Please note that EBCDIC support is not a technical requirement for applications and tools running on z/OS unless those applications/tools need to operate directly with/on EBCDIC data. (But then that's not unique to z/OS-hosted applications/tools.)
I think the better way to describe the situation is that z/OS customers often have a preference, perhaps even a strong one, for applications/tools that support EBCDIC when running on z/OS given that many have EBCDIC data they'd like to operate with/on. But it's certainly not a universal requirement, and there's absolutely no requirement to support EBCDIC in order to get an application/tool running on z/OS. Likewise, there's no *requirement* to support SMP/E installation, generate SMF records, plug into z/OS Resource Recovery Services, be ARM-aware, support any particular z/OS data storage method (such as VSAM), support 31-bit or 24-bit, leverage Coupling Facility structures, provide ISPF panels, etc., etc. Some/all of these features might be nice to have, but they are *not* required to get the application/tool ported and running correctly. It's very important not to overstate the scope. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Timothy Sipples GMU VCT Architect Executive (Based in Singapore) E-Mail: sipp...@sg.ibm.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN
