It's Friday. And I'll at least mention a z/OS utility. IDCAMS provides the command PARM GRAPHICS(CHAIN(name)) where "name" identifies any of about a dozen print chains, once commonly used. Any character not recognized in the CHAIN is blanked out in SYSPRINT. So:
o Why is this useful? Is it merely to prevent the dreaded DATA check on printers? o Given that the modal use of IDCAMS nowadays directs its SYSPRINT to a terminal rather than to paper, shouldn't the list now include common terminal character sets such as 037, 500, and 1047? o If there's motivation for PARM GRAPHICS, isn't that equally valid for other utilities such as IEBCOPY, IEBUPDTE, ...? Shouldn't they likewise support PARM GRAPHICS? o Wouldn't this be more efficiently and consistently done in a common component such as JES rather than in an individual utility? o Is there any way to pass the output stream unfiltered to SYSPRINT? sort of like a neutral filter. I suspect a pernicious instance of Conway's law here. And possible RCF fodder: IDCAMS provides the command PARM GRAPHICS(TABLE(load-module)) o Does IBM supply any standard TABLEs, or even samples? What are they? o What is the format of a TABLE module, or rules for constructing one? I suspect it's very simple; I could probably guess it. Still, guessing is no substitute for documentation. If it's described elsewhere, such as in a Data Areas manual, a cross-reference would be appropriate. o Must a TABLE module reside in an APF-authorized library? -- gil ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to [email protected] with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN
