When a client initializes a CA Intertest for CICS PROTSYM file the batch job was allocating secondary extents and issued messages SVM4000I and SVM4855I.

Products

• InterTest - CICS
• InterTest - Batch
• InterTest VSE - CICS

Issue/Introduction

The clients CA Intertest for CICS PROTSYM file filled up. When initializing and larger PROTSYM using the IN25UTIL INITIALIZE parameter file the batch job ran for a long time and allocated secondary extents. The job was finally cancelled. The job allocated several secondary extents before it was cancelled. The client could not initialize a new PROTSYM file.
SVM4855I SET SECONDARY SPACE USING 40%   OF PRIMARY(100 cylinders)
 
 

Environment

Z/OS

Cause

In order for the PROTSYM to be loaded with symbolic listings of compiled programs it first needs to defined using IDCAMS. The PROTSYM file cannot have secondary extents. The file then needs to be initialized using the utility program IN25UTIL parameter INITIALIZE. During the initialization process the utility program IN25UTIL preformats the records in the file.  Essentially you are record 1, you are record 2 etc., until it reaches the end of file based on the primary DASD allocation.
When the end of the primary allocation was reached BMC software product STOPX37 which was monitoring the LPAR dynamically added secondary extents to the PROTSYM file. This happened several times until the job was finally cancelled. In some cases all the space of the volume would be used before the job failed due an out of space condition.
 

Resolution

Exclude the PROTSYM file from STOPx37 so secondary extents are not allocated when the end of file has been satisfied for the primary allocation.
At this site rules were setup to have certain high level qualifiers for datasets to be excluded from STOPX37 control. The client used one of these HLQ’s to define the new PROTSYM file.