SPARTA News June 2013

June 2013

SPARTA President’s Corner

In Memory of Brad Carson

contributed by Ed Webb

Our friend, colleague, and leader, Brad Carson, died early Wednesday morning, June 19, 2013, at his home in Raleigh, North Carolina, surrounded by family, including his beloved wife, Martha.

My wife and I visited Brad on Tuesday, June 18, 2013, in the late morning just before a visit from hospice. His health had deteriorated dramatically in the past few days. To say that we, his family, his friends, his employer, were all surprised by this downward turn of events is an understatement.

I talked to Brad, reminding him about his importance to me as a friend who speaks tech, as a leader of our group of System Programmers, and a resource for many. What do you say to someone who may hear you or not, cannot respond, and is moving inexorably to the next stage of existence? We prayed with Brad and took our leave.

Martha is supported by her sisters, Brad’s sisters, his brother Mark who flew in from California, and no doubt countless others, in prayer if not in person.

In his fifties, Brad is leaving much too soon. I know I will miss our lunches together, his knowledge of pieces of z/OS or unix that I have yet to uncover, or just can’t remember. We had good times at SHARE where we volunteered to keep our part of the world running a little smoother. He will be missed more than any of us realize.

At this time, we do not have details about any arrangements. We will pass them along via the SPARTA List.

Ironically, our speaker this month will be Paul Smith of IBM to talk about the latest and greatest that is going on with Omegamon. Brad and Smitty always had a lively exchange about the value, features and performance of Omegamon or lack thereof. Come help us recreate that friendly banter in honor of Brad and share your memories of him at our meeting on the 25th at LabCorp in RTP.


Future Speakers
(subject to change)


June 25 Omegamon Update by Paul Smith of IBM
July 30 TBD

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.

2012-2013 SPARTA
Board of Directors

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

Ron Pimblett - Vice President
DTS Software 919-833-8426
4350 Lassiter at North Hills Ave, Suite 235
Raleigh, NC 27609

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

Tommy Thomas - Treasurer
LabCorp 336-436-4178
3060 S. Church St. 919-361-7267
Burlington, NC 27215

Ed Webb - Communications Director
SAS Institute Inc. 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 Brad Carson; if you have corrections or problems receiving your meeting notice, contact Brad at 336-436-8294.

April 2013 “CBT Tape” Shareware Online

The directory and files from the latest CBT tape V486 (dated April 2, 2013) 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 21, 2013 Meeting

•Meeting was called to order at 7:00 PM by Brad Carson, the Chapter President.
•The meeting was held at LabCorp in RTP, N.C.
•Fourteen (14) people were present of which nine (9) were members.
•Everyone in the room introduced themselves, told where they worked, and briefly described their job functions.
•The minutes of the April 30, 2013 meeting was approved as published in the May 2013 newsletter.
•Tommy Thomas, the Chapter Treasurer, gave the Treasurer's Report. As of May 10, 2013, the balance is $968.53. Motion was made and approved to accept the Treasurer's Report as published in the May 2013 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 page is available. To access the SPARTA Web page, point your Web browser to this site: http://www.spartanc.org. Please send any comments or suggestions about the Web page to Mike Lockey. Be sure to check the Web page every once in a while to see any new or changed information.

•Brad Carson reminded everyone to leave the LabCorp conference room clean.

•Future Speakers and Topics (subject to change based on internal politics, budget, the weather):

If you have suggestions about speakers and topics, contact Ron Pimblett (919-833-8426).

•The next monthly SPARTA meeting will be June 25 at LabCorp in RTP.

•Food for the June 2013 meeting will be Subway subs and chocolate chip cookies.

NEW BUSINESS

•Thanks to LabCorp (and Brad and Tommy) for hosting the May meeting.

•Send any e-mail address changes to Brad Carson so he can update the SPARTA Listserv.

•The 2013 dues are due ($30). Please see Tommy Thomas.

•The business portion of the meeting ended at 7:45 p.m.

PRESENTATION

•Presentation was given by Jim Ott of Triangle Systems about the latest IOF updates.

• Agenda
- Company History
- New Features of IOF version 8E
- E-mail Interface Redone
- IOF SNAP facility
- REXX Driven
- OPERLOG Additional Support
- Archive Built In
- Detailed Screen Capture for IOF Displays

• Company History
- Fall 1982 - first IOF site up and running
- IBM Mainframe Management Software
- Installed on over 800 systems

• New Features of IOF version 8E
- IOF Release 8E now includes a completely supported e-mail interface for z/OS along with significant enhancements to the IOF SEND commands. You can easily scan the OPERLOG even if you normally access log data through SYSLOG. Every IOF screen display can now be captured and optionally converted to html format. Significant new SNAP and REXX interface features were developed in support of the e-mail and send enhancements.
- IOF 8E was officially released on June 29, 2012.
- Release 8E supports all versions of z/OS through z/OS V1R13.

• E-mail Interface Redone (Mail in HTML Format)
- IOF Release 8E contains a completely supported e-mail interface for z/OS
- The IOFXMIT command can be used in an ISPF Edit session to download the current data set
- A very powerful and flexible interface is provided for Rexx execs to invoke the IOF mail features directly
- IOF Mail features are controlled and customized using IOF options.

• Mail in HTML Format
- Capture display and/or IOF screen
- IOFJAM - Job Archive Made Simple
- Archive to PDS
- Make PDS type output

• New Release contains a number of significant improvements to the IOF SNAP facility:
- Snap data in html format
- Snap any allocated data set into the current snap target
- Convert any sequential data set into html format
- Single line command to specify snap target and snap job
- Create base64 output for binary data
- Simulate carriage control in snap output
- Access attributes of open snap target
- Access record counts and total bytes in current snap target
- Defer disposition of a sysout target until after it is closed

• REXX Driven - Top Enhanced Features for Rexx Applications
- New features increase the power and flexibility of the IOF Rexx interface. While some of these features have similar parallels in Rexx functions, these simple IOF commands work very well in IOF Rexx execs.
- Command Options
- CHECKDD MYFILE - To see if DD MYFILE name is currently allocated
A return code of zero means that the DD name is allocated.
- FREEDD MYFILE - To free the DD name MYFILE if it is currently allocated
- SAVEEXCL - On the IOF Job Summary, to preserve the current exclude status of the display
- RESTEXCL - To restore the Job Summary display to its state at the last SAVEEXCL command
- EXITCODE nnn - To terminate an IOF REXX exec in a batch environment and set the step return code

• OPERLOG Additional Support in IOF Release 8E
- The new OPERLOG command allows you to browse multiple days of OPERLOG data even if the IOF LOG command is configured to access SYSLOG data.
- OPERLOG works even if the SLAMOPER task is not being run at the site.
- OPERLOG does not use the index built by SLAMOPER, so the data being browsed will not have the normal index provided by the LOG command.
- OPERLOG command abbreviated OP

• Archive Built In
- IOF Browse
- IOF Edit
- Option to archive old log data
- Enter LOG ARCH on any IOF panel and selecting an old log for browse from the menu.

• Detailed Screen Capture for IOF Displays
- The new CAPTURE command allows you to make a detailed copy of any IOF display panel
- Select to capture all of the rows and columns of the current IOF panel
- Select only those currently displayed on the screen

• Contact Information
- Jim Ott - 919-544-0090 - E-mail: IOFTech@Triangle-Systems.Com
- www.triangle-systems.com

• The presentation and discussions ended about 8:55 PM.

Treasurer’s Report for June 2013

contributed by Tommy Thomas

The balance in the account is $939.03 as of June 19, 2013.

Financial Report
3/01/2013 through 06/19/2013

Items of Interest


SPARTA Schedule and Menu for 2013

contributed by Tommy Thomas and Chris Blackshire

June 25 - Subs
July 30 - BarBQ
Aug. 27 - DBAP Buy Your Own
Sept. 24 - Pizza
Oct. 29 - Chicken
Nov. 19 - Subs
Dec. 31 - No Meeting, Happy Holidays


z/OS V2R1 is Coming - Order Your DASD Now!

contributed by Ed Webb

Looks like the Big Data bug has bitten z/OS V2.

Our IBM friend at SHARE, Marna Walle, has posted new, much larger DASD requirements for the next z/OS in her blog here.


Session Schedule Now Available for SHARE 2013 in Boston in August

contributed by Ed Webb

SHARE has announced the availability of the schedule for the upcoming Boston meeting scheduled for August 11-16, 2013. Here’s some session highlights:

Session highlights include:

• Big Data and its Bigger Possibilities in the Cloud
• Mobile and the Mainframe
• Experiences with IBM zAware
• z/OS 2.1 User Experiences
• Colleges and Universities Teaching System z - Come On, Meet the Educators!
• z/VM Single System Image and Live Guest Relocation Panel Discussion
• Business Recovery: Hurricane Sandy... and Then What?

Better yet, check these sessions highlighted by Mary Anne Matyaz, the SHARE MVS Core Technologies Manager, in her SHARE blog.

Browse the full schedule here . Or review it by Areas of Interest (tracks) this way.

Registration is now available as well. Early Bird rates end June 28, 2013. Just click here for the best education a z/OS expert or novice can get!

And make your room reservations for SHARE now. Spread across two hotels, the Sheraton and the Marriott, near the Hynes Convention Center in the Back Bay district of Boston, SHARE in August will be focused on the upcoming next release of z/OS, Version 2.1. Book now before the rooms at Conference rates are all taken.


Humor


Judas Asparagus: You Have to Read This

contributed by Chris Blackshire

A child was asked to write a book report on the entire Bible.
 
Here is what was written:
 
The Children's Bible in a Nutshell
 
In the beginning, which occurred near the start, there was nothing but God, darkness, and some gas. The Bible says, 'The Lord thy God is one,' but I think He must be a lot older than that. Anyway, God said, 'Give me a light!' and someone did. Then God made the world. He split the
Adam and made Eve. Adam and Eve were naked, but they weren't embarrassed because mirrors hadn't been invented yet. Adam and Eve disobeyed God by eating one bad apple, so they were driven from the Garden of Eden .....Not sure what they were driven in though, because they didn't have cars. Adam and Eve had a son, Cain, who hated his brother as long as he was Abel.
 
Pretty soon all of the early people died off, except for Methuselah, who lived to be like a million or something.
 
One of the next important people was Noah, who was a good guy, but one of his kids was kind of a Ham. Noah built a large boat and put his family and some animals on it. He asked some other people to join him, but they said they would have to take a rain check.
 
After Noah came Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
 
Jacob was more famous than his brother, Esau, because Esau sold Jacob his birthmark in exchange for some pot roast. Jacob had a son named Joseph who wore a really loud sports coat. Another important Bible guy is Moses, whose real name was Charlton Heston. Moses led the Israel Lights out of Egypt and away from the evil Pharaoh after God sent ten plagues on Pharaoh's people. These plagues included frogs, mice, lice, bowels, and no cable.
 
God fed the Israel Lights every day with manicotti.
 
Then he gave them His Top Ten Commandments.
 
These include: don't lie, cheat, smoke, dance, or covet your neighbor's stuff. Oh, yeah, I just thought of one more: Humor thy father and thy mother.
 
One of Moses' best helpers was Joshua who was the first Bible guy to use spies. Joshua fought the battle of Geritol and the fence fell over on the town. After Joshua came David. He got to be king by killing a giant with a slingshot.
 
He had a son named Solomon who had about 300 wives and 500 porcupines. My teacher says he was wise, but that doesn't sound very wise to me.
 
After Solomon there were a bunch of major league prophets. One of these was Jonah, who was swallowed by a big whale and then barfed up on the shore.
 
There were also some minor league prophets, but I guess we don't have to worry about them. 
 
After the Old Testament came the New Testament.
 
Jesus is the star of The New Testament. He was born in Bethlehem in a barn. (I wish I had been born in a barn too, because my mom is always saying to me, 'Close the door! Were you born in a barn?' It would be nice to say, 'As a matter of fact, I was.') During His life, Jesus had many arguments with sinners like the Pharisees and the Republicans. Jesus also had twelve opossums. The worst one was Judas Asparagus. Judas was so evil that they named a terrible vegetable after him.
 
Jesus was a great man. He healed many leopards and even preached to some Germans on the Mount.
 
But the Republicans and all those guys put Jesus on trial before Pontius the Pilot. Pilot didn't stick up for Jesus. He just washed his hands instead.
 
Anyways, Jesus died for our sins, then came back to life again. He went up to Heaven but will be back at the end of the Aluminum. His return is foretold in the book of Revolution.


If My Body Was A Car

contributed by Chris Blackshire

This is just too funny - scary how true it is!!!
 
If my body was a car, this is the time I would be thinking about trading it in for a newer model.
 
I've got bumps and dents and scratches in my finish and my paint job is getting a little dull...
 
But that's not the worst of it.
 
My headlights are out of focus and it's especially hard to see things up close.
 
My traction is not as graceful as it once was. I slip and slide and skid and bump into things even in the best of weather.
 
My whitewalls are stained with varicose veins.
 
It takes me hours to reach my maximum speed. My fuel rate burns inefficiently.
 
But here's the worst of it,
 
Almost every time I sneeze, cough, or sputter, either my radiator leaks or my exhaust backfires!

Membership Information

Don’t Forget the Next SPARTA Meeting

Tuesday, June 25, 2013

7 p.m.

LabCorp in the RTP

Free Food: Subs, Drink, Dessert

Program:

Omegamon Updates

Speaker:

Paul Smith of IBM

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

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