PASSPORT Knowledge Base
Troubleshooting

Date Published: October 18, 2007

Date Updated: March 13, 2008

Title

Running Traces

Product

PASSPORT PC to Host, PASSPORT Web to Host

Emulation Types

TN3270, TN5250, VT, SCO ANSI, Wyse 60

Issue

How do I run a trace in PASSPORT?

Solution

The PASSPORT trace feature is designed to assist in the diagnosis of problems that can occur during communications and terminal emulation. Information captured in a trace file can be analyzed by the Rocket Software technical support and programming staff to assist with problem resolution. Your site administrator may ask you to assist in running diagnostic traces. After running the traces, you can email them to your site administrator.

PASSPORT supports the following types of tracing:

Data Stream Trace: If enabled, PASSPORT creates a file called TRACE_xx.log. For example, if a data stream trace is being run for session A, the trace file will be called TRACE_41.log (xx is the session short name is converted to hexadecimal value). This trace captures the host data stream that is transmitted between the host and PASSPORT. This type of trace is very helpful in resolving problems involving the TN3270E SNA BIND attributes, file transfer, HLLAPI, and other problems involving the data stream.

Low Level Trace: If enabled, PASSPORT creates a file called TRACELL_xx.log. For example, if a low level trace is being run for session A, the trace file will be TRACELL_41.log (xx is the session short name is converted to hexadecimal value). This trace captures the lowest level of communication between the PASSPORT communications driver and the underlying communications subsystem. This type of trace is very helpful in resolving problems involving the establishment of a connection. This trace is not fully written to disk until the session is closed using either

Connection->Disconnect or File->Exit.

HLLAPI Trace: If enabled, PASSPORT creates a file called EHTRACE.log. This trace captures the HLLAPI function calls made from a HLLAPI application program to PASSPORT. All inputs and outputs to each HLLAPI function call are written to this file. This type of trace is very helpful in resolving problems with HLLAPI applications.

FTP Trace: If enabled, PASSPORT creates a file called FTPTRACE_xx.log. This trace captures the FTP file transfer data when the Transfer->Send or Transfer->Receive menu commands are used and FTP is chosen as the file transfer method. For example, an FTP trace file for session A would be named FTPTRACE_41.log.

This option does not affect the tracing of the PASSPORT FTP Client. To enable tracing of the FTP Client, first start the FTP client, then use the Communications->Setup menu command, select the Settings tab, and enable low level trace. The trace file produced by the FTP Client is called FTPTrace.log.

Notes:

If your PASSPORT session is in the connected state, you are only allowed to change the HLLAPI trace and FTP trace options. If PASSPORT session is disconnected you can change all four trace options and then click the Connect button to start connecting to the host immediately.

When you disconnect the PASSPORT session using Communication->Disconnect and then reconnect using Communication->Connect the data stream and low level traces are rewritten. To avoid overwriting trace files rename the files, using Windows Explorer, to some other name before reconnecting the session.

To run one or more traces:

1. Log off your host session. Close the session using the Communication®Disconnect menu command.
2. Enable the traces you want to run using the Communication®Diagnostics dialog box.
3. Re-establish the session using the Communication®Connect menu command.
4. Log on to your mainframe and perform your terminal emulation activities.
5. Once you reach the point of failure, log off and exit PASSPORT.
6. Copy the trace files to another folder or rename them. All traces are located in the My Documents/Rocket Software/Traces folder.

Note:  Your trace files will be overwritten if you restart your PASSPORT session.

Locating Your Trace Files:

• Beginning in PASSPORT 2007, all trace files are stored in the folder: My Documents\Rocket Software\Traces. Traces for previous versions of PASSPORT will be stored in the PASSPORT working folder.

• The Data Stream Trace file is called TRACE_xx.log (where xx is equal to the ASCII value of the HLLAPI short name for the session). For example, the data stream trace for session A would be called TRACE_41.log.

• The Low Level Trace file is called TRACELL_xx.log (where xx is equal to the ASCII value of the HLLAPI short name for the session). For example, the low level trace for session B would be called TRACE_42.log.

• The HLLAPI Trace file is called EHTRACE.log and is located in the My Documents/Rocket Software/Traces folder.  

• The FTP trace file is called FTPTRACE_xx.log. For example, the FTP trace for session C would be called FTPTRACE_43.log.

Note: The session letter is the HLLAPI short name and is displayed in the upper left part of the Window title bar of the PASSPORT session.

To view the trace files:

• All of the trace files are ASCII text data and may be viewed with Notepad, Wordpad or some other text-based editor.

To send your trace files to Rocket Software Technical Support:

1. First, submit an issue to Rocket technical support via the Rocket Community portal at: https://my.rocketsoftware.com/RocketCommunity/RCLanding. This ensures that we can track your problem and route it to the correct technical support engineer.
2. Next, attach a trace file or files along with a detailed description of the problem to your support ticket.  Also, attach any screen shots or other helpful information.

Keywords

trace, diagnostics, data stream trace, low level trace, hllapi trace, ftp trace