EDA198 Error Message Overview

The EDA198 error message informs you that a fatal error in FOCUS database I/O has occurred. FOCUS Table Services terminates whenever this happens. This appendix explains the EDA198 error message and shows you how to rectify problems that lead up to your receipt of this message.

EDA198 errors occur when FOCUS tries to read or write a direct access file (a FOCUS file or a sort work file, FOCSORT) and an error is detected during the I/O process. The most common instance of this situation is when FOCUS runs out of disk space (where FOCUS needs to write out a new page to a file, but is unable to do so because there is no more space for the file). However, there are other causes for this situation besides insufficient disk space; many of the other causes are operating system specific.

EDA198 errors can also occur on the FOCUS Database Server (FDS) job. If a FDS machine has a problem reading or writing a FOCUS file, it writes the EDA198 message to the ddname HLIERROR or to HLIPRINT if HLIERROR is not available. The FDS machine performs an orderly shutdown and terminates with a user 270 abend on VM or a user 190 abend on OS/390 and z/OS.

The EDA198 error message provides valuable information necessary for rectifying the problem. A complete EDA198 message looks like this:

(EDA198) FATAL ERROR IN DATABASE I/O. FOCUS TERMINATING. ERROR
READING/WRITING file_identifier,PAGE pagenum,CODE=xxxxxxxx

Note that this is a two line message. The first line of the message informs you that an error has occurred. The second line of the message provides four additional pieces of information as follows:

• READING/WRITING. READING indicates that the file was used for input, and WRITING indicates that the file was being written to when the error occurred.
• file_identifier. This identifies the name of the file in which the problem occurred.
• PAGE pagenum. This is the page number of the file that FOCUS could not read or write to.
• CODE=xxxxxxxx. This error code explains why the file could not be written to or read from.

Once you have made a note of these four pieces of information, you are ready to call IBI support or to start investigating the problem yourself. However, without all four pieces of information, it is very difficult to diagnose most EDA198 problems, and your support contact will often ask you to rerun your procedure so that all of this information is available.

If you have all four pieces of information and you wish to investigate the problem yourself, see the VM or OS/390 and z/OS diagnostic sections in this appendix.