Generalized trace facility

Use the generalized trace facility (GTF) to obtain diagnostic information during the processing of VSAM Record Management (R/M). If GTF is active and TRACE= (record management tracing) is specified in your DD statement, VSAM GTF trace records, X'FF5', are written to the GTF data set.

Note: The speed at which trace data is written out to GTF has been increased and this can lead to an increase in the number of lost event records (trace record that can not be written out due to the GTF performance). The number of lost event records will increase, especially when the program is running under the multi-thread environment. Therefore, it is recommended that you adjust the GTF parameters when starting GTF before tracing. Adjustments such as increasing the GTF buffer size, increasing amount of virtual storage that GTF will use to collect trace data, and using VSAM linear data set as the target data set will help to reduce the number of lost event records. Refer to z/OS MVS Diagnosis: Tools and Service Aids for information on how to customize GTF parameters.