Banks migrate from mainframes to AI-driven cloud

[Arthur Fichtl]

Am 10.02.2024 um 06:00 schrieb IBM-MAIN automatic digest system:
migration from the mainframe?

The mainframe as a piece of hardware might vanish. But the Exabytes  of 
MF software might move to some sort of virtualization platform, I guess, 
may that be  based on Intel, cloud, or RISC .



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Assembler, was: AI expert hot new position

[Arthur Fichtl]

As a now retired freelance z/OS guy  based in Munich/Germany I had to 
find a market niche at my employer. Therefore I specialized on 
debugging, analysis of dumps and the like. For those tasks HLASM was 
inevitable.


My colleagues preferred more comfortable tasks and languages and 
therefore I for myself had a quite secure job.


And I liked it. My 1st language was the Siemens 4004 Assembler with 
punch cards as the user interface. Quite funny.


Arthur



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Assembler courses

[Arthur Fichtl]

You might take a look also at this book, author: Carmine A. Cannatello

"Advanced assembler language and MVS interfaces (2nd ed.): for IBM
systems and application programmers"

https://dl.acm.org/profile/81100290810


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Re: Has this forum moved to another server ?

[Arthur]

In Message-ID:,
Barry Schwarz wrote:

>On Sun, 19 Dec 2021 10:50:15 -0800 (PST), tim popescu
>wrote:
>
>>Has this forum moved to another server ? If so, where ?
>
>This is not a Usenet forum.  It is an echo of the IBM 
Main listserv

>hosted by Alabama University.

But the OP has a point. I read the forum from the Usenet 
mirror, and there hadn't been a message there since 
2021-11-17.


Note: I didn't want to post Darren's eddress in clear, but 
I BCCed him.


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Re: Experiences

[Arthur]

On 25 Jun 2021 10:09:52 -0700, in bit.listserv.ibm-main 
(Message-ID:) 
0305158ad67d-dmarc-requ...@listserv.ua.edu (Itschak 
Mugzach) wrote:


>The register  ( I think) has someone tells his experience 
under the name of

>'shark tank'.

No, that was Computerworld. As mentioned by someone else, 
it's no longer being updated.


The Register has the weekly equivalent "On Call" which is 
being updated:

https://www.theregister.com/Tag/on-call

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Re: Coding for the future

[Arthur]

On 15 Jun 2021 15:07:15 -0700, in bit.listserv.ibm-main 
(Message-ID:<017c01d76232$bfdeb750$3f9c25f0$@gmail.com>) 
robhbrid...@gmail.com (Bob Bridges) wrote:


Like most programmers (maybe), I had some habits that I no 
longer tolerate.


A couple of quotes are applicable here:

Always code as if the person who ends up maintaining your 
code will be a violent psychopath who knows where you live.

   -Martin Golding

And one time when I posted an old program, I said: "I 
disavow any bad coding, as it belongs to a much younger 
version of myself."



For example:

1) I used to hate long-winded variable names.  Ok, that's 
a bad example to
start with, because I still do.  But I no longer use 
one-character variable

names, ever


My first languages were BASIC & Fortran, and I still see 
nothing wrong with loop variables of I, J, & K.


For anything more complex, I do use names that make sense. 
Or I try to. I recently rewrote a program and had to figure 
out what some variable names meant. I kept the names 
(because they *were* descriptive), but included a block 
comment at the beginning explaining them.


2) I know everyone says to comment your work, but I never 
used to.


I've found it useful to have a block of comments (or at 
least a one-liner) at the beginning of each program, 
explaining what it does. Too often I've had to read through 
a whole program to figure out what it did, and whether it 
was (supposed to be) a one-shot. An account of how it does 
what it does can also be useful, but that tends not to 
change when the program itself does.


5) One thing hasn't changed:  Like most of us here, I was 
~always~ rabid

about proper indentation.


I am no longer so fond of my "standard" for REXX 
indentation. But with decades of old code, I continue it 
rather than change to something I'd actually prefer. I 
steal too much from my old code to be happy changing to 
something incompatible. 


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Re: How to compare parameters in one z/Os with parameters in another z/OS

[Arthur]

In 
Message-ID:<7d1e23cd-fe3d-275b-652e-9240b8b84...@phoenixsoftware.com>,

edja...@phoenixsoftware.com (Ed Jaffe) wrote:

>On 6/14/2021 6:29 AM, Arthur wrote:
>> Are there (supported?) ways to generate parmlib members 
from what's

>> actually in effect? (ISTR that JES2 does.)
>
>Is this possible in JES2? How does it work?

I've been away from mainframes for over a decade, and 
apparently my memory is untrustworthy. I *thought* there 
was some way. Given the other responses, though, I guess I 
was mistaken. I'm sorry if I got anyone's hopes up just to 
dash them.


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Re: How to compare parameters in one z/Os with parameters in another z/OS

[Arthur]

On 13 Jun 2021 16:50:55 -0700, in bit.listserv.ibm-main 
(Message-ID:) 
ibmm...@foxmail.com (ibmmain) wrote:


>We want to make sure two z/OS use the same 
parameters(PARMLIB,VTAMLST,and so on)

>
>
>Because there is some parameter which is multiline in 
member, it isn't easy to compare them.

>
>Is there any way to compare parameters in one z/Os 
with parameters in another z/OS


Others have suggested a good start of display commands, 
IPLINFO, SHOWZOS, etc. This is a good way to compare 
running systems because the output will be in predictable 
order and format. BUT


Most parms can be overridden by commands. If/when a system 
is IPLed, it will revert to the parms as specified in 
parmlib. If you have proper change control, those parms 
have been updated, too. But, if you had that level of 
change control, you probably would not be in the situation 
of trying to compare parms from one system to another.


So it probably does make sense to start with the easy 
techniques, but you may still have to slog through checking 
the parmlibs against each other the hard way.


But I have two thoughts on the above:

Do you have a sandbox where you can IPL those systems in a 
test mode and compare the displays with the running 
systems?


Are there (supported?) ways to generate parmlib members 
from what's actually in effect? (ISTR that JES2 does.) If 
so, they'll probably be in he same formats and orders, thus 
easy to compare.


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Re: Looking for help understanding an FTP problem

[Arthur]

On 5 May 2021 11:13:21 -0700, in bit.listserv.ibm-main 
(Message-ID:<0ceb01d741da$50264400$f072cc00$@mcn.org>) 
charl...@mcn.org (Charles Mills) wrote:


>My FTP client succeeds when the port is 1025, 1026, 1027, 
... etc. until it

>gets to port 2240, when the dialog looks like
>
>EZA1736I GET  'dsname'
>EZA1701I >>> PORT 204,90,***,***,8,192
>
>200 Port request OK.
>
>EZA1701I >>> RETR 
'dsname'
>EZA2589E Connection to server interrupted or timed out. 
Waiting for reply

>
>EZA1721W Server not responding, closing connection.
>
>EZA1735I Std Return Code = 16200, Error Code = 
9

>
>It also fails for ports 2710 and 3391, but no other ports 
between 1025 and

>3392.

2240 is a "registered port" for "General Dynamics Remote 
Encryptor Configuration Information Protocol (RECIPe)". 
2710 ditto for "XBT Tracker. UDP tracker extension is 
considered experimental." Could this be an issue? (Of 
course, many of the ports that *are* working for you are on 
that list, too.)


Source: 



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Re: Off-Topic? (was: Creating XLS file)

[Arthur]

In 
Message-ID:<4979875910604534.wa.paulgboulderaim@listserv.ua.edu>,
000433f07816-dmarc-requ...@listserv.ua.edu (Paul 
Gilmartin) wrote:


>On Tue, 27 Apr 2021 11:56:46 +, Seymour J Metz wrote:
>
>>KEDIT does no support prefix macros. When I used XEDIT, 
I depended on SET PENDING et al.

>>
>How is this particularly relevant to "Creating XLS file"?

Sorry, it was my fault. My software is currently flakey, 
and I can't programmatically reply, so I copy-and-paste 
from Usenet to my e-mail program. And, as a template, I 
used the previous message I sent, and forgot to change the 
Subject. The Subject should have been, "re: SPF/SE out 
of business?".


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Re: Creating XLS file

[Arthur]

In 
Message-ID:,

sme...@gmu.edu (Seymour J Metz) wrote:

>Now if I just had an editor that was fully compatible 
with XEDIT.


Have you tried KEDIT 
? I'm not 
sufficiently familiar with XEDIT to know if it's "fully" 
compatible. Be aware that they're planning on making it 
abandonware soon. But they've been planning on shutting 
down any time now for at least the last five years.


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Re: Creating XLS file

[Arthur]

On 23 Mar 2021 22:10:26 -0700, in bit.listserv.ibm-main 
(Message-ID:<1100b9e892474a07bfd113b1e9ed6...@jer-mail1.jer.ad.malam.com>) 
gad...@malam.com (Gadi Ben-Avi) wrote:


>If it's just text, creating a csv file shouldn't be too 
difficult, and Excel will be able to read it with no 
problems.
>Separate the fields with commas, and if a field has 
spaces, surround it with ".
>Format dates and time as something excel will understand 
as a date or time.


It's obvious that the easiest way is to create a CSV file. 
But it might not be the best way. You have to worry about 
data corruption if Excel misinterprets your fields. See, 
for instance:


https://www.theverge.com/2020/8/6/21355674/human-genes-rename-microsoft-excel-misreading-dates

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yb2zkxHDfUE

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Re: Has anyone integrated Rexx with IKJPARS?

[Arthur]

On 23 Nov 2020 20:21:55 -0800, in bit.listserv.ibm-main 
(Message-ID:<0023787189638483.wa.paulgboulderaim@listserv.ua.edu>) 
000433f07816-dmarc-requ...@listserv.ua.edu (Paul 
Gilmartin) wrote:


>On Mon, 23 Nov 2020 21:56:22 -0600, Al Ferguson wrote:
>
>>They are not necessary, but you can use a variable after 
the ADDRESS.  I have written a few REXX programs where I 
used:

>>ADDRESS CMD
>>
>>Where I set CMD = "environ actual-command".
>>
>I'm incredulous.  Are you sure you didn't:
>interpret 'ADDRESS' CMD
>???
>The symbol in the simpler form of ADDRESS  is *never*
>evaluated as a variable.

I believe that both of the above are, at best, partially 
correct.


Paul is correct that ADDRESS CMD should set the environment 
to CMD regardless of the value of a variable named CMD. 
However, it is possible to use a variable: ADDRESS (CMD) is 
the equivalent of ADDRESS VALUE CMD, which would set the 
environment to the value of variable CMD.


The above is my interpretation of the ADDRESS command as 
explained in IKJ4A3A0.


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Re: Has anyone integrated Rexx with IKJPARS?

[Arthur]

On 19 Nov 2020 11:30:29 -0800, in bit.listserv.ibm-main 
(Message-ID:<0b3b01d6beaa$60ee3530$22ca9f90$@mcn.org>) 
charl...@mcn.org (Charles Mills) wrote:


>The issue I am struggling with is that for all of Rexx's 
parsing power,
>which is of course legendary, it does not seem 
well-suited to classic "MVS"
>(for want of a better term) quoted strings. I am 
considering an EXEC that

>would accept parameters of
>
>'a quoted string', 'another quoted string', simpletoken1, 
simpletoken2, ...

>
>I don't see a good way to parse -- without resorting to a
>character-by-character loop -- input such as
>
>'now isn''t the time', 'nor, is this', MYTOKEN, YOURTOKEN

I'm not overly fond of this suggestion, but I make it in 
case it's of use:


Have you considered a CLIST wrapper? The user invokes a 
CLIST which parses out the operands, and that calls the 
REXX program with operands that REXX can understand easily. 
With sufficient ingenuity you might even make a general 
preparser in CLIST; if you do, it would probably be 
welcomed on the CBT tape.


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Re: Can a non-admin restrict others from viewing one of their own MVS data sets?

[Arthur]

Frank Swarbrick said:
I was successfully able to use the Security System (RACF) 
panels to add a dataset profile for a dataset with my HLQ, 
with UACC(NONE).  I had another developer who would 
normally have access try to view it and he was blocked.


You might want to tell your security people that this was a 
test, and do it *before* they notice that failed access. 
Even the truth is suspicious when stated after the 
investigations start; and you don't want to get that other 
developer in trouble.


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Re: Concatenating lines

[Arthur]

On 11 Jul 2020 08:52:59 -0700, in bit.listserv.ibm-main 
(Message-ID:<3911683753066856.wa.paulgboulderaim@listserv.ua.edu>) 
000433f07816-dmarc-requ...@listserv.ua.edu (Paul 
Gilmartin) wrote:



/* Not making a non-continued line a special case,
  I'd simplify the loop to: */

signal on novalue  /* Always!  */
data = ''
do i = 1 to in.0
  parse value in.i with l 72 c 73 .
  data = data''l
  if c = ' ' then do
say data
data = ''
  end
end i


if c = ' ' then exit 0
say data
exit 4 /* ended with a continuation */ 


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Re: Search engine (retitled)

[Arthur]

On Sun, 5 Jul 2020 00:26:55 -0600, in bit.listserv.ibm-main 
(Message-ID:) 
Grant Taylor  wrote:



On 7/4/20 8:56 PM, Arthur wrote:
I use DDG, and I don't think it's an amalgamater. But if 
you're just looking for "search for the words I asked 
for", you can click "verbatim" on Google. And if, like 
me, you run without cookies and without logging in, the 
results should be impartial.


Where is this "verbatim" option that you speak of?

I just checked main search page, advanced search page, and 
search settings.


I must be looking in the wrong place.


If you turn off CSS, it's right there on the page. If you 
have CSS on, it's more complicated. I forget where it is, 
but it's hidden and requires two or three clicks to get to 
it. Or, as someone else pointed out, "If you put =li:1 
at the end of your search URL, you'll get verbatim 
results."

...
Ah, other people had the same problem of finding it, and 
someone showed how it's done via animated gif:

https://i.imgur.com/HkPE4fr.gif

I can't verify that method because, for security reasons, I 
run with active scripting turned off. 


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Re: Search engine (retitled)

[Arthur]

On 4 Jul 2020 18:58:36 -0700, in bit.listserv.ibm-main 
(Message-ID:) 
sme...@gmu.edu (Seymour J Metz) wrote:


DDG is an amalgamater; it retains the spurious hits from, 
e.g., google. It's good for what it does, but it's not a 
"do what I asked for" search engine.


I use DDG, and I don't think it's an amalgamater. But if 
you're just looking for "search for the words I asked for", 
you can click "verbatim" on Google. And if, like me, you 
run without cookies and without logging in, the results 
should be impartial. 


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Re: z/OS use of "legacy" programming languages

[Arthur]

On 30 Jun 2020 12:18:01 -0700, in bit.listserv.ibm-main 
(Message-ID:) 
frank.swarbr...@outlook.com (Frank Swarbrick) wrote:


Some time ago I noticed that z/OS Language Environment has 
support for both "FORTRAN IV" and "VS FORTRAN" (FORTRAN 77 
standard), even though the latest Fortran compiler hasn't 
been enhanced since 1993 (??).  I've been learning modern 
Fortran (standards Fortran 90, 95, 03 and 08) using GNU 
Fortran and actually quite like it, but I can't imagine 
using anything prior to the 1990 standard.  Anyway, I am 
curious if anyone uses Fortran on z/OS in their shop, and 
if so, why?


Is Pascal also still supported/used?  I don't see any 
mention of it in LE documentation.  Are there any other 
"legacy" MVS languages still in use (i.e., ones that 
haven't been updated in the last 30 years...)?  I've seen 
mention of APL2 on MVS, and maybe even Smalltalk?


I'm going to answer what I take as the tone of your 
questions, rather than the specifics.


In a production environment, once a program has been 
written and debugged, when it has been working fine for 
years, you don't want to touch it, if at all possible. 
Unless it needs updating, you just keep running it, 
regardless of what language it was written in.


I someone wants to recompile a FORTRAN IV program with a 
modern compiler, that person is taking the responsibility 
for its future behavior, and that its behavior will match 
what it was before. That person is also taking 
responsibility for making sure that the source for the 
program is actually the source that was compiled decades 
ago, when there may be no one left from that programming 
team. And think of the hours to be lost in creating tests, 
running them, and going through all of the quality-control 
paperwork involved; and if it's only in order to recompile 
with a modern compiler, all that work and time is just to 
end with the same functionality you already had.


During the time of the 370s, I knew of a company which kept 
a 360 because it could do 1401 emulation in order to run a 
critical program. While I have no actual knowledge, I have 
little doubt that there are companies running old FORTRAN 
code, RPG, COBOL Report Writer, and pretty much anything 
else you can think of.


Downward compatibility means you can say, "If it ain't 
broke, don't fix it."  


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Re: HOW DO I VERIFY A USERID'S ACCESS TO A DATASET

[Arthur]

On 14 Jun 2020 14:55:45 -0700, in bit.listserv.ibm-main 
(Message-ID:<0385558663798702.wa.paulgboulderaim@listserv.ua.edu>) 
000433f07816-dmarc-requ...@listserv.ua.edu (Paul 
Gilmartin) wrote:


G4> A security jock should treat an access query with a 
negative reply as a violation as serious as attempting 
the access and failing.
B5> "As serious"?  So you think attempting the access and 
failing is a serious violation (at least to some 
extent)?  Yet you're advocating that he do just that.
The question was posed those years ago by a programmer 
afflicted
with a stodgy security jock who investigated and possibly 
wrote up
any prohibited access attempt.  The questioner was seeking 
a process

to avoid such interactions.


I know of a case where someone used repeated LISTDSDs to 
find a non-catalogued APF library that wasn't properly 
secured. (Despite the long time passed, I won't identify a 
company or an individual.) So, even though it wasn't many 
LISTDSD commands showing no access, it proved a way in for 
someone who shouldn't have had it. A series of security 
failures against APF libraries would at least have showed 
the problem up, though maybe not in realtime.


I believe that LISTDSD can now be secured. CBT file 106 
already requires APF authorization. But I now realize that 
David Spiegel's program opens up the same potential that 
unprotected LISTDSD does. If it hadn't been for this 
conversation, I probably wouldn't have recognized it as a 
possible problem. So, since I'm a "professional paranoid", 
I now wonder about the OP's requirement (doubly so, since 
he isn't even a member of the Listserv). 


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Re: HOW DO I VERIFY A USERID'S ACCESS TO A DATASET

[Arthur]

On 13 Jun 2020 21:45:00 -0700, in bit.listserv.ibm-main 
(Message-ID:) 
dspiegel...@hotmail.com (David Spiegel) wrote:


I am aware of CBT 106. I presented my solution in case the 
user wanted to know if s/he had access.
If so, s/he could avoid all of the paperwork and 
permission required to change IKJTSOxx etc. (which is 
probably almost never granted).


Multiple techniques and examples are good. I'm sorry if I 
sounded dismissive.


But if you're running under TSO and just want to know your 
own access to a dataset, the LISTDSD command will tell you 
that. I had a REXX program to parse the output of LISTDSD 
and pull out just the "your access" information. It issued 
the command once with "discrete" and once with "generic" 
and gave full information. But the OP wanted to do it in 
Assembler, so this technique is moot. (Plus, I think 
they've added the capability to restrict that command since 
I retired.) 


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Re: HOW DO I VERIFY A USERID'S ACCESS TO A DATASET

[Arthur]

On 13 Jun 2020 21:22:07 -0700, in bit.listserv.ibm-main 
(Message-ID:) 
dspiegel...@hotmail.com (David Spiegel) wrote:



Here is my solution ...
1) An Assembler program ... Does not to be APF Authorized, 
if ESM is RACF. (If ESM is ACF/2 or TSS, it needs APF 
Authorization).


Your program asks "Do I have access?" CBT file 106 needs to 
run authorized because it asks, "Does this *other* user 
have access?" The OPs question could be interpreted either 
way. 


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Re: HOW DO I VERIFY A USERID'S ACCESS TO A DATASET

[Arthur]

On Sat, 13 Jun 2020 09:10:01 -0700 (PDT), in 
bit.listserv.ibm-main 
(Message-ID:) 
Michael DeChirico  wrote:


Are there any hlasm code examples on how to user RACROUTE 
to verify a userid's access to read/write a dataset?


Check CBT file 106:
http://www.cbttape.org/ftp/cbt/CBT106.zip

There are examples of almost everything on CBT.

Also, join the Listserv. Most of the people here will not 
have seen your original question. For information on how, 
see the bottom of just about any message here (including 
this one). 


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Re: Apparent bug in CBT 617 SMFREPT

[Arthur]

On 13 Apr 2020 18:08:22 -0700, in bit.listserv.ibm-main 
(Message-ID:<071001d611f9$2b278ef0$8176acd0$@mcn.org>) 
charl...@mcn.org (Charles Mills) wrote:


FmtHHMMSS: 
Procedure 

 Arg 
SecsX100Bin 


 
The solution is to change that first line of code to, for 
example,

SecsX100Bin = Arg(1)


I don't have access to TSO REXX, but my testing on a PC 
REXX suggests that you're right:

 
  a = x2c('006141')
  say a
  call say2(a)
  exit 0
say2:
  procedure
  arg b
  c = arg(1)
  say b c2x(b)
  say c c2x(c)
  return 0
 

Output:
 aA
 AA 004141
 aA 006141 


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Re: Bringing up skills learned on z/OS Hercules in interview?

[Arthur]

On 9 Apr 2020 16:23:35 -0700, in bit.listserv.ibm-main 
(Message-ID:<026c01d60ec5$da038be0$8e0aa3a0$@gmail.com>) 
robhbrid...@gmail.com (Bob Bridges) wrote:


This is new to me.  I've heard of Hercules, but I never 
heard that it is considered, or that IBM would like it to 
be considered, an illegal counterfeit.  Is there any 
ethical reason for that viewpoint?  No, forget "ethical"; 
I guess I can make up my own mind about that (and there'll 
never be a consensus on it).  Is there any ~legal~ basis 
for the assertion?


My understanding is that Hercules is perfectly legal and 
ethical. However, running an unlicensed, copyright 
operating system (such as z/OS) is quite a different story. 
So, as people said, running MVS 3.8 under Hercules is fine, 
but any later OS is problematic. 


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Re: CBT File 120 - A new article - Member BM1912DE

[Arthur]

On 23 Dec 2019 14:27:00 -0800, in bit.listserv.ibm-main 
(Message-ID:<5007816406371788.wa.paulgboulderaim@listserv.ua.edu>) 
000433f07816-dmarc-requ...@listserv.ua.edu (Paul 
Gilmartin) wrote:


It's not obvious to me that a zipped NETDATA archive of an 
IEBCOPY-unloaded
PDS fixed-80 member is the ideal format for a text 
document.  But it does conform to cbttape.org conventions.


It also tends to keep the management types away. What I 
meant when I said, "I'd be happier if things like that 
stayed on CBT," was that I'd be happier if they weren't 
easily available to those who might object to the content. 
The CBT tape had a history of such troubles (though 
admittedly few).


Sam's instructions were good enough that I had no trouble 
downloading the correct file and finding the correct 
member. 


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Re: CBT File 120 - A new article - Member BM1912DE

[Arthur]

On 22 Dec 2019 12:23:25 -0800, in bit.listserv.ibm-main 
(Message-ID:) 
t...@vse2pdf.com (Tony Thigpen) wrote:



Any way you could just put a copy in a post to this list?


I've read the article. I think Sam made the right decision; 
I'd be happier if things like that stayed on CBT.` 


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Re: vendor distributes their private key

[Arthur]

On 22 Aug 2019 05:57:37 -0700, in bit.listserv.ibm-main 
(Message-ID:<0049105969039769.wa.jiveycio.sc@listserv.ua.edu>) 
ji...@cio.sc.gov (Joel M Ivey) wrote:


First, they provided a password-protected p12 file, 
describing it as containing the "root, intermediate, and 
private certs".  I requested their public certificate 
chain only, they sent me a DER file -- with both the 
server cert and its private key.  I have asked them to 
elaborate on their need to distribute their private key to 
me, their response has essentially been, that's the way we 
do it.


As people have already said, this is incredibly negligent 
and/or ignorant. I'd hesitate to have any dealings with 
that company.


I once had to FTP a dump to a vendor. I saw that the 
directory was set up to allow read without a password. I 
refused to send the dump until they fixed the security. It 
was a long time ago, and I can't remember the outcome, 
though I know they argued with me. I will admit that it's 
unusual to require a password for read but not for 
write/create. 


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Re: Pervasive Encryption - why?

[Arthur]

On 6 Aug 2019 07:59:59 -0700, in bit.listserv.ibm-main 
(Message-ID:) 
lenni...@rsmpartners.com (Lennie Dymoke-Bradshaw) wrote:


Access to the ICSF CKDS would not be enough, as the keys 
held there are encrypted (wrapped) using the master key. 
The master key is held in the Crypto Express domain 
corresponding to the LPAR in question. There is no 
interface to extract the master key from the Crypto 
Express device. The Crypto Express device is a FIPS 140-2 
level 4 device so it will resist all sorts of attempts to 
get at the master keys. It will destroy those keys before 
you can get them out.


Are you suggesting that if the Crypto Express device goes 
belly-up, that all encrypted data is forevermore 
unavailable? How does one decrypt during disaster testing 
or a real disaster? 


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Re: Crazy concatenation mystery

[Arthur]

On 1 May 2019 16:51:49 -0700, in bit.listserv.ibm-main 
(Message-ID:) 
jesse1.robin...@sce.com (Jesse 1 Robinson) wrote:


So this is all absolutely true. The module *is* 32760 
while the PDS *is* 19069-the ancient 3350 track size that 
was fairly standard for load libraries in the Dark Ages. 
So what's the mystery? How on earth did the 13 April and 
*all previous* runs work OK? We cannot find any evidence 
of a change. No IPL that weekend let alone z/OS 
maintenance. The link edit date on the fat module is years 
old. We restored an older version of the skinny PDS from 
HSM. No differences. The DASD upgrade I posted about 
earlier came two weeks later.


It should have failed eons ago. This JOBLIB concatenation 
has other problems as well that are not obviously related.


Did the JCL change? Did the blksize of the 1st dataset in 
the JOBLIB concatenation change? 


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Re: Highly technical question - how do I only get my posts?

[Arthur]

On 15 Mar 2019 14:28:27 -0700, in bit.listserv.ibm-main 
(Message-ID:) 
billgianne...@gmail.com (william giannelli) wrote:



I just want to see replies to my posts…..


It's possible you shouldn't have asked this question. It 
sounds as though you want to ask questions and get answers 
without otherwise participating. If you get only responses 
to your questions, you'll never see or reply to other 
people's questions that you might know the answer to. You 
also won't see all of the other good information that shows 
up here. And, as already pointed out, you won't see the 
answers to the same question you have that was asked by 
someone else and already answered.


Some people remember those who take without giving, and 
won't respond to their questions.


Now, it's possible that you normally browse the Listserv 
via the web interface and do, in fact, read (and maybe 
reply to) more than just your own Q But that is 
certainly not implied by the way you asked your question. 


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Re: how many OSes run on IBMz

[Arthur Fichtl]

BS = bull $hit

Meaning,.. one is talking meaningless, foolish, s#it. So either BS or 
horse s#it.


Seeing a name like BS2000 or BS3000 made me think of a hypothetical 
marketing department where their product is so useless, but they proudly 
sell it, by naming it BS2000.


They call the new and improved version BS3000.

It's like how the wall street laughs at the rest of the world when they 
name things CDOs, etc.


Sure, CDO has a normal meaning but I'm sure some guy in a suit somewhere 
knows its *real* expanded name (inside joke).


– Vignesh

Mainframe Infrastructure

Vignesh, that’s not correct.

As I worked (in an earlier life) both with BS2000 and BS3000 I could 
enlight you:


Beginning 1966 Siemens/Germany started with manufacturing Computers 
whose design was developed by RCA (USA). It was named BS1000 and was 
similar to the IBM/360 (but not identical).


When IBM started selling the /370 machines which where equipped with a 
virtual memory hardware architecture and ran the successor Operating 
System named OS/VS, Siemens began to produce its own Hardware and 
developed an OS called BS2000, as well equipped with virtual memory.


Regarding the /370 you might want to have a look to this article:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_System/370

BS3000 was marketed by Siemens (its original name was FACOM and the 
manufacturer was Fujitsu). It had no relations to BS2000.


It was sort of Clone of MVS and IBM sued Fujitsu for copyright 
infringement; there were rumors that IBM demanded (and received) 1 
billion US$ from Fujitsu which implied also that the Japanese company 
was allowed to sell their machines in the domestic market.



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Subject: Re: [EXTERNAL] Re: how many OSes run on IBMz

[Arthur Fichtl]

Am 27.01.2019 um 06:00 schrieb IBM-MAIN automatic digest system:

Subject: Re: [EXTERNAL] Re: how many OSes run on IBMz


OK,
Enlight me, what is BS?
Why it's funny?

It is Germish and means "Betriebssystem"

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Re: Compute the maximum return code of all steps (so far)

[Arthur]

On 26 Nov 2018 13:03:55 -0800, in bit.listserv.ibm-main 
(Message-ID:) 
bernd.oppol...@t-online.de (Bernd Oppolzer) wrote:



using this as keyword and a well known search engine,
I found a REXX (from a french site), which I will try 
tomorrow.


This could be of interest to others, so here is the REXX 
(unedited, no warranty),

including some original french comments:


A link, instead of copying the code, would have been 
better. If the code hasn't been marked as free to use and 
copy, this is a possible copyright violation. Just as bad, 
the person who wrote this code has gotten no recognition 
for it, which is a probable violation even if it was 
covered by a Creative Commons license. And, if the coder 
improves the program, people who take the code from 
IBM-Main will not have those improvements.


I like the idea of having code where it can be found. A few 
programs on the CBT tape are mine. But I *chose* to submit 
them, and they have my name on them. Just because it's on 
the Internet does not mean it's not copyright.


OTOH, I congratulate you on finding this code, and thank 
you for letting us all know it exists. 


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Re: eWEEK Article highlights weaknesses in Mainframe Security

[Arthur]

On 30 Oct 2018 07:59:23 -0700, in bit.listserv.ibm-main 
(Message-ID:<22f77f8ce1e2084ab5fdb5843a0ba2a191038...@mlem1865.hrdc-drhc.net>) 
frederick.verw...@hrsdc-rhdcc.gc.ca (Eric Verwijs) wrote:



http://www.eweek.com/security/taking-a-closer-look-at-mainframe-security

What zero-day vulnerabilities would there be? I've not 
heard of unpatched security holes in Z/OS before.


Note that near the top of the article it says: "In this 
eWEEK Data Point article, using industry information from 
Ray Overby, President and CEO of Key Resources, Inc." It 
was KRI that supposedly found the zero-day vulns.


I think this is not so much an article as an ad for KRI. 


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Re: Spam alert: Model9

[Arthur]

On 14 Sep 2018 03:50:14 -0700, in bit.listserv.ibm-main 
(Message-ID:<7316854461517568.wa.giliadwyahoo@listserv.ua.edu>) 
00d50942efa9-dmarc-requ...@listserv.ua.edu (Giliad 
Wilf) wrote:


Got this e-mail too, inspected it with some concerns, but 
finally opened it.
It could prove useful, as the CEO advised my previous 
employer on performance issues we had, to our satisfaction.
This CEO co-authored many IBM publications, both white and 
red, and was a visiting developer at IBM of some z/OS 
components.


If you know the CEO, tell him not to spam. Don't let 
spammers prosper. It wouldn't be the first time a CEO 
didn't know what his marketing people are doing.


Also, I forwarded it to the edress in the anti-spam header:
X-Report-Abuse-To: ab...@hubspot.com (see 
https://www.hubspot.com/abuse-complaints)


I'm not sure how much good it'll do, but I did get a 
response from that. If the rest of you also report it, it 
might make a difference. He did say they "will be 
investigating to ensure compliance with our acceptable use 
policy."


And, in reference to another post: I did not go to Share; I 
did not subscribe; it was sent to this edress which I use 
*only* for IBM Main.


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Spam alert: Model9

[Arthur]

Out of the blue (no pun intended), I received an e-mail 
newsletter digest from Model9 "because you are subscribed 
to Marketing Information from Model9". (I note that they 
don't say I *did* subscribe, just that I *am* subscribed.)


This came to the edress I use *only* for IBM Main, so I 
expect many of the rest of you will also get it. Even if it 
looks like something you'd like, I feel it's important to 
make sure spammers don't profit from their spam.


Also, remember not to unsubscribe from spam; that's how 
they know they have a live edress which is worth more to 
sell to other spammers.


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Re: Updated Green Card

[Arthur Fichtl]

Machine readable instruction formats are available here as part of a 
disassembler (written in Rexx) on File 773 of CBT:

http://www.cbttape.org/ftp/cbt/CBT773.zip

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Re: IEBUPDTE question

[Arthur]

On 19 Nov 2017 19:43:57 -0800, in bit.listserv.ibm-main 
(Message-ID:<5a124fc6.3070...@vse2pdf.com>) 
t...@vse2pdf.com (Tony Thigpen) wrote:


Unfortunately, some of the data within these jobs steams 
contain a './' at the start of the card record. IEBUPDTE 
thinks they are control cards and cancels the catalog of 
the new member.


The CBT tape has a utility that will work like IEBUPDTE, 
but you to specify a different two characters for "real" 
control statements.  You can either rerun the offload with 
the new program, or hand-edit the input.  The former is 
probably easier.


I forget which one I used.  It's probably file 93, but I 
see another at file 684.


Search for UPDTE on page 
http://www.cbttape.org/cbtdowns.htm 


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The design of Cobol, was "interesting article"

[Arthur Fichtl]

There is an additional draw back regarding the language Cobol itself: At the 
times, it was designed in the fifties, it fitted well into the technical 
architecture of the machines, though it was rather primitive from a modern 
viewpoint. The aim was to enable people with a business background (office 
clerks and accountants) to write programs without demanding computer science 
skills (which did not really exist in the fifties).

The technical evolution of hardware and OS led to growing customer demands that 
fitted not really perfectly into the original design.

The language evolved despite its primary limitations and grew more and more 
complex due to those limitations. That’s the current situation.

Compared to PL/I, which first appeared in 1964, writing large scale software is 
much more difficult.

I myself must admit that I'm an enthusiastic PL/I-programmer.

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Re: Fwd: Fw: Special Request from Len Santalucia, Chairperson of the Linux Foundation Open Mainframe Project

[Arthur]

On 14 Aug 2017 09:11:56 -0700, in bit.listserv.ibm-main 
(Message-ID:) 
g...@gabegold.com (Gabe Goldberg) wrote:



This confidential study is being
   conducted to understand current and planned usage of 
the mainframe.
 Through this study, we hope to generate the most 
comprehensive

   assessment of the mainframe industry


While an anonymous, Internet-based, self-selected survey 
might be "the most comprehensive assessment", I have doubts 
about its accuracy. At least two of those three qualifiers 
are red flags when applied to surveys. 


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Re: DFRMM Request For Enhancement 106021

[Arthur]

In the same post are these two snippets. The second seems 
to contradict the first, and seems to be the problem that 
the OP is complaining about:


On 14 Jul 2017 13:40:52 -0700, in bit.listserv.ibm-main 
(Message-ID:<8306788698430144.wa.mikewwoodhotmail@listserv.ua.edu>) 
mikeww...@hotmail.com (Mike Wood) wrote:


you should not be able to write to a tape without rmm 
knowing about it.


Prior to that the system allows tapes to be used without 
rmm knowing.


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Fujitsu or FACOM and SIEMENS

[Arthur Fichtl]

In the beginning of the 80s I worked at the University of Regensburg; among 
other tasks I also did programming in the field of statistics using PL/I as the 
programming language (where I’m still fond of). When I started we used a 
Telefunken TR440 machine which was then replaced by a Fujitsu Siemens computer. 
This System ran FACOM/BS3000 and we received some manuals to get familiar with 
the OS and the dialog system. TSO there had an old version of SPF (the 
predecessor of ISPF) installed – where no docs were available at all.
The manuals were written with a typewriter and the name “BS3000” was overtyped 
over FACOM). 
One of the system guys of the computer center later told me that he had visited 
Fujitsu in Japan to see how the OS was developed. In fact, they had there about 
1,000 programmers to copy the source code of the OS into the “new” version by 
replacing names of the system components (e.g. IKJEFT01 was changed to 
KDEJFT01).
Some years later there arose rumors that IBM has agreed with Fujitsu: The 
Japanese had to pay 1,000,000,000 US$ to IBM which allowed them to use the 
“cloned “ OS further on inside Japan.

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Re: Swap between INTERTEST CICS breakpoint and USER screen

[Cartier, Arthur J]

Mike,

Try the CORE=SSCR command.

Art Cartier

-Original Message-
From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List [mailto:IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU] On Behalf 
Of Mike Kovach
Sent: Friday, September 16, 2016 9:26 AM
To: IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU
Subject: Swap between INTERTEST CICS breakpoint and USER screen

I remember this was possible, but I don't remember how. Can anyone help please?
Mike Kovach

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Re: Alter access to datasets

[Arthur]

On 28 Apr 2016 18:43:27 -0700, in bit.listserv.ibm-main 
(Message-ID:<9982011699705061.wa.gsg808yahoo@listserv.ua.edu>) 
0053fe88ed35-dmarc-requ...@listserv.ua.edu (gsg) wrote:


As part of a systems programmer duties, they have ALTER 
access to many datasets.  They need/require this access to 
install, upgrade, maintain and resolve problems.  Audit 
has been pushing more and more to remove the ALTER access.


Has anyone else been experiencing this?


The following is opinion based on my experience:

Auditors feel they have to make recommendations in order to 
justify their existence. Thus, if you have a secure system, 
they start to make stuff up. Removing required sysprog 
authorities is one of the easier demands to think of, 
regardless of its impracticality.


Too many companies then make those ridiculous "recommended" 
changes because they think the auditors know what they're 
doing, or because it's easier to defend stupid things 
ordered by auditors than smart things contrary to the 
auditors advice.


I do know one person who managed to short-circuit this 
particular suggestion. He said, "If I have enough tools to 
do my job, I can access any dataset regardless of the 
security system. If I have to bypass the security system, 
I'll do so in a way that leaves no traces. But, it would 
take time and effort I'd rather put into doing my actual 
job. So, leave my access and just make sure to thoroughly 
check my audit trail." It worked. 


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Re: Fixed point overflow and PL/1

[Arthur Fichtl]

Am 22.03.2015 05:00, schrieb IBM-MAIN automatic digest system:

Date:Sat, 21 Mar 2015 22:37:58 +0200
From:Binyamin Dissenbdis...@dissensoftware.com
Subject: Fixed point overflow and PL/1

I cannot seem to force fixed point overflow under PL/1. Specified (FOFL) as a
statement qualifier and it does not seem to affect the compile.

Even used CEE3SPM.

--
Binyamin Dissenbdis...@dissensoftware.com
http://www.dissensoftware.com


Cited from 
http://www-01.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/SSQ2R2_7.6.1/com.ibm.ent.pl1.zos.doc/topics/ibmm2mst131.htm%23wq226:
As documented elsewhere, under Enterprise PL/I, the 
FIXEDOVERFLOW/NOFIXEDOVERFLOW (or FOFL/NOFOFL) prefix applies only to 
FIXED DECIMAL operations.



And, it is based on the Fixed-point overflow exception S0C8.

Arthur

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Re: another question about TSO edit command

[Arthur Fichtl]

I know, this is an issue to be discussed rather in ISPF-L than here, but 
i assume that all folks here are using ISPF intensively as well.


What I'm really missing in ISPF edit (since I had a task that would have 
been solved smartly in this way) are these 2 features:


·A REDISPLAY/REFRESH command in edit macros and

·A command to convert special lines (like notelines) to datalines.

At present we are running z/OS 1.13 but when reading the ISPF-docs for 
2.1 I could not find any hint in this direction.


Arthur


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My Reply Facility

[Arthur Fichtl]

Date: Sat, 2 Aug 2014 08:36:30 -0500 From: Paul Gilmartin 
paulgboul...@aim.com Subject: Re: another question about TSO edit 
command On Sat, 2 Aug 2014 12:47:23 +0200, Arthur Fichtl wrote:

... a well-behaved
editor should leave the file position unchanged.

I disagree, although having an option would be more user friendly, as
would optional first and last operands on FIND.


(Why doesn't your Reply facility distinguish quoted text!?  I
suppose this is YA matter of personal preference.)



Sorry, that was a Typo.

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Re: another question about TSO edit command

[Arthur Fichtl]

In6487334105557425.wa.paulgboulderaim@listserv.ua.edu, on
07/30/2014
   at 06:40 PM, Paul Gilmartin
000433f07816-dmarc-requ...@listserv.ua.edu  said:

That is one of the dumbest, most hostile behaviors I have ever seen in 
an editor (but TSO edit isn't unique here). If I do a find and get no 
hits (very possibly because I mistyped the search target) a well-behaved 
editor should leave the file position unchanged.


I disagree, although having an option would be more user friendly, as
would optional first and last operands on FIND.

Additionally to Pauls' remark let me point to the powerful Macro Facility of 
ISPF EDIT.
You can easliy -if you want- create a personal, let's say XFIND, command, that 
remembers the cursor position and stays on the last found line in case no 
further hits are found.

Arthur

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Re: Validation of a resource name

[Arthur T.]

On 5 Mar 2014 10:05:58 -0800, in bit.listserv.ibm-main 
(Message-ID:CADEq6i9SMRxz4fz3XNNTq+0eMWxk0E=atqga1w-awhjcyjj...@mail.gmail.com) 
jan.je...@gmail.com (jan de decker) wrote:


I am building a small web application that interfaces with 
RACF.


On the client side I only have the IBM default supplied 
classes.


I want validate as much as possible on the client before 
sending it to the

server.


 Never do validation on the client side.  Someone 
might decide to write their own client, or something else 
silly, just to get by restrictions.  It's especially 
important not to trust client-side *security* validation.



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Measurement of performance at the opcode Level, was: Optimization, CPU time, and related issues

[Arthur Fichtl]

John Gilmore wrote:
snip
Locality of reference was always a good notion, and now it is
a crucially important one.
snip
I would like to ask some additional questions in this context:
How precise are the measures provided  by TIMEUSED?
Do these measures take into account the delays caused by cache misses?
And, finally, does one have to expect effetcts of some kind of 
Uncertainty principle (i.e. the measurement algorithm, could it 
influence the result)?


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Literate JCL?

[Arthur Fichtl]

Am 04.01.2014 06:00, schrieb IBM-MAIN automatic digest system:

Literate JCL?

Hi,
you might also consider a product that I used to watch JCL and to 
monitor the surrounding topics during my last assignment at a Bavarian 
car manufacturer; the product is called XINFO. It scans all JCL as well 
as related software information about datasets, programs, database 
access and stores the information in a DB2 based repository .


Look at: 
http://www-304.ibm.com/partnerworld/gsd/solutiondetails.do?solution=18026lc=en


Note: I'm not affiliated with the company, just a (former) user.
Arthur

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MVS Quick Reference, was: LookAT

[Arthur Fichtl]

I'm just curious whether anybody out there has MVS Quick Reference from 
Chicago Soft installed.
At my former assignment we had it and used it extensively. MVSQR is much 
more powerful than Lookat and it provides a comfortable UI.


Note: I'm not affiliated with that company, just a user.

Arthur

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Re: Rexx (was: OT? ... deliberately unfriendly)

[Arthur T.]

On 29 Nov 2013 08:47:35 -0800, in bit.listserv.ibm-main 
(Message-ID:0895521555071176.wa.paulgboulderaim@listserv.ua.edu) 
paulgboul...@aim.com (Paul Gilmartin) wrote:


(But it would be useful to be able to read a file into a 
compound
variable with a single instruction rather than coding a 
loop.

Hmmm... I wonder how this works if infile is a terminal?)


For anyone just joining, this was about Regina REXX on a 
PC.


To do a single read of a file into a compound variable:

 code
call rxfuncadd 'sysloadfuncs','RexxUtil','sysloadfuncs'
call sysloadfuncs
call RegStemRead file, inline.
 /code

The 1st two lines are needed only once per execution, not 
once per file read.



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Re: How much can sysprogs steal was Re: OT: Obscurity Is Not Security... Or Is It?

[Arthur T.]

On 10 Sep 2013 00:08:02 -0700, in bit.listserv.ibm-main 
(Message-ID:r7ht291houi25hhl5lu4j2s78horr9r...@4ax.com) 
bdis...@dissensoftware.com (Binyamin Dissen) wrote:



Don't pretend that it is super sekrit.

Any SYSPROG that writes code (other than a SMP jockey) 
knows how to do it.


 No, it's not super sekrit.  But I've worked with 
real systems programmers (not just SMP jockeys) who would 
have a hard time figuring it out.  It's not because they're 
stupid or ignorant, but just because their experiences 
didn't lead them along the same paths as mine.


 I believe you owe an apology to Clark Morris, who 
started this thread.



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Re: How much can sysprogs steal was Re: OT: Obscurity Is Not Security... Or Is It?

[Arthur T.]

On 9 Sep 2013 17:21:22 -0700, in bit.listserv.ibm-main 
(Message-ID:p8ps29dehr76q9k41pgud8dot2kjf3v...@4ax.com) 
cfmpub...@ns.sympatico.ca (Clark Morris) wrote:


On 9 Sep 2013 07:41:42 -0700, in bit.listserv.ibm-main you 
wrote:



I once enquired into the question


 snip

Sysprogs, even disgruntled ones, have not usually been 
problematic in
mainframe shops; and it is well that this is the 
case.  Anyone who

makes much use of locks needs locksmiths too.


This brings up the very interesting question of whether a 
senior
mainframe systems programmer would be able to take as much 
information
from his/her installation as Edward Snowden seemingly has 
from the
NSA.  If so, is it in the nature of the job or was someone 
lax within

the NSA organization?


If you have write access to an APF library, you can read 
from and write to any dataset.  If people were suspicious 
of you, your accesses could be found out after the 
fact.  If you're very good or very sneaky, even post-access 
auditing won't find out what you've done.


No, I won't explain how.  I'll leave it as an exercise for 
the student, who will likely get caught, fired, and maybe 
indicted.


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Re: IBM Network listserv

[Arthur T.]

On 25 Aug 2013 07:58:47 -0700, in bit.listserv.ibm-main 
(Message-ID:B1F5840992B940F381CA2607E86473D9@barryf93b83d71) 
retired-mainfra...@q.com (retired mainframer) wrote:


If you send a query ibm-net (or other) command to any 
listserv (such as
lists...@listserv.uga.edu) it will get forwarded to the 
appropriate list
server and you will receive notification of the forwarding 
and the eventual

response.

NOTE: the command goes to the listserv, not to the list.

:: -Original Message-
:: From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List 
[mailto:IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU] On

:: Behalf Of Bill Widmayer
:: Sent: Sunday, August 25, 2013 3:58 AM
:: To: IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU
:: Subject: IBM Network listserv
::
:: What is the current listserv email for the IBM 
Network?
:: I had 
ibm-n...@listserv.uga.edumailto:ibm-n...@listserv.uga.edu 
 but

:: that one got kicked back.


Have either of you noticed the lines at the end of every 
post to this listserv?  The one that shows that the 
listserv is at lists...@listserv.ua.edu not 
lists...@listserv.uga.edu :


For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access 
instructions,
send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: 
INFO IBM-MAIN


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Re: JES exit 6

[Arthur T.]

On 25 Feb 2013 12:14:09 -0800, in bit.listserv.ibm-main 
(Message-ID:0e6f70937cdd8b4c83a5069c6296b38422b86...@xch-phx-101.sw.nos.boeing.com) 
barry.schw...@boeing.com (EXT-Schwarz, Barry) wrote:


Regarding your translate tables, rather than manually 
counting the number of x'00' bytes to insert between 
non-zero ones and manually coding the hex values for 
characters, I suggest the following approach:

TRTABLE1 DC256X'00'
ORG   TRTABLE1+C'C'
DCC'C'
ORG   TRTABLE1+C'E'
DCC'EF'
ORG   TRTABLE1+C'I'
DCC'I'
...
ORG   TRTABLE+C'Z'
ORG   C'Z'
ORG


 And, in fact, coding the tables like this should fix 
the problem.  The first table is not 256 bytes long (note 
that the last 2 lines are commented out).  The TRT 
instruction is where the Z of the first table is, so the 
first TRT hits and the code never gets to the test for 
class Z.


 My feeling has always been that the Assembler counts 
better than I do, so I code what I mean and let the 
Assembler do the counting and adding.


In 
Message-ID:897c82fc69765d45a301af8f5d1210cb0df5481...@otb6mail01.executive.stateofwv.gov,

anne.d.crabt...@wv.gov (Crabtree, Anne D) wrote:

Here's the part of code that I changed: (I'm not the 
greatest assembler programmer so be kind :))


 And here's an unsolicited suggestion:  After a TRT, 
don't use
BC 2, use BZ or BNZ.  Few of us remember which bits mean 
what.


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Re: Conditional Statement during Backup - Clarification

[Arthur T.]

On 6 Dec 2012 22:05:56 -0800, in bit.listserv.ibm-main 
(Message-ID:cahtvvrwwwaxf7tfzrhtvz9gf54-kxtmh60qb8jhmtbeuyxw...@mail.gmail.com) 
justmainfra...@gmail.com (Jake anderson) wrote:


My question is going to be very general. Our shop has the 
policy of running
daily back up from Mon-friday on a incremental 
basis(Volume Level). So we
have been using this Keyword at sysin control card : 
DATASET(INCLUDE(**)
BY(DSCHA,EQ,YES), which means that the backup would take 
place only if any
changes have been occurred on a specific Volume. Recently 
in our Z/OS 1.13

Testing box we ended with Below error.

ADR049E (001)-STEND(01), 2012.340 15:29:13 DFSMSDSS 
FUNCTION TASK
ABEND RECOVERY ROUTINE WAS ENTERED. SYSTEM ABEND CODE=0A13 
REASON

CODE=0010

 much snippage

Return Code Explanation:
10
A tape mark was read instead of a HDR1 label while forward 
spacing to
the desired file on an SL or AL tape. Thus, the multifile 
tape ends
before the desired file. When positioning to the end of 
file 1, this
means the vol label is followed by a tape mark. Probable 
user error.
Check the file sequence number and volume serial numbers 
and that the

job that wrote the tape wrote all the files

 much snippage

The JCL which we are using like below :

//STEP01   EXEC PGM=ADRDSSU PARM='TYPRUN=NORUN'
//SYSPRINT DD  SYSOUT=*
//DASD1DD UNIT=3390,VOL=SER=VOL,DISP=SHR
//TAPE1DD 
UNIT=890,VOL=(,RETAIN,SER=TAPE),DISP=(NEW,KEEP),

//DSNAME=BACKUP.INC.VOL,LABEL=(LBL,SL)
//SYSINDD DSN=JAKE.TEST.CNTL(CARD),DISP=SHR
//BACKUP   PEND
//DASD01   EXEC BACKUP,VOL=TVX3A1,TAPE=TS1IN4,LBL=01
//DASD02   EXEC BACKUP,VOL=TVX3A2,TAPE=TS1IN4,LBL=02
//DASD03   EXEC BACKUP,VOL=MTWK05,TAPE=TS1IN4,LBL=03


 I see three possibilities, one of which *might* be 
aparable:


1.  The system is now properly checking that file one 
exists on a tape when you're specifying label=2.  It seems 
unlikely to me that it wasn't in previous versions.  But if 
this is the problem, you may be out of luck.


2.  It may be that you never before had an occasion when 
there were no updated datasets on any (except maybe your 
last) disk.  This would be unrelated to the upgrade, and 
would have been waiting to bite you.


3.  It may be that previous versions of ADRDSSU would 
create an output file, even if there were no datasets being 
backed up.  If you can show that this was the case, IBM 
might take an APAR to change the action back.



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Re: Disabling interrupt and trace for Rexx execs

[Arthur T.]

On 24 Oct 2012 05:01:57 -0700, in bit.listserv.ibm-main 
(Message-ID:CAOdPEgS8iox=fbnffUY0s76c1DFkaRo9B=kwt3k_xtrm810...@mail.gmail.com) 
imugz...@gmail.com (Itschak Mugzach) wrote:


We have a rexx exec that performs functionality we don't 
want to be

interrupted or traced in any way.


I infer from your desire not to be traced that you'd like 
to keep the actual code hidden from the users.  Unless 
you've compiled your REXX code, all they need to do is look 
directly at the code.  Even if that isn't the reason, if 
your code isn't compiled a user could copy it and remove 
any don't interrupt or don't trace within it.


You haven't said WHY you want to disable these things.


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Instruction subsets and extensions, was: Is there a correspondence between 64-bit IBM mainframes and PoOps editions levels?

[Arthur Fichtl]

I remember the days of 1990 when I was writing an Assembler program. In 
that program I experimented with MVCIN and it worked as designed (an 
desired).

However, it worked on our *development* system which was an Amdahl MF.
After having installed that program on the production system which was 
an IBM 3090 600J it crashed immeditately with an operation exception - 
the IBM did not have MVCIN.

It costed substantial effort to develop a workaround.

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Re: How many subscribers?

[Arthur T.]

On 11 Sep 2012 08:13:38 -0700, in bit.listserv.ibm-main 
(Message-ID:4F17DDFD095B42B5924B8F2575225F59@graham) 
gho...@cdpwise.net (Graham Hobbs) wrote:


Arte there any available estimates of how many subscribers 
there are to both this list and CICS-L?


Don't forget that there are an unknown (and probably 
unknowable) number of lurkers who read them via Usenet, but 
are not subscribers.



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Re: How many subscribers?

[Arthur T.]

On 11 Sep 2012 16:19:23 -0700, in bit.listserv.ibm-main 
(Message-ID:2145659BC34045CF96025A669B0B7514@graham) 
gho...@cdpwise.net (Graham Hobbs) wrote:



 Don't forget that there are an unknown (and probably
 unknowable) number of lurkers who read them via Usenet, 
but

 are not subscribers.


Does that mean there's no such thing as a even a 
guesstimate?


I think there's a tool to tell you how many people access a 
newsgroup via Google.  To find out how many people read a 
newsgroup via newsreaders would be quite a chore.  Possibly 
you'd have to poll every news server.  That's assuming that 
they keep those statistics, and that they'd give you the 
information.


There would also be duplication.  I subscribe to the 
listserve as nomail, and read it threaded via Usenet.


I know there are at least some nonsubscribers who read via 
Usenet, because occasionally one posts a question.  It's 
easy for me to tell because those questions don't have the 
subscribe / signoff instructions at the bottoms of the 
messages.



Would 'lurkers' imply nasties?


No.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lurker

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Was: X86 server - Competitive economic advantage of System z plus z/OS compared with x86 plus (Linux or windoze)

[Arthur Fichtl]

Just an additional comment to the past discussions.

I agree that a big MF installation (e.g. running a number of sysplexes 
of z10 EC CECs or z196 with a number of say 10 to 50 LPARs) has in fact 
no reason to migrate to Intel based machines.


I was working for a Bavarian manufacturing company as a contractor since 
1995+ and this company had the serious plan to get rid of their 
mainframe zoo (several 3090s 600J at that time).


Ten years later they cancelled this plan after having learned that the 
migration would become too costly. Now the MF is in its ancestral place 
there with a slightly changed role as an application server for legacy 
programs and a DB2 machine.


In my opinion this was an example how clever IBM handles its customers:

Big installations operate plenty of application programs that represent 
an asset of billions of € (or $). In the case of the Bavarian 
manufacturer the number was about 100,000 homegrown programs.


The customer’s method of decision, if only taken into account the TOCs 
(mainly license fees on the MF site and migration effort to switch to 
the other architecture), is known by IBM, of course.


So, since IBM wants its customers to stay with the MF, they calculate 
that part of the costs they can influence – the license fees - according 
to the simple rule to make it a bit more costly to migrate than to stay 
– quite simple.


OTOH, if you look at the global big new companies (e.g. Google, Amazon, 
Facebook), nobody of them is running MF systems because these companies 
are not captivated by legacy systems.


Instead, Google (as known to the public) is running a cluster version of 
Linux based on commodity machines, Amazon is a pioneer in cloud 
computing (see: 
http://www.datacenterknowledge.com/archives/2012/08/15/amazon-direct-connect-comes-to-new-york/) 
, and Facebook’s architecture is described here: 
http://www.datacenterknowledge.com/archives/2012/06/27/facebook-server-storage-designs/



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Re: Print Option from Mainframe to Microsoft Note

[Arthur Fichtl]

hi, Jake,
what about that:

http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/zos/v1r13/index.jsp?topic=%2Fcom.ibm.zos.r13.aokfa00%2Fpdfxmp.htm

Transform an AFP MVS™ data set, specifying a form definition
   To transform the MVS data set USERX.AFP(MYFILE) into an output PDF
   file called myfile.pdf, using the form definition F1C10110, enter:

   |afpxpdf -j form-def=f1c10110 -o myfile.pdf //'USERX.AFP(MYFILE)'|



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