To say the last two years have been hard on most everyone may be the understatement of the year, so it is with much anticipation that DTS returns to live conferences at SHARE this week in Dallas (March 27-30).

By name and nature, SHARE is an opportunity for industry leaders and enterprise IT professionals to gather (in person) for user-driven technical sessions, insights from colleagues, and hardware and software product exhibits. Equally as important, this year especially, is that it is a chance to reconnect with so many in the industry. And reconnect we are. It feels great to be back!

Mainframers have been described as “natural social distancers,” but the opportunity to gather with some of the best mainframers in North America (and around the globe for that matter) is invaluable. The connections, the conversations, the ideas born from impromptu interactions simply can’t be duplicated in an online environment. DTS is thrilled to be a part of it.

Education at the Core of SHARE
While companies battle for market share and the next big deal, mainframers are a part of a community that interacts, supports, and relies on one another. Events like SHARE serve as an incubator for new ideas and fresh ways of looking at old ideas. They are also key in the transfer of knowledge that is taking place as the current workforce ages out and younger programmers enter the field.

DTS is proud to play a part in supporting the mainframe ecosystem with events like our monthly educational webinar series (complementary) and our sponsorship of two educational presentations at SHARE presented by our CTO and Lead Developer Steve Pryor.

Session 1: DFSMS
On Monday, March 28, Pryor presented: Class Struggle? The DFSMS Data Class and Your Datasets. At its inception in 1989, the DFSMS Data Class construct consisted of a simple list of attributes that could be used to describe the physical characteristics of a dataset. Now, more than three decades later, the Data Class includes more than 50 different values that can interact in complex ways with other SMS constructs such as Storage Class and with JCL and IDCAMS control statements.

Some user SMS configurations are home to dozens or even more overlapping or conflicting data classes. In this session, Pryor provided an understanding of what the important (and unimportant) data class values are, their history, purpose, and their relationship to z/OS dataset allocation and use. Armed with this understanding, programmers can simplify your SMS environment, eliminate redundancies, and take advantage of new SMS features.

Click here to download a copy of the presentation slides.

Session 2: Pervasive Encryption and z/OS
On Tuesday, March 29, Pryor presents: The z/OS Storage Administrator’s View of Pervasive Encryption. IBM’s Pervasive Encryption initiative aims to encrypt all the data, all the time. The Security Administrator controls access. The End User employs the data, but it’s the Storage Administrator who’s responsible for where, when, and how data is created, placed, backed up, and restored. In this session, Pryor will take a practical look at just how z/OS dataset-level encryption is implemented, its impact on storage administration, the interactions between DFSMS and RACF, and the interlocking roles of Storage Administration, Security, and the End User in providing data protection.

Click here to download a copy of the presentation slides.

Thank you again to all this year’s SHARE Dallas participants. We’ll see you at the next SHARE event in Columbus, Ohio August 21-26. Be sure to catch the next installment of our monthly educational webinar series: Understanding z/OS Tape Management Systems, April 26th at 11:00 am ET.

Users unfamiliar with a new operating system such as z/OS face a learning curve when trying to perform even the most basic functions, such as moving, copying, and comparing files, creating test data, and editing file contents. In the mainframe environment these functions aren’t always performed interactively but by specialized z/OS “utility” programs, which was the topic of our January webinar.

These utilities have a long history with a sometimes-complex syntax, and specific uses dependent on the organization of datasets, and names that are completely meaningless except to z/OS veterans. So, new z/OS users can face additional learning requirements for seemingly simple tasks.

In this webinar, Pryor discusses some of the basic z/OS utilities, such as IEBGENER, IEBCOPY, IEHLIST, and a few others, as well as more general utilities such as IDCAMS, and how to accomplish some of the same tasks interactively under ISPF. While the utility you choose depends on the job you need to perform, you can often use one of several utilities to accomplish the same task.

Utility by Dataset Type or Purpose
Utilities are often divided by the type of dataset they’re used on, e.g., a partitioned dataset vs. a sequential dataset. In addition to the well-known VSAM utilities, the OMVS utilities are particularly useful when moving data between UNIX system services and z/OS or moving files within the z/OS UNIX system.

Tape utilities are specific to tape management, and VTOC and Load Library utilities are used for viewing a volume table of contents or mapping a load library.

Utilities will also be either system-oriented or dataset-oriented and in the January webinar Pryor gives examples of each of these important utility categories as the webinar progresses.

Why are Utilities Needed in z/OS?

One reason is that z/OS was originally a batch system and a large part of what goes on is still batch-oriented, not updated interactively. So as data is created during the course of a day, it still must be updated, reconciled, and processed outside of the online system.

Batch Utilities in z/OS
Batch utilities are often considered the backbone of z/OS, and while there are many interactive functions in z/OS, Pryor focuses on the advantages of the batch-processing approach:

• Standard well-defined input, output, and control statements
• They are part of the base OS so they are always available for execution
• No special requirement for authorization
• Almost all types of data manipulation functions
• Each has a well-defined set of functions and, for the most part, perform them one function at a time

Learn More in our Webinar
“An Introduction to z/OS® Utilities” is a 60-minute informative and educational look at an important topic in the mainframe space. It includes numerous examples, how-tos, and references on where to find more information should you need it. If you weren’t able to attend, you can view it on-demand, download a copy of the slide deck, and view examples shared during the presentation by using this link.