What happens to a dump request if there is no dump table entry?

If a dump is requested, either by CICS or the user, using a dump code that is not in the dump table, CICS makes a temporary dump table entry using default values for the attributes. However, the entry is not written to the CICS global catalog, and it is lost when CICS is shut down.

The default value used for the DAEOPTION attribute (for all new system dump codes) is set by means of the DAE= system initialization parameter. The default value for the maximum number of times that the dump action can be taken is set by the TRDUMAX system initialization parameter (for new or added transaction dump codes) and the SYDUMAX system initialization parameter (for new or added system dump codes).

You can modify the default values for a transaction dump table entry using the following commands:
  • CEMT SET TRDUMPCODE
  • EXEC CICS SET TRANDUMPCODE
  • EXEC CICS SET TRANSACTION DUMPING (to modify the TRANDUMPING attribute only).

The following table shows the default values for transaction dump table entries and the attributes you can specify to modify them:

Table 1. Default values for transaction dump table entries
Action Default Attribute Permitted value
Take a transaction dump? YES TRANDUMPING TRANDUMP or NOTRANDUMP
Take a system dump? NO SYSDUMPING SYSDUMP or NOSYSDUMP
Take system dumps on related systems? NO DUMPSCOPE LOCAL or RELATED
Shut down CICS? NO SHUTOPTION SHUTDOWN or NOSHUTDOWN
Maximum times dump code action can be taken 999 MAXIMUM 0 through 999
You can modify the default values for a system dump table entry using the following commands:
  • CEMT SET SYDUMPCODE
  • EXEC CICS SET SYSDUMPCODE
  • EXEC CICS SET SYSTEM DUMPING (to modify the SYSDUMPING attribute only).

The following table shows the default values for system dump table entries and the attributes you can specify to modify them:

Table 2. Default values for system dump table entries
Action Default Attribute Permitted value
Take a system dump? YES SYSDUMPING SYSDUMP or NOSYSDUMP
Take system dumps on related systems? NO DUMPSCOPE LOCAL or RELATED
Shut down CICS? NO SHUTOPTION SHUTDOWN or NOSHUTDOWN
Is dump eligible for DAE? NO DAEOPTION DAE or NODAE
Maximum times dump code action can be taken 999 MAXIMUM 0 through 999
For example, if you issue a command requesting a dump, using the previously undefined dump code SYDMPX01: 
EXEC CICS PERFORM DUMP DUMPCODE(‘SYDMPX01’)
CICS makes a temporary dump table entry for dump code SYDMPX01, and you can browse it, and see that it has the default attributes for a system dump code. You can also see that the current count has been set to 1, as a dump has been taken.

Attempting to add the dump code to the dump table after CICS has made the entry causes the exception response ‘DUPREC’ to be returned. If you want to make a change to the CICS-generated default table entry, and have that entry preserved across CICS runs, you must delete it and then add a new entry with the options you require.