162 Introduction to the New Mainframe: Large-Scale Commercial Computing
Interrupt processing
An interrupt is an event that alters the sequence in which the processor executes
instructions. An interrupt might be
planned (specifically requested by the
currently running program) or
unplanned (caused by an event that might or might
not be related to the currently running program). z/OS uses six types of
interrupts, as explained here:
Supervisor call or SVC interrupts - occur when the program issues an SVC
instruction. An SVC is a request for a particular system service.
I/O interrupts - occur when the channel subsystem signals a change of
status. For example, an I/O operation completes, an error occurs, or an I/O
device (such as a printer) becomes ...