Blame COBOL (manual)
I just found in COBOL manual a chapter about support for VSAM passwords. (See chapter Protecting VSAM files with a password in Programming Guide) Well, I can understand the PASSWORD clause is still syntax checked, but I was told that VSAM do dropped support for the password. Was it in the 90's? At DFSMS v1.5? (OS/390 2.7)? There are also some references to ISAM datasets, fortunately most of them contains information it's no longer supported. Is COBOL language for the future? BTW: Horror story: 10+ years ago I've got some IDC message, an error was occured. I took (R)TFM and read message explanation. One of the possibilities was you have problem with OS CVOL. Note, it was in late 90's, OS/390 v2. My doubts: Is my CVOL failing? How to check it? And what the hell is CVOL? I had never heard about it! It was hard way to learn there WAS such dodo bird like CVOL and like dodo bird it's no longer here. BTW2, quiz: do you still use HIS on the mainframe? Is it something new or it's as obsolete as CVOL? ;-) -- Radoslaw Skorupka Lodz, Poland -- Treść tej wiadomości może zawierać informacje prawnie chronione Banku przeznaczone wyłącznie do użytku służbowego adresata. Odbiorcą może być jedynie jej adresat z wyłączeniem dostępu osób trzecich. Jeżeli nie jesteś adresatem niniejszej wiadomości lub pracownikiem upoważnionym do jej przekazania adresatowi, informujemy, że jej rozpowszechnianie, kopiowanie, rozprowadzanie lub inne działanie o podobnym charakterze jest prawnie zabronione i może być karalne. Jeżeli otrzymałeś tę wiadomość omyłkowo, prosimy niezwłocznie zawiadomić nadawcę wysyłając odpowiedź oraz trwale usunąć tę wiadomość włączając w to wszelkie jej kopie wydrukowane lub zapisane na dysku. This e-mail may contain legally privileged information of the Bank and is intended solely for business use of the addressee. This e-mail may only be received by the addressee and may not be disclosed to any third parties. If you are not the intended addressee of this e-mail or the employee authorised to forward it to the addressee, be advised that any dissemination, copying, distribution or any other similar activity is legally prohibited and may be punishable. If you received this e-mail by mistake please advise the sender immediately by using the reply facility in your e-mail software and delete permanently this e-mail including any copies of it either printed or saved to hard drive. BRE Bank SA, 00-950 Warszawa, ul. Senatorska 18, tel. +48 (22) 829 00 00, fax +48 (22) 829 00 33, www.brebank.pl, e-mail: i...@brebank.pl Sąd Rejonowy dla m. st. Warszawy XII Wydział Gospodarczy Krajowego Rejestru Sądowego, nr rejestru przedsiębiorców KRS 025237, NIP: 526-021-50-88. Według stanu na dzień 01.01.2013 r. kapitał zakładowy BRE Banku SA (w całości wpłacony) wynosi 168.555.904 złotych. -- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN
Re: Blame COBOL (manual)
R. Skorupka wrote: I just found in COBOL manual a chapter about support for VSAM passwords. As always, yes, it is still there since my glorious MVS/XA days when I started. Well, I can understand the PASSWORD clause is still syntax checked, but I was told that VSAM do dropped support for the password. Indeed. I see this remark too in DFSMS Using Data Sets: Recommendation: Do not use VSAM password protection. Instead, use RACF or an equivalent product. Why recommendation? I think it is something to do with 'user-security-verification routine' for VSAM, if you *still* choose to use it instead of RACF or ESM. Is COBOL language for the future? Perhaps not. ;-) I think this is backward compatibility to the absolute extreme... Your ancient COBOL full of Egypt hieroglyphs may or may not run on the latest super z toys. ;-D I really wish that for all products, the vendor (IBM for example) says something like this: We plan to drop feature X in release 5 while we introduce replacement feature Z in release 2 (so you can gradually move from X to Z and get PTFs if you get any nasty surprises while using X as a workaround.) I also really wish that those COBOL developers can write something like this: Old compiled modules with PASSWORD will still be running fine (backward compatibility blah blah blah), but all new compile attempts with PASSWORD should fail with RC 4 with some meaningless IGYxxx messages. Same with ISAM, etc. Ok, enough ranting -) Groete / Greetings Elardus Engelbrecht -- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN
Re: Blame COBOL (manual)
On Thu, 2013-07-25 at 06:13 -0500, Elardus Engelbrecht wrote: Old compiled modules with PASSWORD will still be running fine (backward compatibility blah blah blah), but all new compile attempts with PASSWORD should fail with RC 4 with some meaningless IGYxxx messages. I'm sure that you meant ... with some *self-documenting* IGYxxx messages. (Dave pokes the wasp nest and runs.) -- David Andrews A. Duda Sons, Inc. david.andr...@duda.com -- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN
Re: Blame COBOL (manual)
David Andrews wrote: On Thu, 2013-07-25 at 06:13 -0500, Elardus Engelbrecht wrote: with some meaningless IGYxxx messages. I'm sure that you meant ... with some *self-documenting* IGYxxx messages. Yeah, you're correct of course! I should wrote that ... (Dave pokes the wasp nest and runs.) Don't leave me, I'm running with you!!! [1] Groete / Greetings Elardus Engelbrecht [1] - About those wasps, here in South Africa, if you slap a nest off where-ever it is hanging, then as soon as those wasps (some species) see the nest is down, they stop stinging you. Until then they're after you for about 20 meters or so. Here in the bushveld, we sometimes made bets to see who can slap (with your bare hands of course!) the most nests down when it is really hot in the day and run away in half an hour without getting stung... ;-D Now, I'm older I'm leaving these stunts to younger guys... ;-) -- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN
