In CICS problem determination, how would you typically resolve an ASRA abend that indicates a program check inside a COBOL CICS application?

Introduction / Context:
ASRA is a common abend code in CICS that indicates a program check has occurred, often due to issues such as data exceptions, addressing errors, or divide by zero conditions inside application code. When an ASRA abend appears, programmers must diagnose the root cause from dumps or trace information, then correct either the bad data or the faulty logic. This question outlines the standard resolution approach.

Given Data / Assumptions:

• An online CICS transaction has terminated with an ASRA abend.
• A dump or trace is available, showing the failing program, offset, and registers.
• A compile listing for the program with statement offsets is available to the programmer.
• The goal is to fix the underlying logic or data conditions, not simply restart the region.

Concept / Approach:
Resolving ASRA starts with gathering diagnostic information. CICS dumps, formatted through tools or the CICS dump formatter, show the failing program counter and offset. The programmer looks up that offset in the compile listing to find the exact COBOL statement that was executing when the program check occurred. Many ASRA abends come from invalid numeric data causing data exceptions, from uninitialized pointers, or from incorrect indexing. After identifying the statement and associated data, the developer corrects the code or validates and cleanses the input data that reaches that statement.

Step-by-Step Solution:
Step 1: Capture or access the dump associated with the ASRA abend and note the transaction id, program name, and failing offset. Step 2: Use the compiler listing to map the offset to a specific instruction and corresponding COBOL source line. Step 3: Examine the fields and variables used on that line for incorrect definitions, invalid data values, or improper indexes and pointers. Step 4: Correct the underlying code or add validation logic to prevent bad data from reaching the failing statement, then recompile and retest.

Verification / Alternative check:
After applying a fix, rerun the transaction with similar input that previously caused ASRA. The program should now complete successfully or at least fail at a different, newly identified point. Many organizations also capture repeated ASRA abends in logs so that trends can be analyzed. Documentation for ASRA consistently describes it as a program check inside user code, confirming that resolving it requires mapping offsets, checking data, and correcting source code rather than simply restarting the region.

Why Other Options Are Wrong:
Option B is wrong because restarting the CICS region without diagnosis does not fix the bug and can disrupt other transactions. Option C is destructive and unnecessary; deleting VSAM data sets does not remove coding errors. Option D suggests converting all numeric fields to alphanumeric, which would prevent correct arithmetic and is not a realistic fix. Option E proposes disabling ABEND handling, but that would hide useful recovery points and still not correct the program check cause.

Common Pitfalls:
Common pitfalls include relying only on guesswork rather than using dump offsets, ignoring data content at the time of failure, and not recompiling with matching listing options so that offsets do not line up. Some teams also fail to keep production listings synchronized with the load modules, making diagnosis harder. Following a disciplined process of offset mapping, data inspection, and code correction leads to faster, more reliable resolution of ASRA abends in CICS environments.

Final Answer:
By obtaining the transaction or dump information, identifying the failing instruction offset, matching it with the compile listing, and correcting data errors or logic that caused the program check