Mainframe, MVS and zOS Discussion

SYSPRINT -- commonly used for system output SYSTSPRT -- usually used for output of TSO commands in batch jobs that execute TSO SYSABOUT -- usually used for abend dump data for old (VS COBOL II) programs ABENDAID -- used by a third-party vendor (Compuware) for its product dump SYSUDUMP -- used by z/O...

The 5 bytes are system information -- IBM does not tell us what is stored in those bytes; therefore it can be categorically stated that there is no reason for you to know that. If you work for IBM, and get assigned to work on VSAM, then you can find out (but you might have to sign a non-disclosure a...

A copy book is a member of a PDS -- so look at it just like any other PDS member.

z/OS has no such facility. What you are talking about is called job scheduling and there are a number of products on the market (NOT free) that do this -- CA-7, ZEKE, Control-M, Tivoli among them.

As long as the SMTP parameters are correctly specified, you can get them to SMTP any way you want -- IEBGENER, DITTO, SORT, or even a COBOL (or other language) program.

You are comparing apples to elephants. Structured programming is a concept that goes back to Dijkstra's 1968 letter to the Communications of the ACM where he suggested that the GOTO statement was not necessary and actually harmful to logic processes. Use of PERFORM statements in COBOL replace GOTO s...

It may seem strange but the combination is allowed. IBM may have had a reason for allowing this combination but if so we may never know the reasons behind it.

If the JCL is coded to use 23440 block size for a data set with LRECL=80, then changing the pool DASD from 3380 to 3390 would indicate a change in the block size in the JCL to use 27920; otherwise, the data set would be using more tracks than needed.

ICEMAN is another name for the DFSORT program -- you can also use SORT and execute the same program. ICETOOL is part of the DFSORT family but it is a separate utility. From the DFSORT Application Programming Guide manual: 6.1 Overview This chapter describes ICETOOL, a multi-purpose DFSORT utility. I...

From the DFSORT Application Programming Guide manual: A.1 Introduction When a sort application cannot be performed entirely in virtual storage, DFSORT must use work space. The amount of work space required depends on: The amount of data being sorted The amount of virtual storage available to DFSORT ...

IDMS is a database system from a third-party vendor called Computer Associates (CA). It and DB2 have organizational differences in defining data bases and using them in programs, but your question is so broad as to be meaningless.

Syncsort is a sort product from a third-party vendor called Syncsort. It is sometimes used in place of DFSORT. As with DFSORT, Syncsort will sort files, copy files, and merge files on a key field. You can also do reporting with either sort product.

Unfortunately, there are no IBM utilities that do really well at displaying VSAM files -- hence the market for File Aid and File Manager. You can use IDCAMS to print the file but the display is not really that human-friendly.

If SMS is not active, then model DSCB data sets will be required for creating a GDG generation (for example).

Glad to hear your question was fully answered!

System programmers still use assembler -- most operating system and JES exits are written in assembler. Assembler is so closely tied to machine architecture that I strongly recommend getting one of the books on it (Amazon has various IBM assembler books, even though the prices are high). I learned f...

The answer actually is complicated. When JCL references a file, where does z/OS get the DCB data (record length and block size in particular)? The answer to THIS question is that z/OS uses a specific hierarchy to find DCB data: 1. The program 2. The JCL 3. The data set Any values not found in the pr...

Define a 4-byte numeric variable. Compute that variable = date-variable / 10000. Since COBOL will perform integer arithmetic, you'll get the MMDD removed and just the year as the result.

An 88-level is not a variable. The manual calls them 88 Identifies any condition-name entry that is associated with a particular value of a conditional variable. (For details, see "VALUE clause" in topic 5.3.18.) and the various places in the manual will refer to "condition-name"...

It would be rare but not impossible for a company to have two COBOL (or other language) compilers. Depending upon the circumstances, a company might have kept the VS COBOL II compiler (for example) around even after upgrading to Enterprise COBOL. The older compiler would generally be accessed by use...