NetCOBOL V11.0 Debugging Guide

5.6.5 Dump

5.6.5.1 What is dump?

A dump records the memory contents when an error occurs. This information is a valuable resource for investigating the cause of the error.

The COBOL Error Report outputs the memory contents to a dump file when specific application errors and U level runtime messages are issued.

To suppress dump output, specify “-d NO” in the start parameters.

Information

Without dump information the time required to identify the causes of errors my be increased, and problems may become long-term. It is recommended that dump output be enabled.

Dumps are read in by WinDbg (debug tool provided by Microsoft) and other debuggers and consequently can be used during debugging. Refer to the WinDbg help for information on using WinDbg.

5.6.5.2 Dump output destination

The dump file name is "Application-name_ProcessID_Error-occurrence-time_COBSNAP" with the extension "DMP".

Example

Application name            :  TESTPGM.EXE
Process ID                  :  2D8
Error occurrence time       :  2009.07.10 15:04:26
Dump file name              :  TESTPGM_2D8_20090710-150426_COBSNAP.DMP

The standard output destination for dumps is \Fujitsu\NetCOBOL\COBSNAP under the user common application data folder (the folder on each computer where application-specific data is stored).

Generally the dump output destination is created using the following names:

• C:\ProgramData\Fujitsu\NetCOBOL\COBSNAP

To change the output destination folder, specify the “-o” start parameter. Refer to "5.6.3.4 Start parameters" for details of start parameters.

Note

• The user common application data folder is normally a read-only folder. However, the dump standard output destination folder is generated as a folder that has the following access permissions set for the Everyone group:

  • Modify

  • Read & execute

  • List folder contents

  • Read

  • Write

• Any user who can access the computer can reference the dump standard output destination folder. Depending on the application specifications and its operation, the dump may contain personal information or confidential data. Thoroughly investigate the operational safety of the dump output destination folder from the perspective of security and data protection. If necessary, specify the “-o” start parameter and change the dump output destination folder. If dump output is not required, specify "-d NO" to suppress dump output.
  Refer to "5.6.3.4 Start parameters" for details of start parameters.

• The size of each dump file can be extremely large. Therefore, specify a drive folder that is guaranteed to have plenty of space as the dump output destination.

• In the following cases, the dump file might not be output.

  • The COBOL program terminated abnormally while the system was loading.

  • The COBOL program was linked to the other languages and it terminated abnormally.

5.6.5.3 Managing the number of dump files

The upper limit for the number of dump files created by the COBOL Error Report is 10 per folder.

When the COBOL Error Report creates a dump file if there already are 10 files in the folder, it deletes the file with the oldest date.