(1) To record or copy, at a particular instant, data from one storage device onto another storage device to protect the data and debug the program.
(2) To copy the contents of all or part of visual storage for the purpose of collecting error information.
(3) Data that is copied in a readable format from main or auxiliary storage to an external medium such as tape, diskette, or printer.
(4) A representation of the contents of selected areas of main storage used to find out whether a program is functioning as intended and to analyze problems. Dumps may be recorded by CICS either as a consequence of failure detected during CICS execution, or upon explicit request. See also partition dump.
(5) A capture of storage information at the time of an error.