Thanks, Sam. I'm still looking for an answer to my real question - where to find an instruction list - the digression about architectural levels was just a footnote. Perhaps I should re-phrase my question. Here goes:
"While there is some disagreement in the MVS community about the meaning of the term 'Architectural Level,' IBM uses the term quite definitively in the description of the C compiler option ARCHITECTURE, referring to architectural levels 0 through 6, and apparently quite similarly in the description of the Enterprise PL/I compiler option ARCH, which supports levels 0 through 4. Where can I find a concise list of machine instructions by architectural level (as the term is used by IBM)?" Charles -----Original Message----- From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Knutson, Sam Sent: Thursday, July 27, 2006 3:19 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: List of instructions by architecture level? >From http://planetmvs.com/hlasm/s390faq.html#als What is an Architectural Level Set? [2006-01-01] An architectural level set occurs when the operating system folks draw a "line in the sand" saying their system will not run on any machine that does not have features "x, y, and z". The first architectural level set (now known as ALS1) occurred with OS/390 V2R10. The features it required can be found in this list: http://www.ibm.com/servers/s390/os390/plug.html The second architectural level set (now known as ALS2) was not established by technical people but rather by edict from the "geniuses" in marketing. That's why it backfired and angered so many customers. It occurred with z/OS V1R1. The additional features it required can be found in this list: http://www.ibm.com/servers/s390/os390/plug1.html The next "line in the sand" was the requirement by z/OS V1R6 to run in z/Architecture mode. Some have called this ALS3. All z/OS releases will still run on the original "freeway" (z900) machines and there have been no level sets since. The next level set probably won't occur for years. When it does eventually arrive, most of us will probably consider it to be ALS4 -- even if IBM abandons the "level set" terminology in favor of something new. Again, a new hardware generation with new features is not an architectural level set. Rather, an architectural level set is a list of hardware features required by the operating system. Or, put another way, a program can determine which hardware features are guaranteed to be available by testing the level of the operating system in the CVT. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: GET IBM-MAIN INFO Search the archives at http://bama.ua.edu/archives/ibm-main.html
