The *major* stumbling block with porting ooRexx to z/OS is not porting the
ooRexx code.
The *big* issue is the lack of a modern autotools build system for z/OS. In
particular a port of m4. We looked
at this and hit a major hurdle with porting the gnu stdio extensions.
This is a major problem with porting any modern *nix application to z/OS.
On Fri, Nov 27, 2009 at 1:49 AM, Robert Garrett <[email protected]>wrote:
> It's all in one's point of view I suppose. Having cut my teeth on
> mainframe
> REXX (and still where I spend most of my time), I lament that EXECIO
> doesn't
> exist (yet) in ooREXX. All this byte-oriented stream stuff is just weird,
> if you ask me :)
>
> Robert
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Chip Davis [mailto:[email protected]]
> Sent: Friday, November 20, 2009 2:28 PM
> To: Open Object Rexx Developer Mailing List
> Subject: Re: [Oorexx-devel] oorexx on z/os?
>
>
> I'm afraid that was my fault, Bruce.
>
> I went back to my original reply and saw that in my haste I left off the
> last
> word of my thought. It was supposed to read:
>
> "...we were never even able to get IBM to port Classic Stream I/O
> to the z/OS _interpreter_."
>
> (This is indicated by the odd reference to "the z/OS"; it was supposed to
> be
> an
> adjective.)
>
> So I apologize for the misleading post; I was quite aware of the
> availability of
> Stream I/O on z/OS as a part of the Rexx Compiler. Unfortunately, that is
> not
> sufficient for the adoption of this superior I/O facility by the legions of
> REXX
> interpreter users. If Stream I/O is available only on certain userids,
> outside
> the standard support and maintenance structure, it simply will not be used
> except for personal toys.
>
> Although Stream I/O was long in coming to the REXX interpreter on z/VM
> (relative
> to its introduction in OS/2) it has been there for years, so its absence on
> z/OS
> (IBM's "flagship" OS) is all the more disgraceful.
>
> I can probably put my hands on a copy of the Stream I/O package if you
> would
> like a copy.
>
> -Chip-
>
> On 11/20/09 03:32 CVBruce said:
> > Chip,
> >
> > Not to be dull about the point.
> >
> > I can't disagree with much that you said, except your first post,
> > which said that IBM never ported the stream i/o functions. Truth be
> > told they are available today with the Rexx/370 compiler. Yes you do
> > have to pay extra for it, but that doesn't mean it isn't available, or
> > that IBM never ported it. You didn't mention that your criteria for
> > availability included things like being included in the TSO/E
> > maintenance, that all political issues about installation must be
> > resolved, etc. Jeepers, you even have to pay for COBOL these days.
> > That doesn't mean that it isn't available.
> >
> > I found out about the TSO/E stream library by reading the
> > documentation on the IBM website. It told me where to go to down load
> > the libraries. I ran the jobs to link the objects, and was able to
> > get it up and running both in batch and interactive TSO sessions,
> > without calling the system programers to "officially" install it.
> >
> > Frankly I'm sorry they took it down. I probably didn't save my copy.
> > It saved a lot of time if you have to port some code from a non-
> > mainframe box to MVS.
> >
> > Bruce
> > On Nov 19, 2009, at 5:32 PM, Chip Davis wrote:
> >
> >> I was trying to avoid putting the fine point on it, Bruce.
> >>
> >> The Stream I/O routines were available as part of the REXX compiler
> >> runtime
> >> library, for which you needed a license. The inclusion of the
> >> Stream I/O
> >> functions into the native TSO/REXX interpreter involved a secret
> >> back-door
> >> download from an IBM FTP (not web) site (subsequently removed).
> >>
> >> The installation was far from straight-forward and (AFAICT) never
> >> successfully
> >> accomplished at the system level, where it would have been a locally-
> >> supported
> >> mod at any rate. Requiring that much effort to include Stream I/O
> >> support made
> >> it far from universally available and thus little-used.
> >>
> >> Furthermore, the Stream I/O functions were not part of the SMP/E
> >> maintenance
> >> stream for the TSO/REXX interpreter, and thus prohibited in many
> >> shops.
> >>
> >> It was, and still is, *NOT* part of the TSO/REXX interpreter and no
> >> amount of
> >> begging, pleading, cajoling, or hounding of TPTB within IBM was ever
> >> able to
> >> convince them that the *interpreter* (which is used far more than
> >> the compiler)
> >> should support native Rexx I/O on z/OS, as it does on all other IBM
> >> platforms.
> >>
> >> Bottom Line: If no one in RexxLA has the inclination and z/OS
> >> expertise/access,
> >> we'll never see ooRexx ported there.
> >>
> >> -Chip-
> >>
> >> On 11/19/09 23:43 CVBruce said:
> >>> Not true. The I/O steam was available as a download for Z/OS, and
> >>> it
> >>> was included in the Rexx/MVS compiler.
> >>>
> >>> Bruce
> >>> On Nov 19, 2009, at 2:29 PM, Chip Davis wrote:
> >>>
> >>>> Not to put too fine a point on it, but we were never even able to
> >>>> get IBM to
> >>>> port Classic Stream I/O to the z/OS.
> >>>>
> >>>> -Chip-
> >>>>
> >>>> On 11/19/09 20:04 Earl Hodil said:
> >>>>> Here's a stupid question: Why doesn't IBM do the port?
> >>>>>
> >>>>> Earl
> >>>>>
> >>>>> ----- Original Message -----
> >>>>> From: "Rick McGuire" <[email protected]>
> >>>>> To: "Open Object Rexx Developer Mailing List"
> >>>>> <[email protected]>
> >>>>> Sent: Thursday, November 19, 2009 1:22 PM
> >>>>> Subject: Re: [Oorexx-devel] oorexx on z/os?
> >>>>>
> >>>>>
> >>>>> Yeah, and a lot of people have been saying that for years, but
> >>>>> nobody
> >>>>> with z/os skills has ever put any real effort into working on a
> >>>>> port.
> >>>>> Without that, it's never going to happen.
> >>>>>
> >>>>> Rick
> >>>>>
> >>>>> On Thu, Nov 19, 2009 at 1:19 PM, Earl Hodil
> >>>>> <[email protected]> wrote:
> >>>>>> My bad. I misinterpreted what I read.
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>> I still think it would be killer on z/os, though.
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>> earl
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>> ----- Original Message -----
> >>>>>> From: "Rick McGuire" <[email protected]>
> >>>>>> To: "Open Object Rexx Developer Mailing List"
> >>>>>> <[email protected]>
> >>>>>> Sent: Thursday, November 19, 2009 12:56 PM
> >>>>>> Subject: Re: [Oorexx-devel] oorexx on z/os?
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>> I'm not aware of anybody getting oorexx to run on z/os. It does
> >>>>>> run
> >>>>>> on z/linux, but that's a horse of a different color.
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>> Rick
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>> On Thu, Nov 19, 2009 at 12:41 PM, Earl Hodil
> >>>>>> <[email protected]> wrote:
> >>>>>>> Hello everyone,
> >>>>>>>
> >>>>>>> I had occasion this past year to convert a classic REXX program
> >>>>>>> that ran
> >>>>>>> on
> >>>>>>> z/os to an oorexx program that ran on linux for one of my
> >>>>>>> customers. Most
> >>>>>>> things converted just fine. The work centered around the I/O
> >>>>>>> interfaces,
> >>>>>>> sockets and files. The sockets weren't too bad, but there are
> >>>>>>> some
> >>>>>>> differences. The files, though, required a wholesale rewrite.
> >>>>>>>
> >>>>>>> Now I have sniffed around the archives enough to know that
> >>>>>>> somebody has
> >>>>>>> oorexx up and running on z/os. I suspect that it is entirely a
> >>>>>>> creature
> >>>>>>> of
> >>>>>>> the unix side of the house. Is there any thought to making oorexx
> >>>>>>> the
> >>>>>>> default interpreter on z/os? I know that right now it would break
> >>>>>>> a lot
> >>>>>>> of
> >>>>>>> programs, and not just because of EXECIO. I have a product,
> >>>>>>> REXXTOOLS/MVS
> >>>>>>> that is pretty widespread and would need to be accounted for.
> >>>>>>>
> >>>>>>> I just wanted you to know that I stand ready to help in any way
> >>>>>>> that I
> >>>>>>> can.
> >>>>>>>
> >>>>>>> Sincerely,
> >>>>>>>
> >>>>>>> Earl Hodil
> >>>>>>> Open Software Technologies
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