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Performing a Trace

Your Technical Support analyst may ask you to trace Reflection events to troubleshoot problems. These instructions show how to perform traces on IBM 3270, IBM 5250, and VT sessions.

Run a Trace for an IBM 3270 or 5250 Session

While troubleshooting a problem in an IBM 3270 or 5250 session, technical support may request that you obtain one or more traces. Three kinds of traces can be done: host-data, command, and HLLAPI.

Trace File Type Description
Host-data trace (*.hst) Captures information passed between a terminal, or printer, session and the host. This type of trace is useful when a host connection is working, but the terminal or printer session does not behave as expected. Host traces are not useful when a connection to the host cannot be established.
Command trace (*.cmd) Captures actions within Reflection. Each action, such as clicking a button or entering text, represents an individual command. Command traces are useful in determining if commands are correct in a script, macro, or program using OLE automation.

Command traces can also be used to determine which command to use when writing a script. Use a text editor to view the command trace and determine which commands are needed to accomplish the task.
HLLAPI trace Enables you to see the HLLAPI calls the application is making, including return codes. (HLLAPI is an API specified by IBM for automating terminal tasks.)

To generate a host-data or command trace

  1. Open a session or create a new session.

  2. In the Start Trace dialog box, specify a name for the trace file. If you have spoken with a support technician, use your service request number as the name of your trace file.

    For this type of trace Use this extension
    Host data .HST
    Command .CMD

  3. Click Save.

    "Tracing started..." displays in the Reflection status bar, indicating the trace is active.

  4. Perform the actions that reproduce the problem you want recorded in the trace.

  5. Stop the Trace.

  6. Upload the trace file as a binary file to http://upload.attachmate.com. If the problem relates to a service request you are currently working on with a technician, include the Micro Focus service request number with the trace and let the technician know when the file is uploaded.

To generate a HLLAPI trace

  1. Click the Windows Start button.

  2. In the Start Search box, type win.ini and press Enter to open your Win.ini file in Notepad.

  3. Add the following two lines to the end of the Win.ini file:

    [Reflection HLLAPI]
ExtTraceOn=1

  4. In the Reflection Workspace, open a session or create a new session to connect to your IBM host.

  5. Start the HLLAPI application.

  6. Perform the actions that reproduce the problem you want recorded in the trace.

  7. Close the HLLAPI application.

    The trace file is automatically named HLL*.TMP, where * is a randomly generated hex number. The file is located in the PC's TEMP directory, if a TEMP directory has been defined in the System Environment settings. Otherwise, it is located in the root Windows directory.

  8. Re-open the Win.ini file, and change the ExtTraceOn setting to zero by changing the last line of the ini file:

    ExtTraceOn=0

  9. Upload the trace file as a binary file to http://upload.attachmate.com. If the problem relates to a service request you are currently working on with a technician, include the Micro Focus service request number with the trace and let the technician know when the file is uploaded.

Perform an Event Trace (VT)

Your Technical Support analyst may ask you to perform an event trace. An event trace "captures" all communications activity (except for modem commands), and all keystrokes, commands, and menu and dialog box selections. This data is saved in an event file.

To use the trace data, you will need to process it to create a report of the data or to create a file that "plays" the trace.

To perform an event trace

  1. Open the Start trace dialog box.

    With a VT session open in the workspace, open the Start Trace dialog box as follows.

  2. In the Start Trace dialog box, enter a path and file name for the event (.rev) file and click Save. (If you have spoken with a support technician, use your service request number as the name of your trace file.)

  3. Perform the actions required to demonstrate the problem.

  4. After the problem is demonstrated, click Stop Trace in the Tracing group (if using the Ribbon) or on the Tools, Trace menu (if using the Browser).

    The trace data is saved in the event file.

  5. Upload the trace file as a binary file to http://upload.attachmate.com. If the problem relates to a service request you are currently working on with a technician, include the Micro Focus service request number with the trace and let the technician know when the file is uploaded.

To process trace data

After creating the event file, follow these steps to create a report or a script that "plays" the trace.

  1. Open the Process Event Trace dialog box.

    With a VT session open in the workspace, open the Process Event Trace dialog box as follows:

  2. Select how to process the trace:

    To Do this...
    Create a Reflection Basic script that you can use to play the trace. Select Generate script.
    Create a report in a text-based file format. Select Generate report and then select options to format the report under Report format. (See Process Event Trace Dialog Box (VT Sessions))

  3. Click OK. The Open Events dialog box appears.

  4. In the File name box, select the event file to process, and click Open.

    • If you selected Generate script, the Save Event Commands dialog box opens.

    • If you selected Generate report, the Save Event Report dialog box opens.

  5. Enter the file name and click Save.

    Scripts are saved as Reflection Basic .rbs files.

    Reports are saved in .txt files. The report is automatically displayed after it is saved.

To play trace data

  1. Open the Play Trace dialog box.

  2. In the Play Trace dialog box, select an event trace .rbs file and click Open.

More information

Process Event Trace Dialog Box (VT Sessions)

Getting there

  • With a VT session open in the workspace, open the Process Event Trace dialog box.

This dialog box allows you to process a trace created when troubleshooting a problem in a VT session.

note

For instructions that show how to trace events, process a trace, generate a trace report, or play a trace, see Perform an Event Trace (VT)

The options are:
Generate Scripts Create a report with a .rbs file extension in the folder you select. Use this option to process the trace (.rev) file into a Reflection Basic script file.
Generate report Create a report with a .txt file extension in the folder you select. Use this option to process the trace (.rev) file into a text-based file format.

Report format

If you selected Generate report, you can also select any of these options:
Settings details and system information Select to include settings and information about the operating system of your machine.
Timing Select to put a time stamp beside each event item performed during the trace.
Display memory Select to include all the information in the display memory buffer.
Network protocol details Select to include details about the network protocol used for the connection.
Code page details Select to include the code page information used by the PC.
Redact Select to expunge sensitive information from traces. Specifically, this option replaces alpha characters with X's and numeric characters with 9's. Control and escapes sequences are not affected, only application data.
String syntax Select the format used to display strings. Choose from Traditional, Visual Basic, or C string syntax.