>> Since BPXEKDA doesn't need the OMVS segment for the first 40 bytes of the 
>> command, why does it need it for the rest of the command? Isn't it just a 
>> null terminated field that can be fully copied?

My educated guess here is that BPXEKDA is used by the "D OMVS" operator command 
and provides an interface layer between the z/OS unix control blocks and the 
display command service, most likely via a PC-ss, and just gathers the required 
information without going through the dubbing process. Behind the scenes there 
is probably one or more tables in OMVS private storage describing the current 
processes.

Using this interface also makes sense that operator commands can gather 
information independently of possible environmental problems that could affect 
BPX1/4 callable services. Due to console screen real estate, I imagine that the 
original authors returned only the characters that they needed for the display 
command response.

To get more characters from BPXEKDA, there would have to be an enhancement to 
that service so that consumers like SDSF could display more data.

OR

The other alternative is that consumers like SDSF, call BPX(1/4)GTH in some 
fashion to gather the full text.

I know where I would put my money on which could happen faster.

As to "why don't you just fix it ?" style questions, we have to consider quite 
a few compatibility issues across n-2 releases especially when the "fix" 
requires changes to configuration and security for either (or both of) the SDSF 
server(s) and client users.

Rob Scott
Rocket Software

-----Original Message-----
From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List <[email protected]> On Behalf Of Jon 
Perryman
Sent: Monday, February 5, 2024 3:44 AM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: SDSF PS Command column

EXTERNAL EMAIL





On Sat, 3 Feb 2024 09:24:07 +0000, Rob Scott <[email protected]> wrote:

>SDSF calls the BPXEKDA service returns truncated command information.

Since BPXEKDA doesn't need the OMVS segment for the first 40 bytes of the 
command, why does it need it for the rest of the command? Isn't it just a null 
terminated field that can be fully copied?

>We have an existing RFE to provide more information.

My guess is that the RFE includes more than just the command which probably 
need dubbing. I would think you could just as easily copy 100 bytes as 40 bytes.

> When the PS command was originally written OMVS segments were not
> commonplace and the design goal was to provide the data without being
> dubbed

In the past, dubbing caused some conflicts in some OEM products. For example, I 
was a developer for an automation product that included multi-tasking & 
multi-user TSO in the address space (also TCP tasks). You might introduce 
similar problems in the console address space so you will need more than simple 
testing.

>BPXEKDA is used by the operator command responses which probably explains the 
>truncation length.

I suspect the truncation is by choice. One possibility for the limitation is 
MLWTO secondary messages having a max length of 80. Another possibility is 
security.where the user does not have an OMVS segment to restrict access to 
processes. A third possibility would be TSO CONSOLE & OPER commands where 
output flooding. Fourth, it might introduce problems with MPF processing & 
message suppression. It might also be an issue with syslog. It could also 
introduce bad habits in automation products.

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