Users issue the TEST command to test assembler programs in an unauthorized state. The TEST command lets the user trace a program's execution and diagnose possible errors. Users can issue the TEST command to debug active programs, or they can execute programs under the TEST command to test the programs before putting them into production. For more information about using TEST, see . For information about TEST and its operands, see .

TSO/E provides an initialization exit and a termination exit for the TEST command. You can use the exits to customize TEST processing for your users. The initialization exit receives control before the TEST command invokes the parse service routine to parse the command. The termination exit receives control just before the TEST command processor completes processing.

If the initialization exit returns successfully to the TEST command processor and TEST processing itself abends, the TEST command processor invokes the termination exit before it terminates.

You can use the initialization exit to change the operands that users specify on the command or correct user errors when they issue the command. You can use the termination exit to perform clean-up or special processing prior to TEST command completion. Depending on the processing your initialization exit performs, you may not need a corresponding termination exit.