Command Flow view

The Command Flow view shows the execution details of a selected task. It shows the Task Control Block (TCB) modes that were used, any TCB mode switches, and a command flow table.

You can specify which information is shown in the command flow table and you can search that information.

You can also filter which resources or commands are displayed in the view. For resources and API calls that match valid event processing resources, you can use this view to create an event binding.

To see the command flow of a transaction, start from a view in the CICS® IA plug-in that shows the required transaction resource, for example the Transactions view.

Right-click the required transaction and click Show Command Flow runs. Click one of the following options, as required:
Transaction pop-up menu with Show Command Flow runs option selected

The command flow runs for the selected transaction are displayed in the Show Resources view, listed by user ID. Expand the tree structure in this view to show the region APPLID, the time of the first command issued, the transaction ID, and the transaction task ID for each command flow run.

To display information in the Command Flow view, right-click the task ID of the required command flow run and click Show Execution.

Show Resources view showing a command flow run and the task pop-up menu with the Show Execution option selected.

The Command Flow view has three sections: TCB Modes Used, TCB Mode Switches, and the command flow table.

Command Flow view. In the TCB Modes Used section, L8 TCBs are expanded, and an Open Queue command is selected. The corresponding is command highlighted in the command flow table.

TCB Modes Used

The TCB Modes Used section displays a summary of the TCB modes that were used during the execution of the task, including the total number of commands issued in each TCB mode.

To see the individual commands and resources, expand the tree structure.

If you select a command in this section, the command is highlighted in the command flow table.

TCB Mode Switches

The TCB Mode Switches section displays a summary of any TCB mode switches that occurred during the execution of the task. Commands and resources are grouped by the mode that they switched from, then the mode that they switched to.

To see the mode that is switched to, and individual commands and resources, expand the tree structure.

If you select a command in this section, the command is highlighted in the command flow table.

TCB Mode Switches section of the Command Flow view.

Command flow table

The command flow table displays the command flows, ordered by time, under the program that ran the command. By default, the current and previous TCB Mode, and the time when the command ran, are shown for each command.

Events associated with EXEC CICS commands are displayed as child nodes of the command in the view. These child nodes are the events that are triggered against a command.

Command flow table in the Command Flow view

The icon for a resource can have the following icons attached:
  • asterisk icon Event processing icon. You can create an event binding, to use with event processing, from this resource. This option is available only for resources and API calls that match valid event processing resources.

    To use this option, you must have a CICS Bundle project for the event binding set up and available for use first. For more information, see Creating a CICS bundle project in the CICS Explorer User Guide.

    To create an event binding, right-click on the command, click Create Event, then select the required event type from the resulting menu. The wizard to create an event binding is displayed and is populated with information from the CICS IA plug-in. For more information about using the wizard, see Creating an event binding from a CICS File resource.

  • conflict icon TCB mode switch icon. The command caused a TCB mode switch to occur.
  • warning icon Warning icon. The command has a nonzero RESP or RESP2 code. If you select the command, the response and reason codes are displayed as decimal values in the status bar below this section. If you add the Response Code and Reason Code columns to the command flow table, the response and reason codes are displayed as hexadecimal values in this table.
    Status bar in the Command Flow view showing a response and reason code

To specify which information is shown in the command flow table, click the Column menu icon Column menu icon then click Customize Columns. The Customize Columns window is displayed. Use Add and Remove to list the columns for the information you require in the Current columns list. Those columns are displayed immediately in the command flow table. When your choices are complete, click Close.

Customize Columns window

To set the column widths to the same size, click the Column menu icon Column menu icon then click Equalize Column Widths.

To reset the command flow table to the default columns, click the Column menu icon Column menu icon then click Reset Columns.

To search for information in the command flow table, click Find/Replace in the workbench menu. In the Find/Replace window, enter the item to search for. You can use the options available in the window to refine your search, for example Forward or Case sensitive. You cannot change information in the command flow table, so any options related to the Replace function are unavailable.

Command and resource filter

To filter which resources or commands are displayed in the Command Flow view, click the Show Filters icon Show Filters icon in the toolbar of the view. A list of resources and commands is displayed, where you can select the check boxes for the resources and commands you require. You can expand the list to select individual resources or commands.

Filter in the Command Flow view

Your changes apply immediately to all three sections in the Command Flow view, and the number of commands filtered is reported in the toolbar.