Getting the Most From Your Application Development Tools
January 25, 2021
This past summer I tackled the daunting project of rebuilding an outdoor deck. My collection of tools is hardly of beginner level, but surely not contractor grade either. There was one particularly onerous section that was too difficult for my carpentry pay grade and it was blatantly obvious a trained professional was in order. When […]
ArticlesUnderstanding IMS OTMA Commit Mode and Synchronization Level
January 25, 2021
The IMS OTMA client communicates information to IMS and receives information from IMS in a prefix passed in front of the message (or command). Among several information present in the prefix are COMMIT MODE and SYNCHRONIZATION (SYNC) LEVEL. OTMA SYNC Level The OTMA client specifies the sync level on each input message. The OTMA sync […]
ArticlesWhat Coding Language Should You Teach Yourself?
January 25, 2021
Coding and programming are major additions to any worker’s skillset and can make the job market a much easier place to navigate. Companies everywhere are looking for candidates who are already trained in various coding languages, and the good news is that with all the online resources available for free, it’s easy to teach yourself […]
ArticlesIBM i Performance Data Investigator: Memory Allocation Perspectives
January 22, 2021
IBM’s recent enhancements to the Performance Data Investigator (PDI) charting engine includes some new memory perspectives (charts) which provide additional usage statistics that help visualize and understand memory usage on your IBM i partition. IBM i memory tuning has traditionally been a dark art: adjust tuning parameters and see how the system behaves. It was […]
ArticlesBridging the Generational Gap
January 22, 2021
It’s no secret that mainframes are still relevant and constantly changing to keep with the new demands for increased speed and stability. The new machines are being built smaller and are processing faster than ever before. This evolution triggers the same questions at conferences, resource planning, and even with vendors: How can we plan for […]
A Beginner’s Guide to NoSQL
January 19, 2021
Traditionally the way that SQL works is through relational databases. As such, it tends to run into certain issues, for example, complex design due to needing to avoid data duplication. Another big issue is the fact that SQL is only vertically scalable, and therefore can become quite expensive as a project expands. NoSQL was made […]
ArticlesUnderstanding How a ‘CM0 SL1’ Input Message Sent to IMS Connect Works in the Case of a Client NAK
January 15, 2021
IMS Connect (ICON) is the TCP/IP gateway for IMS. So, besides running the traditional IMS transactions on z/OS, an IMS programmer/database administrator (DBA) can now leverage applications running on the distributed side of the world (a Java web application, for example) to be able to easily talk to IMS databases. The Java web application would […]
ArticlesAutomate Your TSO Logons With Vista TN3270 Application Macros and a Windows Batch (.bat) File
January 13, 2021
In this tutorial, we look at all the steps that are involved in the process of automating TSO logons, using the Vista TN3270 application and a Windows Batch (.bat) file. Components Involved Step by Step Instructions Step 1: Create a new session file for your Vista TN3270 Terminal session Application As the very first step, […]
Articles2 Recent IBM i Enhancements
January 13, 2021
IBM recently delivered two enhancements to the operating system via PTFs and documented these enhancements on the General IBM i Operating System web page. Improvements to Restricted State This enhancement appears to be a stealth change, as I cannot find any mention of it in announcement materials. I found this enhancement by going to the […]
ArticlesLooking Back at 2020: Changes, Innovations and More
January 8, 2021
2020 must have been the year that no-one expected in the early hours January 1 as they celebrated its arrival. According to the Collins Dictionary, the word “lockdown” had a 6,000% increase in usage since 2019. The other pandemic-related words on the dictionary’s list of the top 10 words for 2020 were: “coronavirus,” “social distancing,” […]