I doubt that you can get a consensus on what is fancy.
-- Shmuel (Seymour J.) Metz http://mason.gmu.edu/~smetz3 עַם יִשְׂרָאֵל חַי נֵ֣צַח יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל לֹ֥א יְשַׁקֵּ֖ר ________________________________________ From: IBM Mainframe Assembler List <[email protected]> on behalf of Colin Paice <[email protected]> Sent: Tuesday, October 21, 2025 10:24 AM To: [email protected] <[email protected]> Subject: Re: Do you still use the IBM z/Architecture Reference Summary (SA22-7871)? External Message: Use Caution Perhaps we could merge all of the copies, and have a github version (or two) available to all people, to update and use. With the POP might it be worth extracting just the unprivileged op codes stuff and leaving out all the fancy stuff which most of us do not use? Colin On Tue, 21 Oct 2025 at 15:08, Martin Packer <[email protected]> wrote: > Dan, the one time I met you we had lunch with John Ehrman in the SVL > canteen. > > Anyway, he gave me several facsimile Green Cards (capitalisation > deliberate 😊 ). I have a pair of them in a frame on my home office wall. I > have a VERY FEW more well preserved. > > The ones on my wall get frequent consultation. > > Cheers, Martin > > From: IBM Mainframe Assembler List <[email protected]> on > behalf of Dan Greiner <[email protected]> > Date: Monday, 20 October 2025 at 19:46 > To: [email protected] <[email protected]> > Subject: [EXTERNAL] Do you still use the IBM z/Architecture Reference > Summary (SA22-7871)? > > We ancient fossils fondly remember the "IBM System/360 Reference Data" > (X20-1703), better known as the green card ... a 12-panel folded document > that summarized the instructions, mnemonics, operands, and hardware data > structures of the original IBM S/360. The appearance of a green card in a > shirt pocket – likely behind a pocket protector full of pens – identified > the bearer as a true believer ... a programmer not to be trifled with. Over > the decades as the architecture grew from 151 instructions to well over > 1,200 in the current z/Architecture models, the green card grew into a > reference-summary booklet (of varying colors) that now exceeds 100 pages. > > In this century, IBM eschewed hard copies by (a) providing these documents > in a PDF for free, and (b) charging outrageous prices prices for hard copy; > then about 10 years ago, they dropped hard copy completely. For the PoO, > this was understandable ... it now consumes over two reams of paper and > costs a bundle to ship. However, for the Reference Summary, this made the > publication MUCH less useful. (I have actually printed a copy, trimmed it > down to size, taken it to Kinko's for comb binding, and never looked at it > again. ) > > Since all of the information in the Reference Summary can be found in the > PoO – and it seems unlikely that IBM will come to their senses and make > hard copy again – it seems ridiculous to bother producing it any more. I > asked the current editor of the documents his opinion, and he agreed that > it's unlikely that the Reference Summary is useful any more. > > This seemed like a great forum to solicit informed opinions. However I do > hesitate, knowing that some will take this as an opportunity to vent their > spleen about documentation in general. Please don't. I simply wish to > provide feedback to the Systems Architecture group as to whether this > document is used in its current online-only format. > > Unless otherwise stated above: > > IBM United Kingdom Limited > Registered in England and Wales with number 741598 > Registered office: Building C, IBM Hursley Office, Hursley Park Road, > Winchester, Hampshire SO21 2JN >
