Extracting problem symptoms and search arguments

Obtain search arguments from an SVC dump, SYSMDUMP dump, or stand-alone dump by using IPCS subcommands.

For most problems, use three to five symptoms in the search argument. If the first search produces no matches, remove some symptoms and search again. If the first search produces too many matches, add one or more symptoms and search again. Also, try different symptoms. Searching is an iterative process.

The following are suggestions for selecting symptoms:

Start with the symptom keyword, for example ABEND0C4, WAIT or LOOP and the module or CSECT name and component ID. Add or remove symptoms from the search argument depending on the number of matches produced.
Symptoms about data areas are useful for identifying a problem. Use the names of a data area and the incorrect field in the data area as symptoms.
If searching does not produce a match, remove some symptoms or use different symptoms and try again.

Table 1. Obtaining search arguments from SVC dump, stand-alone dump or SYSMDUMP using IPCS commands
IPCS subcommand	Dump output heading
STATUS FAILDATA	Search Argument Abstract
VERBEXIT DAEDATA	DUMP ANALYSIS AND ELIMINATION (DAE)
VERBEXIT LOGDATA	SEARCH ARGUMENT ABSTRACT
VERBEXIT SYMPTOM	Primary Symptom String

Build a free-format search from the IPCS reports by extracting:

CSECT name
Abend code
Reason code
Component id

Ensure use of the standardized symptom keyword. For example, system abend code presented as S005C in the IPCS ST FAILDATA report is converted to ABEND05C and reason code PRCS/00000214 is converted to RSN00000214. Table 1 contains a list of the standardized symptoms.