Different Sorts Information

DFSORT is a sort product sold by IBM.
SYNCSORT is a competing product sold by Syncsort, Inc.
CA-SORT is yet another sort product, sold by Computer Associates.

Obviously, most shops only buy one of these products.

ICEMAN is just another name (entry point) used for the sort program. It's common practice in shops for the system programmers to set up all the common names as entry points to their purchased SORT product. You will often find that PGM=SYNCSORT and PGM=DFSORT will both work in your shop, and both execute the same sort program (whichever one your shop purchased).

ICETOOL is an expansion to the basic SORT program, that allows you to use alternate (simpler) commands to do multiple sort operations in a single sort step. I think that ICETOOL doesn't do anything that you couldn't do via coding multiple DFSORT steps -- it just makes coding them a bit easier.

ICETOOL is supplied as part of the basic SORT package -- if you have DFSORT, you also have ICETOOL. Many people don't seem to realize this. And some troglydite managements don't understand this, and forbid use of ICETOOL in production, restricting programmers to only SORT steps. Such managements are fools (but, alas, not uncommon).

SYNCTOOL is Syncsort, Inc.'s version of the ICETOOL package.

All these are very similar products -- they all do basic sorting. And they use similar commands. For most basic sort operations, the same commands will work in all the products. When you get into more advanced functions, there are some differences between them -- some functions are only offered in one or the other product, and sometimes different syntax is used for the same operations.

Creating Current Date and Time in a file

//MANIMA JOB (020406),'MANIM/941-2',
// MSGLEVEL=1,MSGCLASS=O,NOTIFY=MANIM,
// CLASS=A
//S2 EXEC PGM=ICEMAN
//SYSOUT DD SYSOUT=*
//SORTIN DD *
HI MANI
//SORTOUT DD DSN=MANIM.TEST.DATE,DISP=(MOD,CATLG),
// SPACE=(TRK,(2,2)),
// DCB=(RECFM=FB,LRECL=80,BLKSIZE=800)
//SYSIN DD *
SORT FIELDS=(1,6,CH,A),FORMAT=CH
OUTREC FIELDS=(1:DATE1(-),12:TIME1(:),20:1,18)
/*

Output will be like this,

2007-04-25 03:37:44 HI MANI

Time Bank

Imagine there is a bank that credits your account each morning with $86,400. It carries over no balance from day to day.
Every evening the bank deletes whatever part of the balance you failed to use during the day. What would you do? Draw out every cent, of course!!!! Each of us has such a bank. Its name is TIME.
Every morning, it credits you with 86,400 seconds.
Every night it writes off, as lost, whatever of this you have failed to invest to good purpose. It carries over no balance. It allows no overdraft.
Each day it opens a new account for you.
Each night it burns the remains of the day.
If you fail to use the day's deposits, the loss is yours.
There is no going back. There is no drawing against the "tomorrow".
You must live in the present on today's deposits. Invest it so as to get from it the utmost in health, happiness, and success!
The clock is running. Make the most of today.
To realize the value of ONE YEAR, ask a student who failed a grade.
To realize the value of ONE MONTH, ask a mother who gave birth to a premature baby.
To realize the value of ONE WEEK, ask the editor of a weekly newspaper.
To realize the value of ONE HOUR, ask the lovers who are waiting to meet.
To realize the value of ONE MINUTE, ask a person who missed the train.
To realize the value of ONE SECOND, ask a person who just avoided an accident.
Treasure every moment that you have! And reassure it more because you shared it with someone special, special enough to spend your time.
Remember that time waits for no one.
Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is mystery. Today is a gift. That's why it's called the present!

Date into a dataset name

Sometimes we want to create lot of datasets and will be in a confusion on which date the dataset is created, etc. So it will be better to create the datasets with date and time as shown below,

//MANIMA JOB (020406),'MANIM/941-2',
// MSGLEVEL=1,MSGCLASS=O,NOTIFY=MANIM,
// CLASS=A
//STEPA EXEC PGM=EZACFSM1
//SYSOUT DD SYSOUT=(*,INTRDR)
//SYSIN DD DATA,DLM=@@
//MANIMB JOB (020406),'MANIM/941-2',
// MSGLEVEL=1,MSGCLASS=O,NOTIFY=MANIM,
// CLASS=A
//STEPB EXEC PGM=IEBCOPY
//SYSOUT DD SYSOUT=*
//SYSPRINT DD SYSOUT=*
//*
//SYSUT1 DD DISP=SHR,
// DSN=MANIM.TEST.REXX
//SYSUT2 DD DISP=(NEW,CATLG,DELETE),
// DSN=MANIM.UKX0702B.S010.#1.D&LYYMMDD..T&LHHMMSS,
// UNIT=SYSDA,SPACE=(CYL,(5,5,5))
/*
//SYSIN DD DUMMY
@@
//

Output will be like this given below,

MANIM.UKX0702B.S010.#1.D070424.T024946
MANIM.UKX0702B.S010.#1.D070424.T025318

An interesting reflection: Slow Down Culture

An interesting reflection: Slow Down Culture - Author Vasudha Ranganathan.

It's been 18 years since I joined Volvo, a Swedish company. Working for them has proven to be an interesting experience. Any project here takes 2 years to be finalized, even if the idea is simple and brilliant. It's a rule.

Globalize processes have caused in us (all over the world) a general sense of searching for immediate results. Therefore, we have come to posses a need to see immediate results. This contrasts greatly with the slow movements of the Swedish. They, on the other hand, debate, debate, debate, hold x quantity of meetings and work with a slowdown scheme. At the end, this
always yields better results.

Said in another words:
1. Sweden is about the size of San Pablo, a state in Brazil.
2. Sweden has 2 million inhabitants.
3. Stockholm has 500,000 people.
4. Volvo, Escania, Ericsson, Electrolux, Nokia are some of its renowned companies. Volvo supplies the NASA.

The first time I was in Sweden, one of my colleagues picked me up at the hotel every morning. It was September, bit cold and snowy. We would arrive early at the company and he would park far away from the entrance (2000 employees drive their car to work). The first day, I didn't say anything, either the second or third. One morning I asked, "Do you have a fixed parking space? I've noticed we park far from the entrance even when there are no other cars in the lot." To which he replied, "Since we're here early we'll have time to walk, and whoever gets in late will be late and need a place closer to the door. Don't you think? Imagine my face.

Nowadays, there's a movement in Europe name Slow Food. This movement establishes that people should eat and drink slowly, with enough time to taste their food, spend time with the family, friends, without rushing. Slow Food is against its counterpart: the spirit of Fast Food and what it stands for as a lifestyle. Slow Food is the basis for a bigger movement called Slow
Europe, as mentioned by Business Week.

Basically, the movement questions the sense of "hurry" and "craziness" generated by globalization, fuelled by the desire of "having in quantity" (life status) versus "having with quality", "life quality" or the "quality of being". French people, even though they work 35 hours per week, are more productive than Americans or British. Germans have established 28.8 hour
workweeks and have seen their productivity been driven up by 20%. This slow attitude has brought forth the US's attention, pupils of the fast and the "do it now!"

This no-rush attitude doesn't represent doing less or having a lower productivity. It means working and doing things with greater quality, productivity, perfection, with attention to detail and less stress. It means re-establishing family values, friends, free and leisure time. Taking the
"now", present and concrete, versus the "global", undefined and anonymous. It means taking humans' essential values, the simplicity of living.

It stands for a less coercive work environment, more happy, lighter and more productive where humans enjoy doing what they know best how to do. It's time to stop and think on how companies need to develop serious quality with no-rush that will increase productivity and the quality of products and services, without losing the essence of spirit.

In the movie, Scent of a Woman, there's a scene where Al Pacino asks a girl to dance and she replies, "I can't, my boyfriend will be here any minute now". To which Al responds, "A life is lived in an instant". Then they dance to a tango.

Many of us live our lives running behind time, but we only reach it when we die of a heart attack or in a car accident rushing to be on time. Others are so anxious of living the future that they forget to live the present, which is the only time that truly exists. We all have equal time throughout the world. No one has more or less. The difference lies in how each one of us
does with our time. We need to live each moment. As John Lennon said, "Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans".