Peter

I'm very sorry to be disappointing you!

> Is there any chance that there is a z/OS equivalent of these z/VM commands 
> for the general (non-authorized) user?

We're on the "down slope", not the "up slope"! In other words, the direction in 
the IP component of z/OS Communications Server is to get rid of these entrails 
of the VM heritage. The most recent to go - although not strictly replaced 
one-for-one - is the old Pascal SMTP server to be "replaced" by the CSSMTP 
server.

The other major server written in Pascal surviving from the old "TCP/IP for VM" 
days - see my first response in this thread - is the LPD server. I believe 
there is a product which replaces this with a number of additional capabilities 
- someone can no doubt jump in with what that is - so, in effect, the LPD 
server has already been replaced.

Although not pretending to be comprehensive, this list from the configuration 
step I mentioned shows that what remains dependent on VMCF/TNF are a few scraps 
at the bottom of the barrel that nobody cares much about:

<quote>

1.2.21.5 Step 3: Configure VMCF and TNF

The Pascal socket interface uses the IUCV/VMCF services for a limited set of 
inter-address space communication flows. As a result, if you are using any 
applications (provided by IBM or others) that use the Pascal socket API, you 
must ensure that the Virtual Machine Communication Facility (VMCF) and 
Termination Notification Facility (TNF) subsystems are active before the 
applications are started. TCP/IP provides the following applications and 
commands that use the Pascal socket interface:

- SMTP and LPD servers 

- TSO HOMETEST, LPQ, LPR, LPRM, LPRSET, TELNET, and TESTSITE commands

If you are using any of these applications or commands, you need to set up VMCF 
and TNF.

</quote>

That word "limited" is a bit of a hint that the author - in tune with most of 
his or her readers - rather wishes there were none!

Unfortunately, rather too strict an application of the rule "If it ain't broke, 
don't fix it!" much beloved by the "suits" in charge of manual authors, has 
meant that, the text - which has by now gathered much dust - surrounding the 
suggestion that the installation should be "verified" by use of the HOMETEST 
and TESTSITE utility commands has not been deprecated in some way. Thus novices 
still get the impression that the use of these commands is technically de 
rigeur as part of checking definitions when they should just have overlooked 
them. In any case, in an era when only VIPAs need names, they are well out of 
date!

That said, it was only when one presumed novice in a recent thread complained 
that his checking with HOMETEST was failing that I discovered - very late! - 
that the generically named TCPIP.DATA data set HOSTNAME statement applied to 
the data set for the main address spaces when the sockets API gethostname call 
was used while it applied to the data set for the program address space when 
the Pascal API GetIdentity call was used in order to extract the "host name" 
value.

My excuse for not appreciating this point for all the years I have been working 
with "TCP/IP for MVS" and is successor is that I have always used a common 
dynamically allocated data set. As a teacher of "hands-on" classes, I always 
used to have to rely on students probing unusual definition techniques - 
typically by accident - revealing the previously unknown!

Chris Mason

On Tue, 6 Dec 2011 09:58:58 -0500, Farley, Peter x23353 
<peter.far...@broadridge.com> wrote:

>Chris,
>
>Thanks for those interesting links.  I had not realized that the z/OS Comm. 
>Server implemented some form of VMCF and IUCV.
>
>The small amount of RTFM I just did based on your links seems to indicate that 
>the Comm. Server SMSG command is only supported to communicate with SMTP and 
>LPD.  Is there any chance that there is a z/OS equivalent of these z/VM 
>commands for the general (non-authorized) user?
>
>From userid1:
>
>SMSG userid2 'message text'
>
>And in userid2, waiting for a message from SMSG from any other user:
>
>WAKEUP (SMSG
>
>Or any equivalent inter-user communications commands of course.  I'm not 
>expecting on an *exact* equivalent of the z/VM facilities, just an equal 
>capability for short message sending and reception invokable as commands by 
>regular non-authorized TSO users.
>
>TIA for any enlightenment you can provide.
>
>Peter

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