Each IPCS user has a user dump directory. For you to format a dump or trace, your current user dump directory must contain a source description for it. If the directory does not, IPCS initializes the dump or trace and creates a source description for it in your current user dump directory.

The user dump directory is allocated when you access IPCS. See Starting IPCS for more information about how this is done.

IPCS records the defaults in your user dump directory when you set them and reinstates the defaults at the beginning of your next IPCS session.

You can use only one dump directory at a time during an IPCS session. However, you can define a different user dump directory, for example, for each dump or group of dumps. Multiple dump directories allow you to use one directory when processing problems in one group and another directory when processing problems in another group. For ease in assigning and reassigning problems, you might want a separate dump directory for each problem. See Managing Problems and Data Sets for more information.