If all that you want to do is to check for STOP, then it should be trivial to do it in C++. If you also want to enable and look for MODIFY text, then you need to use QEDIT. At that point it's easier to do it in HLASM.
I've used Assembler H and REXX in an environment where code and design reviews were mandatory. And, yes, discussions included alternate ways of doing things, some accepted, some not. -- Shmuel (Seymour J.) Metz http://mason.gmu.edu/~smetz3 ________________________________________ From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List [IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU] on behalf of David Crayford [dcrayf...@gmail.com] Sent: Monday, June 20, 2022 1:34 PM To: IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU Subject: Re: Some UNIX file usage questions I could care less about Python. What is disconcerting is why you would choose REXX/Assembler when you could write the same thing with less code and complexity using C++ which you already know. Maybe you're just having fun and there is nothing wrong with that. There is nobody to review your code and ask for changes like where I work. On 21/06/2022 1:31 am, Charles Mills wrote: > I am not the client. I guess the client makes its decisions based on a > variety of factors. I have many skills that are valuable to the client, and I > would guess that "best language for the application in the opinion of a guy > on IBMMAIN" (as opposed to "demonstrably adequate language") is not high on > the client's list of factors. > > I think you are engaging in "engineer-ism" (there may be a better word?). > Python may well be the best language for the job, for some values of best. > Rexx is a perfectly adequate language for the job. "Integrating a new > developer" would be for the client what "implementing a new language > environment" would be for me. > > Charles > > > -----Original Message----- > From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List [mailto:IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU] On > Behalf Of David Crayford > Sent: Monday, June 20, 2022 9:58 AM > To: IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU > Subject: Re: Some UNIX file usage questions > > I take it you must be the client? I can't fathom any client who would be > stupid enough to allow a vendor to write code in their language of > choice due to their personal skill set. That's technical debt. > > On 20/06/2022 11:34 pm, Charles Mills wrote: >> Aww David, I respect you more than that reply. >> >> Of course I could learn to write Hello World in Python more quickly than I >> can write this sentence. But what I alluded to is that past experience >> teaches me that getting from Hello World to a working system on z/OS is many >> days of agony. >> >> Charles >> >> >> -----Original Message----- >> From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List [mailto:IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU] On >> Behalf Of David Crayford >> Sent: Sunday, June 19, 2022 9:32 PM >> To: IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU >> Subject: Re: Some UNIX file usage questions >> >> You could have learned Python in the time it took you to write this email. >> >> On 20/06/2022 1:15 am, Charles Mills wrote: >>>> Why not use Python? Good question. >>> 1. I can undoubtedly do it perfectly satisfactorily, and almost certainly >>> more quickly, in Rexx (because of the learning curve). I would have trouble >>> justifying billing the client for my Python learning time when there is >>> little benefit (that I know of -- correct me if I am wrong) for the client >>> who is paying the bills. >>> >>> Why not, then, learn Python on my own time? Don't I want to learn Python? >>> Yes I do, but there are only so many hours in a day, and there are other >>> things I want to learn more than I do Python. For example, I would rather >>> spend the time learning to make the Roman-Jewish fried artichokes that are >>> in the current Cooks Illustrated. Learning Python is just not very high on >>> my bucket list. It's there, but probably not high enough to ever rise to >>> the top. >>> >>> 2. I know exactly how to execute a Started Task written in Rexx, and I know >>> most of the gotchas. In my experience, THAT is the problem with the "new >>> tools" on z/OS. What would I have to do to execute a Started Task written >>> in Python? What are the gotchas? Heck, what do I have to do to set up any >>> Python environment at all? That is the time-consuming issue, and it holds >>> about zero personal gratification for me. I could probably learn the Python >>> language pretty readily, and it would be one more notch in my belt. Solving >>> the probable gotchas of getting Python to actually do productive work on >>> z/OS -- not so much. >>> .... >>> Not for me, and probably not for the "report" (I am flattering the >>> requirement calling it a report -- maybe call it an "alert") that the >>> client wants. And again, a learning curve that is difficult to justify. >>> >>> So I think I will write it in Rexx, with perhaps a little bit of Assembler. >> Does your client REALLY want to maintain assembler code? Our company >> policy is not to use assembler for new code due to lack of available >> skills which will only get worse. >> >> >>> Charles >>> >>> >>> -----Original Message----- >>> From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List [mailto:IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU] On >>> Behalf Of David Crayford >>> Sent: Saturday, June 18, 2022 11:43 PM >>> To: IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU >>> Subject: Re: Some UNIX file usage questions >>> >>> On 19/06/2022 1:33 am, Paul Gilmartin wrote: >>>> On Sat, 18 Jun 2022 09:51:45 -0700, Charles Mills wrote: >>>>> ... >>>>> I picture writing the started task in Rexx, so I would have to write to a >>>>> DD >>>>> name allocated to the UNIX file (either dynamically or with JCL), not with >>>>> "native" C fopen(), fwrite(), etc. Does that change any of the answers? >>>>> >>>> Why? In Rexx you can "address SYASCALL write ..." instead. >>> Why REXX? Is it a case of knowing the banjo so you play Stairway to >>> Heaven in the style of Earl Schruggs? >>> >>> Why not use IBMs z/OS Python? You can then use SQLite instead of a file >>> which will significantly simplify writing reports. In fact, it would >>> trivial to serve those >>> reports as a REST API and put a nice WebUI on top using a simple >>> template that supports data tables. >>> >>> ---------------------------------------------------------------------- >>> For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, >>> send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN >> ---------------------------------------------------------------------- >> For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, >> send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN >> >> ---------------------------------------------------------------------- >> For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, >> send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, > send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, > send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN
