Mainframe, MVS and zOS Discussion

COBOL dates back to 1959. z/OS dates back to OS/360 in 1964. IBM is strongly committed to backward compatibility so things that worked in 1965 will still work on a z16 today. COBOL's processing rules were defined in a totally different environment and while it has been extended to include object-ori...

The V in a PICTURE is an IMPLIED decimal point -- as in, it does not exist in the data. When moving numeric data around, COBOL aligns to the decimal point and the V will be important for that. S9(6)V9 COMP-3 will require 4 bytes. COMP-3 stores two decimal digits in each byte except for the last one,...

COBOL has different formats for numbers -- binary (COMP), packed decimal (COMP-3), and zoned decimal. The length will depend upon which format is used.

This is one of the questions very easily answered by looking in the Language Reference manual for your version of COBOL. And the answer is -- 99 is NOT a defined file status code for Enterprise COBOL. Some COBOL implementations like MicroFocus use 99 but not the mainframe.

SSH negotiates when authentication method to use between the two systems. The messages you list indicate that no common authentication method exists between them. Also, it does not appear that the SSH system on the PC is set up correctly since known_hosts doesn't exist.

This seems like a pretty easy thing to test -- what happened when you tried it?

Also, if you're compiling a CICS program, you MUST use NODYNAM -- no option.

Why can't mainframe do it all themself? You have to remember that IBM mainframes go back to 1964 when the s/360 and it's operating system became available. Systems were expensive relative to programmers and hence letting the programmer make the decisions was cheaper than putting things into the har...

DNS lookup applies EVERY time someone attempts to access the Internet via a name instead of an ip address. For a mainframe, TCPIP has a started task that runs from shortly after IPL until shortly before a shutdown. One of the configuration parameters specified for TCPIP is the name server(s) for the...

What is emulator? And how do I get that option.

The emulator is the product you get to the mainframe with. TN3270, Virtel, x3270, Vista TN3270 are some of them (there are many). And you don't "get that option" -- it is present in the emulator whether you know it or not.

With mainframes, there are usually several different ways to do something. You could use DCOLLECT, you could approximate the total by going to ISPF 3.4 to find the tracks / cylinders allocated and multiplying by the appropriate value, and so forth. If the VSAM data set has alternate indexes, they ca...

There are different types of VSAM data sets, but in general -- just as with sequential data sets -- you take the average record size and multiply by the number of records. Divide the result by 1024 to get KB, divide again by 1024 to get MB, and divide another time to get GB. If you have an alternate...

The blank // lines mean keep the same data.

Use Function NUMVAL.

So that means, mainframes are actually expensive? Yes and no. The dollar cost can be high, but you need to consider that there can be 10,000 or more people using the machine simultaneously. So the per-user cost for a mainframe actually tends to be less than (or equivalent to) the per-user cost of w...

SB37: There are not enough space or no more extents available on the current volume. The system gave all the primary space and as much secondary space as it could. Disk volume out of space, cannot write output. You may need to use a different volume, or you may need to review your space allocation ...

You can ask your question on multiple forums, but the answers won't change that much since the same people answering on one forum usually answer on other forums. You are approaching the issue from the wrong end. Look for GX26-4577 on the Internet and download a copy of it. This manual gives you, for...

Why do they even think of removing a mainframe computer? There is a management perception that mainframes are "expensive". I think this partly comes because mainframe software is expensive (it is not unusual for mainframe software vendors to sell their programs for well over US $100,000) ...

So there is no way to find the timestamp for sub-programs?

If the subprogram is statically linked into the load module, there is NO timestamp for it since it is part of the main program.

Yes. GnuCOBOL is available to download for various platforms including Windows and Linux. GnuCOBOL has standard COBOL support, and I've run mainframe (Enterprise COBOL) program on it with no issues.

Your question is not at all clear. What do you mean by "If we give GDG limit above 255" -- are you talking about the IDCAMS definition? JCL usage? Something else entirely? Assuming you're talking about GDG definition in IDCAMS, there are two possibilities. If the EXTENDED parameter is spec...