Options

You can use options to exert some control over the way that Z Abend Investigator produces output. For example, there are options to:
  • Change the fault analysis report contents.
  • Change the action that Z Abend Investigator takes at the time of the abend.

You can provide options at most stages of processing. If the option is not relevant to the current mode of processing (for example, you are trying to set the Exclude option when doing a batch reanalysis), it is disregarded. Z Abend Investigator does not produce unnecessary warning messages in this situation.

Options can be set or changed in the following ways, listed in the order of their processing:

  1. Product defaults provided by Z Abend Investigator.
  2. SMP/E USERMODs.

    For more information, see Customize Z Abend Investigator by using USERMODs.

  3. Configuration-options module HFZOPTLM.

    For more information, see Customize Z Abend Investigator by using an HFZOPTLM configuration-options module.

  4. Options located via an HFZCNFUM user-options module.

    This module is only applicable to real-time analysis, and, if found, replaces step 5.

    For more information, see User-options module HFZCNFUM.

  5. Installation-wide defaults specified in the HFZCNF00 parmlib member.

    The parmlib member is only read if a user-options module was not found in step 4.

    For more information, see Parmlib member HFZCNF00.

  6. Options that are specified in a user-options file through the _HFZ_OPTSFILE environment variable.

    If found, replaces step 7.

    For more information, see The _HFZ_OPTSFILE environment variable.

  7. Options that are specified in a user-options file through the HFZOPTS DDname.

    Only read if a user-options file was not found in step 6.

    For more information, see User options file HFZOPTS.

  8. Options that are specified in the JCL EXEC statement PARM field when performing batch reanalysis.

    For more information, see The JCL EXEC statement PARM field.

  9. Options provided through the _HFZ_OPTS environment variable.

    For more information, see The _HFZ_OPTS environment variable.

  10. Options set via the Analysis Control user exit.

    For more information, see Analysis Control user exit.

  11. Settings of EPC data area fields with the End Processing user exit, as these might effectively override the RetainDump and MaxMinidumpPages options in effect.

    For more information, see End Processing user exit.

If you do not specify an option, it takes either the product default (as indicated on the syntax diagram for each option), or has no value at all.

Some options can retain only one value. If more than one instance of such an option is specified, only the last occurrence has an effect. For example, if 
PARM='Detail(LONG) Detail(SHORT)'
is specified, then the active option is Detail(SHORT).

Some options can have more than one value. These are, for example, the DataSets, Exits, Include, and Exclude options. The way in which they accumulate information is described for each option.

Wherever you specify an option, it is subject to these syntax rules:
  • Only columns 1 - 71 are processed.
  • Options can be specified anywhere in a line. They do not have to start in column 1.
  • You can use a blank or a comma as a delimiter.
  • Options can be continued across any number of lines, except when specified in the JCL EXEC statement PARM field, where the z/OS®-imposed limit is 100 characters.
  • When continuing option values across multiple lines (for example, long HFS path names specified via the DataSets(HFZJAVA(...)) option), then either of the following is supported:
    • Specify the value up until, and including, column 71 and start in column 1 on the following line.
    • Specify the option value continuation character '+' at the end of the lines to be continued. One or more blank characters must precede the plus sign. Quoted values that are continued using the + sign must be specified with each part of the value surrounded by quotes.
    Example:
    DataSets(HFZJAVA('/this/might/be/a/really/long' +
                          '/path/name'))
  • Option names and keyword parameters are not case-sensitive. Option values are also not case-sensitive, unless explicitly stated for a given option.
  • Comments are permitted anywhere and can be nested. The characters /* identify the beginning of a comment, and */ identify the end.