Alan,
Interesting thought, intercepting the VSAM calls and redirecting to VSE.
That, of course, assumes that the customers are concerned with using
CMS/VSAM to access VSE held files.
So, the question is: Are people using CMS/VSAM for CMS only
applications, OR, are they using it to share data with VSE?
Before I, or any other vendor, would develop a new product, we would
need to see a market.
So, anybody who thinks they would be willing to shell out money for a
new, fully supported, vendor product that lets you read VSE/VSAM files
from VM, with no changes to existing programs using CMS/VSAM, send me an
email off-list. Just to make it interesting, think $10k-$15k a copy. Due
to other projects, figure 18 months until availability.
Tony Thigpen
-----Original Message -----
From: Alan Altmark
Sent: 05/20/2009 11:29 PM
On Wednesday, 05/20/2009 at 10:01 EDT, David Boyes <[email protected]>
wrote:
On 5/20/09 4:29 AM, "jose raul baron" <[email protected]> wrote:
- Does VSAM still exist in z/VM 5.4 ?
- Is it perhaps included in the z/VM 5.4 code (e.g. as TCPIP) ?
No, it's under the same terms (and prices) as of old.
- The CMS VSAM feature of VSE/VSAM is no longer available. If you don't
have it, you can't get it.
- Someone who already has it cannot give it to you.
- If you already have it, you can keep using it as long as you keep paying
the monthly license charge.
- It isn't licensed for use on IFLs.
- If it has become incompatible with current z/VSE VSAM support, all you
will receive from us are notes of sympathy and regret.
- OTOH, we haven't consciously done anything to break it. If *z/VM*
changes something that breaks *it*, we would likely undo whatever broke it
if that doesn't in turn break something else. (i.e. the reason for the
change in the first place.)
I can't believe that no one remembers the SPE from around 1985 called the
"Alternate VSAM Emulator" that enables a program to intercept the VSAM
open/close/tclose calls. That means the program provides the addresses of
the read & write entry points as well since the program fills in the ACB.
See
http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/zvm/v5r3/index.jsp?topic=/com.ibm.zvm.v53.dmsa5/hcsd2b00628.htm.
It was originally exploited by DB2 (SQL/DS) on VM, allowing it to emulate
VSAM.
I can envision that the VSAM calls and data could be exported via a
custom-built "connector" to z/VSE or z/OS. Or Linux. There are those who
might be willing to pay someone to provide a solution that would leave
their programs intact but sever the connection to CMS/VSAM. I wonder:
Perhaps the emulator could simply use the BPX1xxxx POSIX routines to mount
remote NFS server and read/write data that way.
Alan Altmark
z/VM Development
IBM Endicott
