> -----Original Message----- > From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List > [mailto:IBM-MAIN@bama.ua.edu] On Behalf Of Paul Gilmartin > Sent: Thursday, November 10, 2011 11:21 AM > To: IBM-MAIN@bama.ua.edu > Subject: Re: TSO SCREENSIZE > > On Thu, 10 Nov 2011 09:35:18 -0600, John P Kalinich wrote: > > >Greg Price of the IBM Mainframe Discussion List > <IBM-MAIN@bama.ua.edu> > >wrote on 11/10/2011 08:46:03 AM: > > > >> Unless they have fixed it fairly recently, SDSF does not > handle large > >screen > >> sizes well (unless running as an ISPF application). > > > >One problem with large screens in SDSF (ISPF) is that the > ISFCMD variable > >is limited to 42 characters. > > > The often recurrence of topics related to this impels me to > the belief that > the design philosophy of the 327x series is fundamentally flawed. > > To begin, why doesn't it address character cells by > (row,column) coordinates > rather than numbering the cells sequentially over the entire > screen? The > former alternative would result in far more graceful behavior > with unexpected > screen sizes; the latter merely saves a few bits in the > address representation. > "Penny wise and pound foolish." Unforgivably shortsighted. > > "42" is _not_ the answer to life, the universe, and everything. > > -- gil
Remember how old the 3270 architecture is. Wikipedia says about 1972. Think 1 Mhz 8080 as "top of the line" micro processor. The original 3277 and its controllers were STUPID. Rather than put a more powerful processor in the controller, IBM decided to offload the "complicated" function of calculating the position of the data into the host. Made of discrete transistors and resistors! Very primitive. So, the host just sent a simple to understand "buffer address" (a single number) to the 3274. It basically just starting stuffing data characters at that location in a RAM buffer. More power == most cost == fewer purchases. Much like some of the "krud" in z/OS today due to "short sighted" architects who were worried about memory and slow CPUs and expensive DASD. The answer to these problems is obvious: Convert from archaic z/OS to modern Windows 8! At least that's what a lot of "Windows weenies" around here are saying. Over and over and over and over. "Better! Faster!! Cheaper!!!" is their cry. Anything z/OS can do, they state can be done using Windows and at lower TCO. Herr Gobbles would be proud of them. -- John McKown Systems Engineer IV IT Administrative Services Group HealthMarkets(r) 9151 Boulevard 26 * N. Richland Hills * TX 76010 (817) 255-3225 phone * john.mck...@healthmarkets.com * www.HealthMarkets.com Confidentiality Notice: This e-mail message may contain confidential or proprietary information. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply e-mail and destroy all copies of the original message. HealthMarkets(r) is the brand name for products underwritten and issued by the insurance subsidiaries of HealthMarkets, Inc. -The Chesapeake Life Insurance Company(r), Mid-West National Life Insurance Company of TennesseeSM and The MEGA Life and Health Insurance Company.SM ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to lists...@bama.ua.edu with the message: GET IBM-MAIN INFO Search the archives at http://bama.ua.edu/archives/ibm-main.html
