Episode 30 "Choices Choices"

Short show notes - long show notes here

We have a special guest joining us for the performance topic, Scott Ballentine.

What’s New

• New news for CustomPac removal date, which has been extended past January 2022. The reason was to accommodate the desired Data Set Merge capability in z/OSMF which customers needed. For the new withdrawl date, it is planned to be announced in 2Q2022.

  Mainframe - Only in V2.5

• This topic was looking at some new functions that are only in z/OS V2.5.

  • Data Set File System, planned to be available in 1Q 2022.
  • Dynamic Change Master Catalog
  • RACF data base encryption has a statement of direction.
  • Increase z/OS Memory limit above 4TB to 16TB.
  • More Concurrently ”Open” VSAM Linear Datasets. Db2 exploits with Apar PH09189, and APAR PH33238 is suggested.
  • ISPF Updates to ISPF in support of PDSE V2 member generations, and SUBMIT command to add an optional parameter SUBSYS.
  • Access Method Services - IDCAMS - DELETE MASK has two new options TEST and EXCLUDE
  • z/OS Encryption Readiness Technology zERT

• There’s a lot of other stuff rolled back to V2.4

  Performance - What's the Use? - with special guest Scott Ballentine

• This discussion is a summary from a joint presentation on Usage Data and IFAUSAGE

• The topic is motivational because customers can get a lot of value of out this usage data, and understand the provenance of IFAUSAGE data.
• A macro vendors or anybody use can use to show which products are used and how. It can show names: Product Vendor, Name, ID, Version, Qualifier, Show numbers: Product TCB, Product SRB, FUNCTIONDATA
• The data is ostensibly for SCRT, which is fed by SMF 70 and SMF 89
• Scott talked about encoding via IFAUSAGE, appears in SMF 30 and 89-1
  
  • SMF 89-1: Software Levels query, Db2 / MQ subsystems query
  • SMF 30: Topology (e.g. CICS connecting to Db2 or MQ), Some numbers (Connections’ CPU)
  • Both SMF 30 and 89: FUNCTIONDATA
• Examples were mentioned that might inspire developers to think about how they code IFAUSAGE

• Hope is developers will delight customers by using IFAUSAGE right, and customers will take advantage in the way shown with reporting examples.

  Topics - Choices, Choices

• This topics is about how to choose a language to use for which purpose. Different languages were discussed for different needs.

• Use Case: Serving HTML?
• Host consideration: Running on e.g. laptop?
• Host consideration: Running on z/OS?

• Overall lesson: Choose the language that respects the problem at hand.

  On the blog

• Marna's blog is here

• Martin has quite a few new blog articles here So It Goes