Alert (TL) records are written when TMON for CICS TS detects unusual conditions that may require further action or analysis.

The main sources of alert data are:

• The CICS XTDOUT global exit, which examines CICS messages written to transient data queues.

• The CICS XMEOUT global exit, which detects the formatting of short-on-storage and storage violation messages.

• DCS components, which detect abnormal conditions.

• The CSM Problem/Alert Monitor, which observes bottlenecks and other processing anomalies based on user-specified targets defined in option 10.3. (See Problem/Alert Controls (Option 10.3) for more information.)

The TL record contains the times, severity, and text of alerts generated by TMON for CICS TS. This information is generated by a number of different monitoring agents running with the target CICS address spaces, as well as within the CSM. As alerts are generated, they are sent to the LFS address space, where they are filtered and logged to the TMONAL logical file.

Alert Monitor collection is performed by an independent CSM process that produces alert messages that are logged as alert (TL) records. Threshold alerts collection is active even for passively monitored CICS regions. It is important to keep in mind, however, that the metrics on which Alert Monitor processing is based have their own indirect dependence on internal data collection controls. While most of the threshold alert data is available regardless of monitoring level, a few fields are based on data produced from the collection of TA/TI records. These fields are noted in the sections on inflight task targets (TA records) and address space level targets (TI records) in SmartTargets. When TA/TI records are not being collected, these fields cannot be populated or evaluated. Similar considerations apply to other targets that are based on inquiries made by TMON for CICS TS code running in the CICS region (see SmartTargets). Collection of data for these targets requires, at a minimum, a passive+ monitoring state. Alert metrics, except for the few noted in SmartTargets, are based on data contained in CICS control blocks; they are not dependent on TMON for CICS TS DCS data collection in either availability or content. The content of these metrics is not affected by the setting of the USE DCS DATA IN CSM field on the Cluster Controls screen (option 10.1.1), described in Cross System Monitor Controls (Option 10.1) .