CEDF
The Execution Diagnostic Facility: a CICS transaction for stepping through another transaction one CICS command at a time.
Also written EDF, Execution Diagnostic Facility, CEDX
CEDF lets you watch a CICS transaction as it runs. You start CEDF at your terminal, then run the transaction you want to test. CEDF stops before and after every EXEC CICS command and shows you what is happening.
At each stop, you see the command and its options, such as the file name and key for a READ. After the command, you see the response, such as NORMAL or NOTFND, and the EIB fields. You can look at the program's working storage, change values, change the response of a command to test error handling, or let the program run on to the end.
This makes it a quick way to answer questions like "why does this screen show the wrong account?" without adding extra code to the program. You can see exactly which record was read and what came back.
CEDX does the same for transactions that do not run at a terminal. Both are meant for development and test regions. Sites normally prevent their use in production, because they can change data and stop transactions.
Where can I learn this hands-on?
Right here, at ZedBank. You take a junior job at a simulated bank and learn each part of the work by doing it, with Zed beside you. There's nothing to install.
Start at ZedBankRelated
- EXEC CICSThe way a program asks CICS to do something, such as read a record, send a screen or call another program.
- CICS transactionOne unit of online work in CICS: the whole exchange of receiving a request, doing the work, and sending a response.
- EIBThe EXEC Interface Block: a set of fields CICS fills in for every task, telling the program about the current transaction.
- CICSThe transaction manager that runs online mainframe applications, and the software behind a great many screens bank staff use.
- Transaction IDA four-character code that tells CICS which program to run, typed on the screen or triggered by a key.