MVS Tools & Tricks of the Trade Public Software Tapes Revisited by Sam Golob Sam Golob is a systems programmer at an installation in New Jersey. It has been a while since I have done an overview of public domain software tapes and stressed their immense value to a practicing MVS systems programmer. Some of these tapes have been improved through significant new contributions in the past year or two. I can testify that the CBT MVS Utilities Tape and the NaSPA VIP Tape have come a great distance in the past two years. De-emphasizing the multiple ways in which the public tapes can help your shop, I'd like to concentrate on the additional ways they can help you in your growth of understanding and breadth of system knowledge. Learning by Connecting Nearly all of the software contributions on the CBT MVS Tape (Version 329 as of this writing) and on the NaSPA VIP Tape are accompanied by a name, address and a phone number. In my experience, contributors to these tape are gratified that their efforts are being noticed by others. Then there's the knowledge. That's really the bottom-line. You can find all sorts of programs that do wonders to utilize various facilities of the MVS operating system and data management. Nearly all of them have source code. You are free to study them, try them and fix them. It's like bringing a 10-year-old kid into "Toys R Us" and telling him or her: "It's all free. Just take anything you want off the shelf and put it together, It's yours!" Many systems programmers have done a lot of work for their own installations. However, people employed by large companies that are not in the software business can't enjoy the feedback from users outside their company walls. But with a contribution to a tape, they can get such satisfaction, and conversely, gain access to work from hundreds of other people. If your shop doesn't want to buy software tools for you, you needn't despair. Access to these tapes will give you an enormous pool of software tools of every description. You can usually see their source code to learn how the work is done. In some areas, certain utilities on these tapes are better than any vendor software that is currently available. What Tapes Are Available? I've included the names, addresses and phone numbers of several tape distributors in the sidebar. The "granddaddy" of MVS software tapes is the CBT MVS Tape, started by Arnold Casinghino and built by him for 15 years. I am the current editor of the CBT Tape, having taken it over from Arnie. I inherited quite a bundle of material from him. In terms of general coverage of MVS needs, the CBT MVS Tape is perhaps the most comprehensive single source. The CBT Tape has 472 files, many of which have large collections of tools within them. Getting a current CBT Tape should be the highest priority for every MVS systems programmer. I have heard of some tapes from abroad, such as the UK GUIDE Tape, that aren't readily available in the United States. I would like to hear from readers outside the United States who have such a user-contributed MVS software collection available to them. Some of the most useful programs I know of have originated from other countries. I was the beneficiary, through a NaSTEC conference, of a user exit commented in Spanish! Thanks, Jhony. Many of my good tools come from Australia. Thanks, Greg and friends. Using the Tapes To Improve Your Knowledge There are several ways to "break into" the tapes for your own knowledge. One way is to print out the tape documentation, put it into a binder and leaf through it, looking for things to install that seem interesting to you. This is good general practice. On the CBT Tape, I purposely added a documentation section describing what to do first. I remember taking the documentation file from my first CBT Tape in a binder to the beach. My "social friends," upon seeing the binder, commented: "Computers, Yecch. Why don't you read a good novel or at least a newspaper." (That was before PCs became really popular.) I have courage in my convictions. I told them the "Toys R Us" story. Than I ignored them. I figured that I probably got more benefit from my reading than they did from theirs that day. Another way of getting started is to have a problem at work. Sometimes your boss will come and tell you to write a program or an exit to solve the problem. If you have a CRT Tape or a JES2 Tape, you may not have to write the program from scratch, but you can save a lot of time by lifting someone else's code. There are some purists who might think it's more honorable to write all your own code. But practically speaking, that's not what your company pays you for, unless there's no other way. Using (and improving) someone else's wheel takes less time, gets the solution to the users more quickly and costs the company less money. It's also a good way to become more familiar with the tape. There are some other rewards to all this exploring. Very important is the personal experience you acquire as a software evaluator. It is possible to become a valued beta tester for one or more software houses, especially when you develop sharpness at the process from long practice with free materials. This gives you exposure to more vendor software than you or your company can normally afford. A little extra work often yields a lot of extra dividends. Finally, there are benefits to be gained from the pure study of code. Hard work yields knowledge, experience and ultimate results. Most of the good MVS people I know have studied other peoples' code a lot, besides writing their own. Have you ever wondered how a certain program could achieve some marvelous result? Have you ever said, "I wish I could see the source code?" Well, now you can. One the public software tapes, almost all of the source code is available. Spreading the Word There are two schools of thought to this. I've seen some "system doctors" who look at a problem, do some magic and keep the solution to themselves. I do not subscribe to that approach. Early in my career, I was blessed with a fine friend and mentor. I'd call him every day for several years after I was working on my own and I'd run all my problems of the day past him. It paid off. Even if I'd solved a problem satisfactorily without his help, he would invariably add a lot of extra insight into the issue. My knowledge become much more rounded because of his input. Later, when my circle of knowledgeable friends became wider, I discovered that each of them was able to provide a unique new view to any situation. Different people looked at an issue from different angles. Each person's opinion complemented the other person's view and shed new light for me, the onlooker. I don't know where I would be today without years of these conversations behind me. Consequently, I try and help other people by applying some of my experiences to their circumstances. Hearing other people's problems gives you broader insight into your own problems, while it is also helping them. You earn yourself new friends and lay a foundation of helpers for your own future. Every person in this world is valuable in some way. You never know when the help you gave them will come back to you. I'm always going to be better and more experienced in some way, by helping someone else. Summary Finishing this discussion is for each of you to do on your own. The first step is to order one or more of the tapes. Follow the "yellow brick road" I've laid out here and you'll know more about the benefits of this process than I could ever tell you. Good luck in all your endeavors. See you next month. See the sidebar to acquire some of the available public tapes. Most of the tapes have no restrictions as to who can get them. Remember that many of the tapes are updated often. Several NaSPA Chapters maintain tape collections and distribute tapes at their meetings. It pays to attend the chapter meeting. /* Was this column of value to you? If so, please let us know by circling Reader Service No. 92. Sidebar Public Domain Software CBT Tape and the NaSPA VIP tapes NaSPA 4811 S. 76th Street, Suite 210 Milwaukee, WI 53220 (414) 423-2420 ext. 109 The JES3 SHARE/GUIDE Tape Alan Field Wetterau Inc. 345 Dunn Road Florissant, MO 63031-7995 (314) 839-7040 The L.A. MVS Users Group Tape Tom Beuthin (310) 812-4421 CBT Tape, S.P.L.A. Tape, CICS SHARE Tape, PL/I SHARE Tape, JES2 Mods Tape Fred Robinson SHARE Program Library Agency (S.P.L.A.) University of Miami P.O. Box 248011 1365 Memorial Drive Coral Gables, FL 33124-4220 (305) 284-6257