Get the data from mainframes automatically.

[Neeraj N]

Hi,

From the performance team we came to know that most of the programmers at our site spends nearly 80%-85% of their time requesting data from a COBOL mainframe. And they just do it to lager use it into excel for some kind of reporting. As the reports are needed daily, they run the same queries each day. Trying to figure out of this be automated in any way?

Thanks for any help.

[Akatsukami]

Yes, this can trivially be done. However, I would question if 80-85% of their time is really spent doing this (if so, it speaks very poorly for their competence) and if they really run the same queries each time (again, if so, it speaks very poorly for their competence).

[Robert Sample]

First, there is no such thing as a "COBOL mainframe". A mainframe can execute COBOL, but IBM mainframes are called system z because it is entirely possible for them to be installed and run for years without ever having a single line of COBOL on them. In fact, for a number of years z/OS.e was available on IBM mainframes and it did not support COBOL compilation.

Second, yes the process you described can be automated. Run the query with the output going into a data set (mainframes do not have files except in very limited circumstances; they have data sets instead), have the data sets sent to a server (via FTP is the usual way), and have one or more Excel macros to import the data (depending upon the precise requirements, an additional step to convert the data into comma-delimited records may be necessary). Use the mainframe job scheduler (most sites have purchased a job scheduler) to schedule the query execution at an appropriate time each day.

Of course, making 80-85% of your COBOL programmers redundant may not be a career-enhancing move (unless you work for the company and the programmers work for a contracting / consulting company hired by your company).