SYSRDC Utility

The SYSRDC utility is used to record monitoring and accounting data on the internal process flow within a Natural application. This data can be used for evaluating Natural session activities in external or Natural programs. The data is collected at events performed within Natural.

The SYSRDC Utility documentation covers the following topics:

• Functional Components of SYSRDC

• Data-Collecting Events

• Data Collected

• Activating and Controlling the Natural Data Collector

• Trace Recording

• User Exits for External Monitoring/Accounting

• Calling the CMRDC Interface

• Example Programs

Related Topics

• See also the documentation on the Profiler Utility, a menu-driven tool for generating and listing trace records.

• RDC - Configure the Natural Data Collector

Functional Components of SYSRDC

This section describes the components the SYSRDC utility provides in order to collect data and supply it for further processing.

• Natural Data Collector as part of the Natural nucleus:
  Collects data and controls data recording in the Natural Data Collector buffer.

• User exits:
  Passes data to external monitoring and accounting programs.

• CMRDC interface:
  Evaluates data in a Natural program for the current Natural session.

Data-Collecting Events

Events specify activities within Natural. The table below lists the events at which data is collected within Natural and the types of event available.

Each type of event is assigned a one- or two-letter code where the first letter represents the group of event and any second letter the subtype.

For example, in the event type PL, P represents the event group "program" and L the subtype "load".

To activate an internal trace call event

1. Set the Natural profile parameter ITRACE=ON.

2. Define the Natural components that are to issue internal trace calls:

   • By using the NTTRACE macro of the Natural parameter module.

     Or, by setting the dynamic Natural profile parameter TRACE.

To activate a Natural statement event

• Set Natural profile parameter ITRACE=ON and TRACE=NATPROX.

The NTTRACE macro and the parameters ITRACE and TRACE are described in the Parameter Reference documentation.

Data Collected

The data the Natural Data Collector collects at events are described in the following section.

For the layout of the data, see the Natural source data set (file) NAMRDC, or the local data area RDCDATA that is provided in the Natural system library SYSRDC.

The data collected can be split into two categories: general and event-specific data:

• General Data

• Event-Specific Data

General Data

The following general data is collected at every event:

• Software AG product name

• Product version

• Operating system

• TP monitor

• Run modes, such as addressing or residence mode of the Natural nucleus and the buffer pool

• TP user or batch job name

• TP terminal ID

• Current Natural user ID

• Current Natural Security user group ID

• Current Natural library

• Current Natural program

• Current program level

• Line number of program statement currently executed

• session CPU time (same format as *CPU-TIME)

Event-Specific Data

The following data is only collected at the following events:

Activating and Controlling the Natural Data Collector

The Natural Data Collector is activated and controlled by the Natural profile parameter RDC (see also the relevant section in the Parameter Reference documentation).

By default, the parameter is set to RDC=OFF, which means that the Natural Data Collector is deactivated and trace recording must be activated separately. To alter settings, use the NTRDC macro described in the RDC entry in Parameter Reference.

The following values and keyword subparameters are available for the profile parameter RDC:

Trace Recording

The event data collected is always supplied to user exits to be used by external monitoring/accounting programs as described in the relevant section. Independently of the user exists, you can record the event data of the current Natural session in the Natural Data Collector buffer. This can be useful for testing purposes. In this section, the recording of data in the Natural Data Collector buffer is referred to as trace recording.

By default, trace recording is not active when you start a session. To make trace recording being activated when starting a session, set RDC=ON, see RDC - Configure the Natural Data Collector. As a prerequisite, the RDC subparameter SIZE must be set to a value greater than 2. You can also enter one of the following commands to start trace recording:

• system command RDC ON

• terminal command %<RDC+

• Natural statement CALL 'CMRDC' 'S'

Notes:

1. The Natural Data Collector buffer is filled in wrap-around mode; that is, the oldest record is overwritten when the buffer becomes full. At the end of the session, the contents of the buffer are deleted.
2. By default, trace recording does not cover system file FNAT. To include system file FNAT, set subparameter FNAT=ON.

Trace recording ends:

• system command RDC OFF

• terminal command %<RDC-

• Natural statement CALL 'CMRDC' 'P'

• when a session is terminated

User Exits for External Monitoring/Accounting

The event data can be passed to external monitoring and accounting programs for evaluation of activities in Natural sessions. This is accomplished with the user exits and the examples of user-exit programs provided. User-exit programs are written in assembly language.

The Natural Data Collector supports any number of user exits. A user exit can be defined by the Natural profile parameter RDCEXIT (see the relevant section in the Parameter Reference documentation). An external monitoring/accounting program can be attached to each user exit.

Three exit names are predefined: RDCEX1, RDCEX2 and RDCEX3. If you use one of these names as entry point for your exit (which is linked to the Natural nucleus), the Natural profile parameter RDCEXIT is not required.

At every event listed under Data-Collecting Events, the user exits take over control by using the standard linkage call conventions described in the table below:

A user-exit program must have the same attributes as Natural; that is, it must have the same addressing mode, and it has to be reentrant. It must be linked with the Natural nucleus according to the conventions of statically linked non-Natural programs. See also the profile parameters CSTATIC and RCA described in the Parameter Reference documentation.

By default, a 400-byte exclusive work area (per session) is supplied for each user exit (the field RDCGWRKA). If a larger work area is required for a user exit, it can be specified after the user-exit name in the Natural profile parameter RDCEXIT (see the relevant section in the Parameter Reference documentation). The work-area length is passed on to the user exits in the field RDCGWRKL and can be used for verification. The location of this work area can change during a session due to Natural relocation, but its contents are preserved.

In TP-monitor environments, the TP anchor address is supplied (the field RDCGANCH); for example, the CSA address under CICS. It can be used to access system information.

If a Program Check occurs during the execution of a user-exit program, further data collecting is disabled for the rest of the session to avoid recursive abend situations.

The section below contains information on:

• Return Codes

• Examples of User-Exit Programs

Return Codes

Non-zero return codes are only supported for two events:

• Before a database call, where Register 15 can contain an Adabas response code, which is stored in the control block; the Adabas call will not be executed.

• At program start, where Register 15 can contain a Natural error message code; the program will not be executed, but an error condition will occur with the specified number.

Examples of User-Exit Programs

The following examples of user-exit programs are provided in the following Natural source data sets (files):

Calling the CMRDC Interface

The CMRDC application programming interface is used for retrieving and controlling the trace data recorded in the Natural Data Collector buffer. This can be useful for testing purposes.

To invoke the CMRDC interface

• In the Natural program, issue a CALL statement.

The functions provided by the CMRDC interface and the syntax that applies to the corresponding Natural CALL statements are described in the following section.

In addition, the Natural system library SYSRDC provides example programs and the appropriate local data area RDCDATA in which the structure of trace records is defined. Acording to this definition, a trace record has two main components: one to cover general data and one to cover event specific data.

The section below contains information on:

• Retrieving Trace Records

• Stopping and Restarting Trace Recording

• Selecting Event Types for Trace Recording

• User-Defined Events

• Retrieving the Trace Status

• CMRDC Return Codes

Retrieving Trace Records

To read the data from the Natural Data Collector buffer, invoke CMRDC with the following Natural statement:

The following parameters are passed:

The retrieval functions stop recording data in the Natural Data Collector buffer implicitly.

Stopping and Restarting Trace Recording

To stop or restart trace recording data in the Natural Data Collector buffer, invoke CMRDC with the following statement:

The following parameter is passed:

Selecting Event Types for Trace Recording

By default, all events are selected for trace recording. Use this function if you wish only specific events to be recorded.

Notes:

1. This function only selects the events at which data is to be recorded in the Natural Data Collector buffer. It does not affect the data passed to the user exits. Neither does it affect the status (started/stopped) of trace recording.
2. Events can also be specified by subparameter EVENT of the profile parameter RDC, see Activating and Controlling the Natural Data Collector.
3. This function replaces any previous event definition.

To select the types of event to be recorded, invoke CMRDC with the following statement:

The following parameters are passed:

User-Defined Events

To specify a user-defined event, invoke CMRDC with the following statement:

The following parameters are passed:

Retrieving the Trace Status

To retrieve the trace status and the event types currently set, invoke CMRDC with the following statement:

The following parameters are passed:

CMRDC Return Codes

Example Programs

The Natural system library SYSRDC contains the following example programs:

Example Output of Program RDCDISP

The example screen below shows the extract of an output report produced by the example program RDCDISP.

 ETIME1   TY  GCUID   LV   GPGM   T  GCAPL    PRLIB    PRNAM   CO  DB   FN  RC
--------- -- -------- -- -------- - -------- -------- -------- -- ---- ---- ---

   0.0000 SI SAG                    SYSTEM
   0.0002 DB SAG                    SYSTEM                     OP   10
   0.0002 DA SAG                    SYSTEM                     OP   10
   0.0000 DB SAG                    SYSTEM                     S1   10 1640
   0.0005 DA SAG                    SYSTEM                     S1   10 1640
   0.0001 PL SAG                    SYSTEM   SYSLIB   MAINMENU
   0.0001 PS SAG       1 MAINMENU F SYSTEM   SYSLIB   MAINMENU      10 1640
   0.0001 PL SAG       1 MAINMENU   SYSTEM   SYSLIB   NAT00029
   0.0000 DB SAG       1 MAINMENU   SYSTEM                     S1   10 1640
   0.0002 DA SAG       1 MAINMENU   SYSTEM                     S1   10 1640
   0.0000 PS SAG       2 NAT00029 N SYSTEM   SYSLIBS  NAT00029      10 1640
   0.0000 CB SAG       2 NAT00029   SYSTEM            CMMPP    S
   0.0000 CA SAG       2 NAT00029   SYSTEM            CMMPP    S
   0.0000 PT SAG       2 NAT00029 N SYSTEM   SYSLIBS  NAT00029
   0.0000 PL SAG       1 MAINMENU   SYSTEM   SYSLIB   USR2003P
   0.0000 PS SAG       2 USR2003P N SYSTEM   SYSLIB   USR2003P      10 1640
   0.0001 PT SAG       2 USR2003P N SYSTEM   SYSLIB   USR2003P
   0.0000 CB SAG       1 MAINMENU   SYSTEM            CMUB     S

The following table describes the columns that are displayed on the example screen, and the variables to which they refer. For some events the data displayed PRLIB etc. has a different meaning. For further information, see the comments in the program source and the local data area RDCDATA. For an explanation of the Natural system variables mentioned, refer to the System Variables documentation.

Internal Validity Check and Tracing for I/O-related Statements

To detect NAT1132 errors and to facilitate debugging, information relevant to the error type (such as lengths of lines and fields, or buffer offsets) can be collected by trace recording. After processing an I/O statement (such as WRITE and DISPLAY) a validation routine is executed to check the buffers IOPAGE and IOPATTR for validity and consistency, for example with respect to presence of a line separator. If a potential error is detected, a message (NAT1132 condition detected) is written to the Natural Data Collector buffer, together with information that helps to locate the error, and trace recording is stopped to avoid this result to be hidden by subsequent irrelevant data.

To activate NAT1132 trace recording, specify the following Natural profile parameters:

If a trace was created for a program that you have run, you can display I/O-related records by executing RDCDISIO in system library SYSRDC.

Example Output of Program RDCDISIO

The following screen shows (a fragment of) a trace report produced by the program RDCDISIO:

 GCUID   LV   GPGM    GCAPL                       NDATA
-------- -- -------- -------- ---------------------------------------------
MK        1 LOGON    SYSTEM   INO2  08 F 005041700618 (R6)
MK        1 MYDEMO   MK       INO2  00 F 001A00200609 (R6)
MK        1 MYDEMO   MK       IOIPR    F 001A00200609 50 50 0050 0050
MK        1 MYDEMO   MK       INO2  04 F 001A00200609 (R6)
MK        1 MYDEMO   MK       INO2  00 F 001A00200609 (R6)
MK        1 MYDEMO   MK       IOIPR    F 001A00200609 50 50 0050 0050
MK        1 MYDEMO   MK       INO2     F 10C000C8C9C5 (R6) BEG OF  IOPRI
MK        1 MYDEMO   MK       IOEUP    F 000000A0 0F  (PATTRADF/LNG)
MK        1 MYDEMO   MK       IOEUP    F 000000A0 0F  (PATTRADF/LNG)
MK        1 MYDEMO   MK       IODRU    F 000000B0 3F  (PATTRADF/LNG)
MK        1 MYDEMO   MK       INO2     F 000A00301804 (R6) END OF  IOPRI
MK        2 MYDEMON  MK       INO2  00 N 001801700609 (R6)
MK        2 MYDEMON  MK       IOIPR    N 001801700609 4F 50 004F 0050
MK        2 MYDEMON  MK       IOIPR    N LINE SIZE HAS CHANGED
MK        2 MYDEMON  MK       INO2     N 058000800104 (R6) BEG OF  IOPRI
MK        2 MYDEMON  MK       IOEUP    N 000000F0 08  (PATTRADF/LNG)
MK        2 MYDEMON  MK       IOEUP    N 000000F0 08  (PATTRADF/LNG)
MK        2 MYDEMON  MK       IOEUP    N 000000F9 32  (PATTRADF/LNG)
MK        2 MYDEMON  MK       IOEUP    N 000000F9 32  (PATTRADF/LNG)
MK        2 MYDEMON  MK       IOEUP    N 0000012C 12  (PATTRADF/LNG)
MK        2 MYDEMON  MK       IOEUP    N 0000012C 12  (PATTRADF/LNG)
MK        2 MYDEMON  MK       IOPRI    N NAT1132 CONDITION DETECTED
MK        2 MYDEMON  MK       IOEUP    N 0000013F 32  (PATTRADF/LNG)
MK        2 MYDEMON  MK       IOEUP    N 0000013F 32  (PATTRADF/LNG)
MK        2 MYDEMON  MK       IOEUP    N 00000172 32  (PATTRADF/LNG)
MK        2 MYDEMON  MK       IOEUP    N 0000018F 1E  (PATTRADF/LNG)
MK        2 MYDEMON  MK       IOEUP    N 0000018F 1E  (PATTRADF/LNG)
MK        2 MYDEMON  MK       IODRU    N 000001AE 30  (PATTRADF/LNG)
MK        2 MYDEMON  MK       INO2     N 00060180FF08 (R6) END OF  IOPRI
MK        2 MYDEMON  MK       INO2     N NAT1132 CONDITION 1 DETECTED

The column headings of the trace report are explained below: