami all die.
Michiganders close the windows.
 
Zero:
Californians fly away to Mexico.
People in Michigan get out their winter coats.
 
10 below zero:
Hollywood disintegrates.
The Girl Scouts in Michigan are selling cookies door to door.
 
20 below zero:
Washington DC runs out of hot air.
People in Michigan let the dogs sleep indoors.
 
30 below zero:
Santa Claus abandons the North Pole.
Michiganders get upset because they can't start the Snowmobile.
 
40 below zero:
ALL atomic motion stops.
People in Michigan start saying...'Cold enough fer ya?'
 
50 below zero:
Hell freezes over.
Lions win the Super Bowl 

Membership Information

Don’t Forget the Next SPARTA Meeting

Tuesday, February 26, 2013

7 p.m.

LabCorp in the RTP

Free Food: Subs, Drink, Dessert

Program:

SHARE Conference Reports

Speaker:

Ed Webb of SAS and Brad Carson of LabCorp

SPARTA News
P.O. Box 13194
Research Triangle Park, NC 27709-3194

First Class Postage

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