SPARTA News June 2007

June 2007

SPARTA President’s Corner

by Brad Carson

June is here and so is summer! The heat is on and so are the coming water restrictions from the city of Raleigh.

Last month we had a visit from Jim Ott of Triangle Systems. He gave us all an update on the latest and greatest in IOF, our favorite JES2 utility. If you haven't migrated to IOF 8C you should plan to do so soon. I have it on our list of things to be done this summer.

By the time you read this we will have actually completed our z/OS 1.7 migration on our PROD LPAR. It has been an uphill climb to get here. Of course now we are beginning the work on upgrading DB2 and MQ since both of those have end of service dates next year. We are also starting a major refresh of the Omegamon suite of monitors that we have installed in order to be ready for the new releases of DB2, MQ, CICS, and others. There is always something to keep all of us busy.

We will be running a DR test during the week of our meeting, but for us it won't be much. The Billing staff will be working on getting all of their DR documentation right for future tests. We are going to use it to correct the documentation for CBU activation on a Linux HMC. Other than that it is just a straight forward test for us.

Since I haven't been doing much for DDA lately, I've been working on the justification for going to SHARE in August. I believe that I have gotten the right wording for our management. I hope hear soon.

This month our presentation will be Jeffrey Wuchich from Macro 4 on their DUMPMASTER, TRACEMASTER, and FREEZEFRAME products. I look forward to seeing you on the 26th at LabCorp RTP.


Future Speakers
(subject to change)


June 26 - Testing and Debugging Tools by Jeffrey Wuchich of Macro 4
July 31 - TBA

We need ideas and volunteers for future speakers. Presentations don’t have to be fancy, just informative and interesting. Even a 5 or 10 minute talk can start an interesting interaction. Contact Ron Pimblett by phone as noted below.

2007-2008 SPARTA
Board of Directors

Brad Carson - President
LabCorp 336-436-8294
3060 S. Church St.
Burlington, NC 27215

Ron Pimblett - Vice President
Dignus, LLC 919-676-0847
8354 Six Forks Road
Raleigh, NC 27615

Mike Lockey - Secretary
Guilford Co. Information Services 336-641-6235
201 N. Eugene St.
Greensboro, NC 27401

Tommy Thomas - Treasurer
LabCorp 336-436-4178
231 Maple Ave, Koury Ctr 3rd Fl. 919-361-7267
Burlington, NC 27215

Ed Webb - Communications Director
SAS Institute 919-531-4162
SAS Campus Drive
Cary, NC 27513

Meetings

Meetings are scheduled for the last Tuesday evening of each month (except no meeting in December), with optional dinner at 6:15 p.m. and the meeting beginning at 7:00 p.m.

These monthly meetings usually are held at LabCorp’s Center for Molecular Biology and Pathology (CMBP) near the Research Triangle Park (see last page). Take I-40 to Miami Boulevard and go north. Turn right onto Alexander Drive. Go about a mile or so. Then turn right into LabCorp complex and turn Left to the CMBP Building. In the lobby, sign in as a visitor to see Tommy Thomas. Tommy will escort you to the conference room.

Call for Articles

If you have any ideas for speakers, presentations, newsletter articles, or are interested in taking part in a presentation, PLEASE contact one of the Board of Directors with your suggestions.

Newsletter e-Mailings

The SPARTA policy is to e-mail a monthly notice to our SPARTA-L Group. The newsletter is posted to the website about five (5) days before each meeting so you can prepare. The SPARTA-L Group is maintained by Mike Lockey at (336) 641-6235; if you have corrections or problems receiving your meeting notice, contact Mike.

February 2006 CBT Tape Online

The directory and files from the latest CBT tape V471 (dated February 28, 2006) are available from www.cbttape.org.

If you need help obtaining one or more files, contact Brad Carson at LabCorp or Ed Webb at SAS (see Board of Director’s list for contact info).

Minutes of the May 22nd, 2007 Meeting

•Meeting was called to order at 7:05 PM by Brad Carson, the Chapter President.

•Fourteen (14) people were present; twelve (12) were members.

•Everyone in the room introduced themselves, told where they worked, and briefly described their job function and recent happenings at work.

•The minutes of April 2007 meeting were accepted as published in the May 2007 newsletter.

•Tommy Thomas, the Chapter Treasurer, gave the Treasurer's report. As of May 13, 2007, the balance is $1542.00. Motion was made and approved to accept the Treasurer's Report as published in the May 2007 newsletter.

OLD BUSINESS

•Articles are needed for this newsletter. If you would like to write an article for this newsletter, please contact Ed Webb. Keep in mind that you don't really need to write the article; it can be an article that you read that you would like to share with the membership.

•The SPARTA Web site is available. To access the SPARTA Web site, point your Web browser to this URL: http://www.spartanc.org. Please send any comments or suggestions about the Web site to Mike Lockey. Be sure to check the site every once in a while to see any new or changed information.

•Brad Carson reminded everyone to keep the conference room clean.


NEW BUSINESS

•Future Speakers and Topics:
(subject to change)

June 2007 TBA
July 2007 TBA

If you have suggestions about speakers and topics, contact Ron Pimblett.

•The June 26th SPARTA meeting will be held at LabCorp in the RTP.

•Food for the June meeting will be fried chicken, drinks, and dessert.

•Brad reminded everyone to pay their annual dues ($20 annually).

•Thanks to Tommy Thomas of LabCorp for hosting the meeting.

•Please remember to invite others to the meeting.

•The business portion of the meeting ended at 8:00 p.m.

•Jim Ott of Triangle Systems presented an IOF update. He talked about the following topics:

New Management Features in IOF

Release 8C (available 2Q 2007)
Release 8B (current release)
Release 8A
Not End User Features

Dynamic IOF Option Menu

Introduced in Release 8A
Improved in Release 8B
New options in 8C

Full 8C IOF Option Menu

Typical 8C IOF Option Menu

End User 8C IOF Option Menu

Controlling the Option Menu

Web Page problem PC09
http://www.triangle-systems.com/PC09.shtml

New Panels in Release 8C

Spool Volume Display
JES2 Node Display
Job Class Display

New Panels in Release 8B

Work Load Manager Option Menu
Scheduling Environment Display
Scheduling Resources Display
Health Checker Display

New Functions in Release 8A

UNIX Option Menu
IOF UNIX Process Display
IOF UNIX Threads Display
Enclaves
IOF Enclave Display
Global IOF Option Menu Commands
JES2 Resource Monitor
IOF JES2 Monitor Display
SORT Enhancements
IOF Programmable Features

OUTQUE Examples

IOFLISTG Examples

Job Archival and Retrieval

Summary

Questions for audience.

Note: Jim’s presentation is available in electronic form.

•The meeting was adjourned at 8:35 p.m.

Treasurer’s Report for June 2007

contributed by Tommy Thomas

The balance in the account is $ 1506.35 as of June 13, 2007.

Financial Report
3/01/2007 through 6/13/2007

Items of Interest

SPARTA Schedule and Menu for 2007

contributed by Tommy Thomas and Chris Blackshire

June 26 - Chicken
July 31 - Subs
Aug. 28 - BarBQ
Sept. 25 - Pizza
Oct. 30 - Chicken
Nov. 27- Subs


10 Reasons Why the Mainframe is Growing in Importance

contributed by Ed Webb

CA, Inc., 5 June 2007
The mainframe has come a long way since the 1980s, when it was cloistered away in some data center enclave. It’s now a fully-connected resource within the distributed, web-enabled enterprise, where it carries an ever-growing burden of business-critical processing tasks. The IBM System z9 mainframe’s new hardware and operating system technologies, complemented by innovative, ISV management solutions, further boost its capabilities and performance to meet the continuously evolving demands of today’s IT-centric businesses.

See the Ten Reasons at http://ca.com/us/news/article.aspx?cid=144435.

Redbooks of Interest

contributed by Ed Webb

Drafts

Server Time Protocol Implementation Guide
Revised: June 19, 2007
More details are available at http://www.redbooks.ibm.com/redpieces/abstracts/sg247281.html

DB2 9 for z/OS Technical Overview
Revised: June, 17, 2007
More details are available at http://www.redbooks.ibm.com/redpieces/abstracts/sg247330.html

z/OS V1R8 DFSMS Technical Update
Published: June, 11, 2007
More details are available at http://www.redbooks.ibm.com/redpieces/abstracts/sg247435.html

Implementing REXX Support in SDSF
Revised: June, 5, 2007
More details are available at http://www.redbooks.ibm.com/redpieces/abstracts/sg247419.html

ABCs of z/OS System Programming Volume 10 (z/Architecture, LPARs, HCD)
Revised: May, 30, 2007
More details are available at http://www.redbooks.ibm.com/redpieces/abstracts/sg246990.html


Humor

The Broken Lawn Mower

contributed by Chris Blackshire

When our lawn mower broke and wouldn't run, my wife kept hinting to me that I should get it fixed. But, somehow I always had something else to take care of first, the truck, the car, playing golf - always something more important to me.

Finally she thought of a clever way to make her point. When I arrived home one day, I found her seated in the tall grass, busily snipping away with a tiny pair of sewing scissors. I watched silently for a short time and then went into the house. I was gone only a minute, and when I came out again I handed her a toothbrush.

I said, "When you finish cutting the grass, you might as well sweep the driveway."

The doctors say I will walk again, but I will always have a limp.

Moral to this story : Marriage is a relationship in which one person is always right, and the other is the husband.

Life is too short for drama & petty things, so kiss slowly, laugh insanely, love truly and forgive quickly.


The REAL Purpose of Tools

contributed by Chris Blackshire

For all Craftsmen out there.

The REAL purpose of tools

DRILL PRESS: A tall upright machine useful for suddenly snatching flat metal bar stock out of your hands so that it smacks you in the chest and flings your beer across the room, splattering it against that freshly-stained heirloom piece you were drying.

WIRE WHEEL: Cleans paint off bolts and then throws them somewhere under the workbench with the speed of light. Also removes fingerprints and hard-earned guitar calluses from fingers in about the time it takes you to say, "Yeou - DAM....!!!"

ELECTRIC HAND DRILL: Normally used for spinning pop rivets in their holes until you die of old age.

SKIL SAW: A portable cutting tool used to make studs too short.

PLIERS: Used to round off bolt heads. Sometimes used in the creation of blood-blisters. The tool most often used by women.

BELT SANDER: An electric tool commonly used to convert minor touch-up jobs into major refinishing jobs.

HACKSAW: One of a family of cutting tools built on the Ouija board principle. It transforms human energy into a crooked, unpredictable motion, and the more you attempt to influence its course, the more dismal your future becomes.

VISE-GRIPS: Generally used after pliers to completely round off bolt heads. If nothing else is available, they can also be used to transfer intense welding heat to the palm of your hand.

WELDING GLOVES: Heavy duty leather gloves used to prolong the conduction of intense welding heat to the palm of your hand.

OXYACETYLENE TORCH: Used almost entirely for lighting various flammable objects in your shop on fire. Also handy for igniting the grease inside the wheel hub you want the bearing race out of.

WHITWORTH SOCKETS: Once used for working on older British cars and motorcycles, they are now used mainly for impersonating that 9/16 or 1Å socket you've been searching for the last 45 minutes.

TABLE SAW: A large stationary power tool commonly used to launch wood projectiles for testing wall integrity.

HYDRAULIC FLOOR JACK: Used for lowering an automobile to the ground after you have installed your new brake shoes, trapping the jack handle firmly under the bumper.

EIGHT-FOOT LONG YELLOW PINE 2X4: Used for levering an automobile upward off of a trapped hydraulic jack handle.

TWEEZERS: A tool for removing wood splinters and wire wheel wires.

E-Z OUT BOLT AND STUD EXTRACTOR: A tool 10 times harder than any known drill bit that snaps neatly off in bolt holes, thereby ending any possible future use.

RADIAL ARM SAW: A large stationary power saw primarily used by most shops to scare neophytes into choosing another line of work.

TWO-TON ENGINE HOIST: A tool for testing the maximum tensile strength of everything you forgot to disconnect.

CRAFTSMAN 1/2 x 24-INCH SCREWDRIVER: A very large pry bar that inexplicably has an accurately machined screwdriver tip on the end opposite the handle.

AVIATION METAL SNIPS: See hacksaw.

TROUBLE LIGHT: The home mechanic's own tanning booth. Sometimes called a drop light, it is a good source of vitamin D, "the sunshine vitamin," which is not otherwise found under cars at night. Health benefits aside, its main purpose is to consume 40-watt light bulbs at about the same rate that 105mm howitzer shells might be used during, say, the first few hours of the Battle of the Bulge. More often dark than light, its name is somewhat misleading.

PHILLIPS SCREWDRIVER: Normally used to stab the vacuum seals under lids and for opening old-style paper-and-tin oil cans and splashing oil on your shirt; but can also be used, as the name implies, to strip out Phillips screw heads. Women excel at using this tool.

BLADE SCREWDRIVER: A tool for opening paint cans. Sometimes used to convert common slotted screws into non-removable screws.

AIR COMPRESSOR: A machine that takes energy produced in a coal-burning power plant 200 miles away and transforms it into compressed air that travels by hose to a Chicago Pneumatic impact wrench that grips rusty bolts which were last over-tightened 30 years ago by someone at Ford, and instantly rounds off their heads. Also used to quickly snap off lug nuts.

PRY BAR: A tool used to crumple the metal surrounding that clip or bracket you needed to remove in order to replace a 50 cent part.

HOSE CUTTER: A tool used to make hoses too short.

HAMMER: Originally employed as a weapon of war, the hammer nowadays is used as a kind of divining rod to locate the most expensive parts adjacent to the object we are trying to hit. Women primarily use it to make gaping holes in walls when hanging pictures.

BOX CUTTER: Used to open and slice through the contents of cardboard cartons delivered to your front door; works particularly well on contents such as seats, vinyl records, liquids in plastic bottles, collector magazines, refund checks, and rubber or plastic parts. Especially useful for slicing work clothes, but only while in use.

DAMMIT TOOL: Any handy tool that you grab and throw across the garage while yelling "DAMMIT" at the top of your lungs. It is also, most often, the next tool that you will need.

Membership Information

Don’t Forget the Next SPARTA Meeting

Tuesday, June 26, 2007
7 p.m.

Location: LabCorp in the RTP

Free Food: Fried Chicken, Drink, Dessert

Program:

Testing and Debugging Tools

Speaker:

Jeffrey Wuchich of Macro 4

SPARTA News
P.O. Box 13194
Research Triangle Park, NC 27709-3194



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