I'm curious. Do you have an example of "fluffiness"? I will grant that z/OS traditional parsing methods for UNIX output can be a bit difficult. But it is not that difficult in something like REXX. We are used to "column oriented" output. Where a field value starts at a given offset and is a given length, with characters being left justified, and numbers being right justified with aligned decimal points. In my parlance, "card oriented" or perhaps "paper report" oriented. UNIX output is often designed for human consumption, more like reading text. And, when meant for passing on to other programs, tends to be "delimited" by things such as tabs (a favourite of mine).
I'm a bit of a UNIX liker (Linux user for about 10 years now. M$ free for about 4, except at work). z/OS is great for many things. But for end-user interactives, I will take UNIX over even VM/CMS. TSO is not even in the same race, IMO. I.e. a BASH UNIX prompt beats the crap out of line mode TSO. The only good thing in TSO, to me, is ISPF. z/OS UNIX would be the cat's meow|pajamas if IBM had used the GNU tool set instead of their own versions. Again, IMO. -- John McKown Systems Engineer IV IT Administrative Services Group HealthMarkets(r) 9151 Boulevard 26 * N. Richland Hills * TX 76010 (817) 255-3225 phone * [email protected] * 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 > -----Original Message----- > From: IBM Mainframe Assembler List > [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Gibney, Dave > Sent: Tuesday, May 22, 2012 12:51 PM > To: [email protected] > Subject: Messages - Was MVC with 2nd operand length > > I really like mixed case, but I find the variable length > nature of Unix (well probably C/C++) output adds to the > difficulty of quickly determining the useful information in > the useful message often buried in a massive amount of fluffiness. > Probably just me :) > > Dave Gibney > Information Technology Services > Washington State University
