Draft
User’s Guide
For
ExploreMVS
July 2000
Tagg Associates
304 S. Garfield St.
Arlington Va. 22204
703-892-6058 email: ggwhite@attglobal.net
ExploreMVS system
overview.......................................................................................................... 8
MVS file system VSAM and non-VSAM files
activities.......................................................... 9
Unix System Services file system................................................................................................. 10
DB2 activities............................................................................................................................................ 12
Messaging services.............................................................................................................................. 13
Introduction to the ExploreMVS
User Interface.......................................................... 14
Java Console Window......................................................................................................................... 14
ExploreMVS Activity Log Window............................................................................................... 15
ExploreMVS Main User Interface Window............................................................................. 16
Menu bar..................................................................................................................................................... 17
Tool bar....................................................................................................................................................... 17
File System Tree
Structure....................................................................................................................... 18
Directory, HLQ, and
Volume Table Display area................................................................................. 18
File Menu.................................................................................................................................................... 18
New............................................................................................................................................................... 19
Open............................................................................................................................................................. 20
CopyForm................................................................................................................................................... 21
Submit.......................................................................................................................................................... 22
Delete........................................................................................................................................................... 22
Rename........................................................................................................................................................ 23
Search.......................................................................................................................................................... 23
Display........................................................................................................................................................ 24
File Mask specification............................................................................................................................. 24
Edit Menu Commands........................................................................................................................... 25
Copy............................................................................................................................................................. 26
Cut................................................................................................................................................................ 26
Select_All.................................................................................................................................................... 26
Paste............................................................................................................................................................ 26
View Menu Commands......................................................................................................................... 26
Refresh......................................................................................................................................................... 27
AddNode...................................................................................................................................................... 27
RemoveNode............................................................................................................................................... 27
RemovChildren........................................................................................................................................... 28
ShowMVSNodes......................................................................................................................................... 28
NewTree....................................................................................................................................................... 28
Setup Menu................................................................................................................................................ 28
FTP............................................................................................................................................................... 29
PDSList........................................................................................................................................................ 30
Trace............................................................................................................................................................ 30
FTP Menu commands............................................................................................................................. 31
PC_File_To_Host...................................................................................................................................... 32
Host_File_to_PC....................................................................................................................................... 33
Unix_Files Menu...................................................................................................................................... 33
ChangeFileMode....................................................................................................................................... 33
ChangeFileOwner...................................................................................................................................... 36
ChangeFileGroup...................................................................................................................................... 36
FindFile....................................................................................................................................................... 37
SearchInFileFor......................................................................................................................................... 39
ShowHead................................................................................................................................................... 41
ShowTail...................................................................................................................................................... 42
Windows Menu........................................................................................................................................ 43
Command.................................................................................................................................................... 43
Jobs.............................................................................................................................................................. 45
DB2.............................................................................................................................................................. 46
Messages..................................................................................................................................................... 51
TSO............................................................................................................................................................... 54
PC_File_Viewer......................................................................................................................................... 55
Help Menu commands......................................................................................................................... 56
Contents...................................................................................................................................................... 57
WindowHelp............................................................................................................................................... 57
Tree Structure description............................................................................................................ 57
HFS Directory Structure........................................................................................................................... 59
MVS Data set Structure
– data set qualifiers........................................................................................ 59
OS/390 VOLUMES..................................................................................................................................... 59
Your PC’s File System............................................................................................................................... 60
File/Data set Table display description.................................................................................. 60
HFS Table Column
Descriptions............................................................................................................. 60
MVS Table Column
Descriptions............................................................................................................. 61
VOLUME Table Column
Descriptions.................................................................................................... 63
Text Library Table
Column Descriptions............................................................................................... 64
Load Library Table
Column Descriptions............................................................................................. 65
File selection procedures............................................................................................................... 66
File and Directory Copy and Move procedures................................................................. 67
Drag and Drop........................................................................................................................................... 67
Copy and Paste.......................................................................................................................................... 68
Using a Form.............................................................................................................................................. 68
User Interface inconveniences.................................................................................................... 70
Command Window.................................................................................................................................... 70
Command Window Sections............................................................................................................. 72
Menu bar..................................................................................................................................................... 72
Tool bar....................................................................................................................................................... 72
Drop down list box.................................................................................................................................... 72
Text area..................................................................................................................................................... 72
Status line................................................................................................................................................... 73
Button area................................................................................................................................................. 73
Displaying the command window............................................................................................... 74
Using the open command.......................................................................................................................... 74
Selecting the "Command" command from the windows
menu............................................................ 74
Selecting the Jobs
command from the windows menu.......................................................................... 74
Command window menus................................................................................................................. 74
File menu.................................................................................................................................................... 75
Close command.......................................................................................................................................... 75
Save command............................................................................................................................................ 75
Saveas command........................................................................................................................................ 75
PCSave command....................................................................................................................................... 76
Submit command........................................................................................................................................ 76
Basic editing techniques................................................................................................................... 76
Inserting Text.............................................................................................................................................. 76
Deleting Text.............................................................................................................................................. 76
Selecting Text............................................................................................................................................. 77
Text Edit menu......................................................................................................................................... 77
Undo command........................................................................................................................................... 77
Redo command........................................................................................................................................... 78
Copy command........................................................................................................................................... 78
Cut command.............................................................................................................................................. 78
PCCopy command...................................................................................................................................... 78
PCPaste command..................................................................................................................................... 78
SelectAll command..................................................................................................................................... 78
Paste command........................................................................................................................................... 79
Find/Replace command............................................................................................................................. 79
FindNext command.................................................................................................................................... 79
ReplaceNext command.............................................................................................................................. 79
ReplaceAll command................................................................................................................................. 79
CheckJCL command................................................................................................................................... 80
MVSJobs menu.......................................................................................................................................... 80
jobStatus command.................................................................................................................................... 80
jobOutput command.................................................................................................................................. 81
jobDelete command................................................................................................................................... 81
Help menu.................................................................................................................................................. 81
Contents command..................................................................................................................................... 81
WindowHelp command.............................................................................................................................. 81
UnixCmdHelp command........................................................................................................................... 82
TSOCmdHelp command............................................................................................................................ 82
Define VSAM Cluster.............................................................................................................................. 82
Menu bar..................................................................................................................................................... 83
Tool bar...................................................................................................................................................... 84
Button area.............................................................................................................................................. 84
Submit button............................................................................................................................................. 84
Clear button................................................................................................................................................ 84
Cancel button............................................................................................................................................. 84
Define Cluster sub parameters list box................................................................................. 84
Text area.................................................................................................................................................... 85
File Menu.................................................................................................................................................... 85
Saveas command........................................................................................................................................ 85
Edit Menu.................................................................................................................................................... 85
Samples Menu.......................................................................................................................................... 86
SMSManagedKeySequencedCluster
command..................................................................................... 86
SMSManagedKeySequencedClusterWithDataAndIndex
command................................................... 86
KeySequencedClusterWithDataAndIndex
command............................................................................ 86
RelativeRecordCluster
command............................................................................................................ 86
ReusableEntrySequencedCluster
command.......................................................................................... 86
Help Menu description....................................................................................................................... 87
Contents command..................................................................................................................................... 87
WindowHelp command.............................................................................................................................. 87
DefineHelp command................................................................................................................................ 87
Search Command Window.................................................................................................................. 87
Global Options Section..................................................................................................................... 89
Display Records Option............................................................................................................................ 89
Select Records Option............................................................................................................................... 89
Copy Select Records
option...................................................................................................................... 89
Use AND Logic option............................................................................................................................... 89
Text File option.......................................................................................................................................... 90
Change Records option............................................................................................................................. 90
Edit File option.......................................................................................................................................... 90
Limit Output option................................................................................................................................... 90
Actions Section....................................................................................................................................... 90
Run Query button....................................................................................................................................... 91
Cancel button............................................................................................................................................. 91
Add button................................................................................................................................................... 91
Help button................................................................................................................................................. 91
Output Options Section...................................................................................................................... 91
Stop After input box................................................................................................................................... 91
Display at offset input
box....................................................................................................................... 92
for length of input box.............................................................................................................................. 92
Select type of condition test section...................................................................................... 92
Compare option......................................................................................................................................... 92
Bit Test option............................................................................................................................................ 92
Find data in records containing a section............................................................................ 93
Value data entry box................................................................................................................................. 93
data format is list box............................................................................................................................... 93
If list box...................................................................................................................................................... 93
At data entry box....................................................................................................................................... 94
Condition for selection must include the
criteria from section.......................... 94
Change found data to section...................................................................................................... 95
Find statements section.................................................................................................................... 95
FindNumber output
display..................................................................................................................... 95
#Find output display................................................................................................................................. 95
Find Statement list box............................................................................................................................. 96
Remove Find Statement
button................................................................................................................ 96
DB2 User Interface................................................................................................................................. 96
Menu bar..................................................................................................................................................... 97
Tool bar...................................................................................................................................................... 97
Tree structure........................................................................................................................................ 97
Table Display of tables and views.............................................................................................. 98
File Menu.................................................................................................................................................... 99
New command............................................................................................................................................. 99
Alter command............................................................................................................................................ 99
Drop command........................................................................................................................................... 99
View Menu.................................................................................................................................................. 99
SQLInput command................................................................................................................................. 100
Refresh command..................................................................................................................................... 100
Actions Menu......................................................................................................................................... 100
Select command........................................................................................................................................ 100
Query command....................................................................................................................................... 100
Sample command..................................................................................................................................... 101
Columns command................................................................................................................................... 101
ViewDefinition command........................................................................................................................ 101
Help Menu................................................................................................................................................ 101
Contents command.................................................................................................................................. 101
WindowHelp command........................................................................................................................... 102
DB2 Data Display Window................................................................................................................. 102
Menu bar section................................................................................................................................ 102
Tool bar section.................................................................................................................................. 103
Table Display Section....................................................................................................................... 103
Action menu............................................................................................................................................ 104
Delete command....................................................................................................................................... 105
Update command..................................................................................................................................... 105
Select_All command................................................................................................................................ 105
ToText command...................................................................................................................................... 106
Help menu................................................................................................................................................ 106
Contents command.................................................................................................................................. 106
WindowHelp command........................................................................................................................... 106
DB2 New/Alter Table
Window........................................................................................................ 107
Menu bar section................................................................................................................................ 108
File menu.................................................................................................................................................. 108
Open command......................................................................................................................................... 108
PCOpen command................................................................................................................................... 108
PCSave command.................................................................................................................................... 108
SaveAS command..................................................................................................................................... 109
Edit menu.................................................................................................................................................. 109
Action menu............................................................................................................................................ 109
CreateTable command............................................................................................................................ 109
CreateIndex command............................................................................................................................ 109
Alter command......................................................................................................................................... 110
Help Menu................................................................................................................................................ 110
Contents command.................................................................................................................................. 110
WindowHelp command........................................................................................................................... 110
Tool bar.................................................................................................................................................... 110
Table Information data entry section.................................................................................. 110
Table Name............................................................................................................................................... 111
Authorization ID...................................................................................................................................... 111
Primary Key.............................................................................................................................................. 111
Database Name........................................................................................................................................ 111
Table Space Name................................................................................................................................... 112
Create/Alter SQL Statement text area section................................................................ 112
Enter column information for your new table
section........................................... 112
Column Name........................................................................................................................................... 112
Data Type.................................................................................................................................................. 113
Length/Precision...................................................................................................................................... 113
Allow Null Values.................................................................................................................................... 113
Finish SQL button.................................................................................................................................... 113
Add Column button.................................................................................................................................. 114
status line.................................................................................................................................................. 114
DB2 Command Window........................................................................................................................ 114
Menu bar section................................................................................................................................ 115
File menu.................................................................................................................................................. 115
Open command......................................................................................................................................... 115
PCOpen command................................................................................................................................... 115
PCSave command.................................................................................................................................... 116
Save command.......................................................................................................................................... 116
SaveAs command..................................................................................................................................... 116
Edit menu.................................................................................................................................................. 117
Action menu............................................................................................................................................ 117
Exec command.......................................................................................................................................... 117
Clear command........................................................................................................................................ 117
Load command......................................................................................................................................... 118
Unload command..................................................................................................................................... 118
Help Menu................................................................................................................................................ 118
Contents command.................................................................................................................................. 118
WindowHelp command........................................................................................................................... 118
Tool bar.................................................................................................................................................... 119
Tab area.................................................................................................................................................... 119
Script tab................................................................................................................................................... 119
Results tab................................................................................................................................................ 119
DB2 Query Window................................................................................................................................ 120
Menu bar.................................................................................................................................................. 121
File menu.................................................................................................................................................. 121
Open command......................................................................................................................................... 121
PCOpen command................................................................................................................................... 121
PCSave command.................................................................................................................................... 121
SaveAs command..................................................................................................................................... 121
Edit menu.................................................................................................................................................. 122
Help Menu................................................................................................................................................ 122
Contents command.................................................................................................................................. 122
WindowHelp command........................................................................................................................... 122
Tool bar.................................................................................................................................................... 122
Query SQL verbs section................................................................................................................. 122
Select verb................................................................................................................................................ 123
DISTINCT verb......................................................................................................................................... 123
From verb................................................................................................................................................. 123
Where verb............................................................................................................................................... 124
Group By verb.......................................................................................................................................... 124
Having verb.............................................................................................................................................. 124
Order By verb........................................................................................................................................... 124
Text Area section................................................................................................................................ 125
List Box section.................................................................................................................................... 125
Table names list box................................................................................................................................ 125
Column names list box............................................................................................................................ 125
Constraints list box................................................................................................................................. 126
Functions list box.................................................................................................................................... 126
Status information............................................................................................................................ 127
Index............................................................................................................................................................... 128
ExploreMVS system overview
ExploreMVS is
designed to make it easy for users familiar with Microsoft windows, to perform
file management, job management, and Db2 table manipulations, in an OS/390
environment. ExploreMVS provides an easy to use, intuitive user interface that
provides a window into the various OS/390 file systems and the DB2 database. The user
interface is designed to treat and display information about both MVS and UNIX
file systems, and DB2 objects, in a similar manner. Files may be transferred
between the MVS and UNIX file systems without the user knowing or caring about
how this takes place. The transfer of an MVS data set to a UNIX directory is no
more complicated than a click of a mouse button on an MVS data set and dragging
the mouse to a UNIX directory.
File management
functions such as creating, copying, deleting, renaming, and editing MVS, and
UNIX files and directories may be performed using Drag and Drop, Copy and Paste, and point and click techniques to minimize the need for
user input and thereby avoid user typing mistakes. ExploreMVS presents dialogs
to verify that the user really wants to perform these functions and provides a
mechanism to cancel any action before its performed. Error messages and
completions codes are displayed in a message window after the action has been
performed on the OS/390 system.
ExploreMVS provides
job management facilities to submit MVS jobs, obtain job run status and
retrieve job output. These functions can be performed using point and click
technology rather than command entry and execution.
For more advanced
users, ExploreMVS provides the ability to execute TSO and UNIX commands,
and perform UNIX job submission and monitoring functions. These types of
activities require more knowledge and experience on the users part since
command syntax and system consequences must be understood to use these features
effectively.
ExploreMVS provides a
file manager type user interface to explore the OS/390 DB2 system. The user
interface allows one to discover the databases, tables, views, and indexes
defined in the DB2 sub system. Information about these objects can be displayed
(owner, and column information) without having to remember any commands or
knowing data base object relationships. The user can discover DB2 databases,
table, views and indexes by clicking on objects in the ExploreMVS user
interface.
ExploreMVS provides a
messaging service to allow users to collaborate on projects, and a data set
contention service to prevent multiple users from editing the same file
simultaneously. The messaging service automatically notifies users of data set
contention problems and also notifies users when data sets become available for
editing.
The following section
provides summaries of the activities that can be performed in the services
provided by ExploreMVS.
MVS file system VSAM and non-VSAM files activities.
File
management functions such as move,
copy, edit, review, create, delete, and rename for non-VSAM files and libraries
and their members. Most operations can be performed via point and click and
drag and drop techniques without manually keying of any data. Data sets and
members of libraries can be copied into the UNIX System Services (USS) file
system or to your PC.
Job management
functions can be performed in
a number of ways. You can create JCL in an edit session and submit the JCL for
execution. You can also submit files that contain JCL to the job entry system
(JES) for execution. These files may be edited and saved prior to submission.
The JCL can reside on MVS non-VSAM files and PDS members. You can get the
status of jobs, view job output, save output to MVS files and delete job output
from the JES hold queue. There is a restriction on JOB names. The job name must
start with your userid followed by only one character or number. If your TSO userid is p390 than
a job name of P390READ can be used but you will not be able to access the job
output or status. A job name of P390A would work.
TSO and VSAM commands may be sent to OS/390 to be executed. The results of command
execution are returned to the user interface through a message window.
FTP MVS files
from the mainframe to any other processor or from any other processor to the
mainframe is provided. This includes file transfers to and from your PC.
The creation, deletion, copying and displaying of data in VSAM files and
catalogs is supported.
You can have as many sessions of ExploreMVS simultaneously
active as practical on your PC.
Unix System Services file system.
The Unix System Services file system is also called the Hierarchical File System (HFS) and Open Edition file system (OMVS)).
ExploreMVS provides file management functions such as move,
copy, edit, review, create, delete, and rename for files in the UNIX file
system on files and directories that you are permitted to access. Most
operations can be performed via point and click and drag and drop techniques
without manually keying of any data. You can copy or move UNIX files to MVS
files and libraries or onto MVS volumes.
Job management functions can be performed under JES or under
USS. You can submit files that contain JCL to the job entry system for
execution. These files may be edited and saved prior to submission. The JCL can
reside in any text file within the UNIX file system. You can get the status of
jobs, view job output, save output to MVS or UNIX files and delete job output
from the JES hold queue. You may use the command processor window to edit and
save shell scripts into UNIX files. You can execute shell scripts by entering
the shell script name followed by any run time parameters required and execute
the script like any UNIX command. You can also enter any USS command that deals
with getting information about back ground job processing in the UNIX
environment to monitor job status (ps,jobs).
Any UNIX command may be sent to UNIX system services for
execution. The results of command execution are returned to the user interface
in a message window.
The capability to FTP any UNIX file from
the mainframe to any other processor or from any other processor to the
mainframe is provided. This includes file transfers to and from your PC.
You can change the owner and group ID attributes of UNIX
files and change the accessibility attributes of files you are authorized to
access (chown,chgrp,chmod). The utility functions such as find files(find),
find data in files(grep), List the first n lines in a file(head),and list the
last n lines in a file(tail) are supported in ExploreMVS via special forms
accessed from the "UNIX_files" menu. The rest of the UNIX system
commands can be executed via a command processor.
DB2 activities.
The DB2 SYSIBM data base
structure can be explored to view DB2 infra structure stored at the host site.
The system provides information about data bases, tables, views, and
indexes.
Databases can be explored to discover the tables, views, and
indexes contained in any database.
Tables and views can be displayed. Table column definitions
can be displayed to determine the data types defined for each column. Sample
data from any table or view can be displayed instead of displaying the complete
contents of a table or view.
Queries can be constructed and executed to select, and order
data from a table.
Tables can be updated, rows may be altered or deleted and
new rows can be inserted.
Tables may be created, altered, or dropped.
Table data may be converted to comma delimited format and
saved to an MVS or UNIX system services file or copied to the user clip board
and pasted into a local file. The comma delimited output may be used in client
applications or local databases.
Messaging services
Messaging services provide a simple way
for users to communicate with each other or the way ExploreMVS communicates
information about data set contention problems and availability to system
users. The service provides the following capabilities.
List of all users currently logged onto ExploreMVS.
Check if a particular user is logged on.
List of all files currently used in an edit session by some
logged on user.
Notification by ExploreMVS if you are attempting to use a
file being edited by someone else. This takes the form of a warning or a
notification that you are not allowed access.
Notification by ExploreMVS when a file becomes available for
your use (a file that you were not permitted to access previously).
Sending a message from your session to another logged on
user.
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Introduction to the ExploreMVS User Interface
There are three
windows that are shown when the ExploreMVS applet is started on your PC.
Java Console Window
The
first is the Java console that is shown by the Java Run Time Environment (JRE).
This window contains messages from the Java run time modules and also some
messages from ExploreMVS. Java run time errors are recorded in this window.
Messages should be checked
periodically for error situations. This is especially true if the ExploreMVS
user interface is not behaving properly. This may be due to Java error
exceptions that are noted in this window. All error should be saved and
reported to your system administrator. Use copy and paste (Ctrl+c to copy) and
paste into a PC editor to save these messages.
ExploreMVS Activity Log Window
The
second window presented is the ExploreMVS Activity Log window. ExploreMVS
displays processing messages and error messages to this window. You can review
these messages to review the commands that you have executed over time.
Procedural errors are documented here and also the results of exchanges with
the OS/390 server. The messages should be saved or cleared periodically since
the messages take up space in your PC's random access memory (every couple of
hours). There is a Clear button in the window for
this purpose. The File Menu contains a SaveAs and SavePC commands to allow you
to save the activity log.
ExploreMVS Main User Interface Window
The
third window displayed is the ExploreMVS main user interface window which is
described below. Most of your activity will be with this window or one of the
other windows that you may create by use of the commands under the Windows Menu.
The ExploreMVS main user interface window is comprised of a menu bar, tool bar, a file system tree structure, and a table containing the files in the currently selected directory. The interface follows the object action paradigm. You select an object from the user interface (tree or table) then select an action (command). The four objects that define the user interface are:
Menu bar
The
menu bar is at the top of the window below the window title. The menu bar
consists of the following menus that contain commands that provide an action,
store information, display a dialog or another window, and provide help. The
menus are File, Edit, View, Setup, FTP, Unix_Files, Window, and Help.
Tool bar
The
Tool bar appears below the
menu bar and contains buttons which contain Icons and command names for the
most often used file commands. Clicking a tool bar button is the same as
selecting the same named command from a menu. The current system contains seven
buttons that execute the file commands "New", "Open", "Rename", "Delete", and the Edit commands "Cut", "Copy" and "Paste". The center of the tool bar contains a progress meter
that shows the progress of commands that may take a few seconds to perform.
The system will display a message window that contains the results of
command execution, when the progress meter reaches 100%. The progress meter is
not meant to be exact but a simple tool to let you know work is in progress.
You may perform other tasks while the first task completes.
File System Tree Structure
The
tree structure is located on the left hand side of the user interface window.
The tree structure models the OS/390 file systems as a hierarchy of directories
and sub directories. Clicking on directory names cause ExploreMVS to expose the
files and sub directories contained in the clicked directory. The table display
will contain these files and sub directories and the file attributes associated
with these objects. There is a bar that splits the display between the tree and
the table display. This bar is moveable to allow an increase of viewable space
for either object.
Directory, HLQ, and Volume Table Display area
The table displays HFS files and sub directories, MVS low level data set name qualifiers, MVS library (PDS) member names, and the MVS data set names residing on a particular volume. The columns of the table contain data that describes file, library, or directory attributes. The information varies depending on which file system is being displayed and in MVS there are different columns for text libraries and load libraries. The columns displayed in the table may be re-arranged by dragging a column header from one location to another.
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File Menu
The ExploreMVS system
follows the object action paradigm wherein you select an object then select an
action. Use the tree structure to navigate through one of the file systems
(HFS,MVS,VOLUMES) until you find the HFS directory, MVS high level qualifier,
or volume serial number that you want to work with. Click on the node (select
the node). The table will display the objects in the currently selected tree
node. The file menu provides commands that will operate on either the tree node
or the objects in the table display. If you intend to use a command on a tree
node then do not select any files or sub directories displayed in the table. If
you intend to perform an operation on a table object then select the table
object(s) first. The file menu commands
are:
New
The New command creates a new file. The type of file to be created is determined by the current selection in the table display or the tree structure. If no file is selected in the table display then the system displays a dialog to allow you to choose the type of file that you want to create. Click on the button labeled VSAM, Non-VSAM, Unix, or Cancel to make your selection. If you select the Non-VSAM button the current tree path is used as the data set name and default file attributes are supplied as follows:
Data set name current tree path (high level qualifiers)
Data set organization (DSORG) is set to PS (Physical sequential organization)
Unit is set to "SYSDA" a generic DASD unit name
Record format (recfm) is set to fixed block (FB)
Logical record length (lrecl) is set to 80 characters
Block size is set to 800
Primary and secondary space requests are set to 5,5
To make the best use of this command, for allocating Non-VSAM files, select a file from the table display by clicking on
a file name. The New command will use that file's attributes to fill input boxes in a dialog
that is presented to you. Add and change the information displayed in the
dialog to define the new data set. Press the "OK" button to create
the new file or the "Cancel" button to cancel this operation.
The creation of a VSAM file is more involved. Whether you select a VSAM file from the table display and click on the New command or click on the New command and select the VSAM button from the dialog, the system displays a new window that will aid in the creation of a new VSAM cluster. The table display does not contain any file attributes for VSAM files so ExploreMVS cannot enter that information for you. The window displayed to help you create a new VSAM file has a Samples menu that has examples of a number of different types of VSAM file definitions. Use them to provide a starting point for your new VSAM file. Click on that windows Help menu to get more precise information about VSAM file creation topics.
The creation of a Unix file or directory is initiated by clicking on a Unix file name in the table display or by selecting the Unix button from the dialog that is shown when no file selection has been made. The system presents a new dialog that shows the current directory selected from the tree structure. If you selected an HFS file from the table display then that file name is shown along with the currently selected directory in the new dialog. If the file name data entry box is left blank then ExploreMVS attempts to allocate the specified directory. If there is a file name present then ExploreMVS will attempt to allocate a new file in the specified directory.
Open
The Open command causes the selected file to be obtained from the server and displayed in the Command window. The names of up to 200 data sets that appear in the table display are sent to the command window and displayed in a drop down combo box located above the text display area. You can than view and edit the text and save the changes if you desire. You can click on the down arrow of the combo box to display the other data set names (or member names of a PDS) that were copied from the table display. If you click on a data set or member name in that list then that data sets contents will be retrieved from OS/390 and the current contents of the display area will be lost (the newly selected data set contents replaces the previous data sets contents). The data set information may not be displayed if another user is already editing the file and your data center has chosen not to let two users edit the same file at the same time.
CopyForm
The CopyForm command displays one or more dialogs in order to obtain from you, information about a copy or move operation. If you have selected a file from the table display and then select the File Menu and then the CopyForm command then the following sequence of events takes place:
ExploreMVS will display a dialog that allows you to specify the destination of the copy or move operation. The dialog contains six buttons labeled MVS, UNIX, PDS, VOL, VSAM, and Cancel. Click on the destination (target) of the copy or move operation.
ExploreMVS will display another dialog that shows you the source file(s) for the copy or move operation, the destination, and a message that tells you how to enter the target file name, directory(HFS), or high level qualifiers(MVS). Enter the required data and then press either the Copy or Move button to perform the operation.
If you have selected a tree node then selected the CopyForm command then ExploreMVS presents a dialog that contains the following items that you can select or enter:
A set of radio buttons that allows you to select either the Copy or Move operation (defaults is Copy).
A set of radio buttons that allows you to specify the extent of the copy if the source and target of the operation are HFS directories. The options are "Files" or "All Files, directories and sub directories. The default is "Files" which is the only option recognized if the source and destination is not an HFS directory.
An input box labeled "From:" that will be primed by the currently select tree path to the node last clicked. This is the source directory or high level qualifier(s) from which files will be copied or moved.
An input box labeled "To:". Enter the destination directory or high level qualifier(s) where the files are to be copied.
An input box labeled "Volume:". The system does not currently support copy or move to a specific volume in this release. Disregard this input box for now.
An input box labeled "File Mask:". Enter a file name if only one file is to be copied or moved or enter a file mask to copy or move all files that meet the file mask criteria (DATA* for example will copy all files that begin with "DATA". See “File Mask Specification” for more information.
Two buttons labeled "OK" and "Cancel". Clicking the OK button will execute the selected operation.
The results of the operation will be displayed in a new window that can be dismissed after you view the messages.
Submit
The Submit command sends the contents of the selected file to the Job Entry Subsystem (JES) running under the OS/390 system. The Submit command will generate an error message dialog if a file in the table display has not been selected. The contents of the file are not verified to make sure that it contains a valid job. Perform this operation only if you have previously edited the JCL contained in this file or know for a fact that it contains a valid job. You may use the Open command to edit the file and then submit the job from the command window. Only one file can be selected for submission at a time. If multiple files are selected only the first one will be submitted.
Delete
The Delete command deletes the selected file or directory (and all files and sub directories) or some or all files subordinate to the selected high level qualifier. The extent of the deletion depends on the use of the file mask to determine which files and directories will be deleted. See “File Mask specification” for information about the use of the file mask. Multiple files may be selected from the table display and deleted at the same time.
Rename
The Rename command renames an HFS directory or a file selected from the table display. You cannot rename an MVS high level qualifier or a volume serial number. Any file selected from the table display may be renamed including MVS files that have more then one qualifier shown in the table entry. Multiple files may be selected from the table display and renamed one after the other.
Search
The Search command is used to find, change, and display data in the selected file. A set of control parameters and find and change statements can be used to control processing logic. Selected records may be copied to an output file. Selected records may be shown in both text and hex format and the selection process may be stopped after a number of selections have been made. The input file may be edited and copied in it entirety to an output file. Data editing is performed by control statements. These statements change certain values to other values or change a data type to another data type. The Search command only works on MVS files (both VSAM and non-VSAM). This is an optional feature of ExploreMVS that the data center may choose to exclude.
Display
The Display command is used to display the contents of a file. All file types are supported by this command. Only one file is displayed per command. If you select multiple files only the first will be displayed. Selection of a VSAM file will cause ExploreMVS to display a dialog to allow you to enter specifications that allow you to control how many records will be displayed and skipped and whether to display contents in both character and hex format or one or the other formats.
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File Mask specification
The file mask may be
used in copy, move, and delete operations to enable you to copy, move, or
delete a number of files at a time. The file mask combined with a UNIX path or
an MVS high and intermediate level qualifiers can be used to create a generic
file name that identifies a number of different files. The file mask is
appended to an MVS qualifier as the low order qualifier as follows:
1. Qualifier: IBMUSER.TEST
2. File Mask: DATA*
3. Result: IBMUSER.TEST.DATA*
The same file mask used with a UNIX path such as /u/ibmuser would generate
"/u/ibmuser/DATA*". Please note that a file mask used to define UNIX
files is case sensitive. The above file mask would not work if your files are
actually in lower case (data*).
You
can use the special character asterisk (*) as a global name character (wild
card) for pattern matching when you specify a data set name, with the following
restrictions:
The
asterisk must be the last, or only, character specified for a level of
qualifier.
When
the data set name is enclosed in quotation marks, you cannot use the asterisk
as a wild card in the high-level qualifier of the data set name. Data set names
not enclosed in quotation marks will use the setting of the current directory
as the high-level qualifier.
You
can use the asterisk more than once in the complete data set name, but the asterisk
must be the last character for each level of data set name qualifier.
If
you specify a member name, you cannot use an asterisk anywhere in the data set
name.
If
you use an asterisk as all or part of the member name, you cannot use an
asterisk anywhere else in the data set name.
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Edit Menu Commands
The Edit menu provides commands that allow
you to manipulate files through point and click techniques. This menu supports
the windows like Copy, Cut and Paste commands which allow you to copy or move files from one file system
to another or within files systems from one file or directory to another. It
also supports copying and moving HFS directories and sub directories. The
copying of VSAM files and loading and unloading them is supported but only to
MVS files. Select an object from the tree structure or the table display and
then press the appropriate command. <LH>Edit Menu Commands</LH>
Copy
The Copy command is used to copy file(s) and HFS directories. Information about the source file(s) or directories are saved by this command. No action takes place until the Paste command is executed. Nothing further has to be done if you change your mind and decide that you do not want to actually perform the operation via the Paste command.
Cut
The Cut command is used to move file(s) and HFS directories. Information about the source file(s) or directories are saved by this command. No action takes place until the Paste command is executed. Nothing further has to be done if you change your mind and decide that you do not want to actually perform the operation via the Paste command.
Select_All
The Select_All command is used to select all files in the current table display. It save you time if you want to copy and paste all entries in the table.
Paste
The Paste command is used to actually perform the copy or move operation started by the Copy or Cut commands. The Paste command must be preceded by a selection of a file(s) in the table display or a tree structure object (directory, high level qualifier, or a volume). This will provide the destination (target) for the operation. If you are copying more then one file then you cannot select a table entry as the paste destination. Table to table copy and paste is supported only for one file at a time. Multiple files may be pasted into any tree structure object. The system will display a dialog that shows the source and destination of the operation and allows you to cancel the operation if the information is incorrect.
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View Menu Commands
The View menu
consists of commands that effect the appearance of the tree structure. The tree
structure may be changed in several ways. You may add and remove tree nodes
(directories, high level qualifiers and volumes). You may refresh the contents
of nodes to account for changes that occur to the file system over time. Please
remember that the files and directories that appear on your display unit were
loaded to your PC from the OS/390 system at a particular point in time. Other
users may have made changes to the file system since that time. The refresh
command allows you to see those changes. You may also create a new tree
(replace the current tree). The following covers each of the commands in more
detail.
<LH>
Refresh
The Refresh command reloads a tree node with files from the OS/390 system. Directories(HFS), MVS data set qualifiers, or volumes may be refreshed. Refreshing a tree node means that all files and sub directories contained in the tree node and subordinate to it will be reloaded from OS/390 file systems. Other users of the OS/390 system may have deleted, renamed, or moved data sets and files since you loaded the information that appears in the tree or table. A refresh obtains the current status of the file system. Perform the following process:
Click on tree node that you want to refresh.
Click on the View menu.
Click on the Refresh menu item.
AddNode
The AddNode command adds a tree node to your existing tree structure. The node is added to the currently selected tree structure object. Additional high level directories(HFS), high level qualifiers (TSO userids), and MVS volumes may be added to the tree structure through the following process:
Click on the major node (HFS,MVS,VOLUMES) or any other node.
Click on the View menu.
Click on the AddNode menu item.
Enter the directory, MVS high level qualifier, or volume serial number into the dialog box input field.
Click on the new tree node to expose sub directories and files.
RemoveNode
The RemoveNode command deletes tree nodes from your existing tree structure. Directories(HFS), MVS data set qualifiers, or MVS volumes may be deleted from the tree structure through the following process:
Click on the tree node that you want to delete.
Click on the View menu.
Click on the RemoveNode menu item.
RemovChildren
The RemoveChildren command deletes all sub directories (HFS) or lower level qualifiers (MVS) from the tree structure below the selected node. The RemoveChildren command deletes all subordinate directories and files that they contain. It does not delete the clicked directory nor its files. Perform the following tasks:
Click on the tree node that you want to diminish.
Click on the View menu.
Click on the RemoveChildren menu item.
ShowMVSNodes
The ShowMVSNodes command adds all high level qualifiers defined in the master catalog as "Alias" names to the MVS major node. Initially only your TSO userid is provided under the MVS major node. This will save you a lot of work if you are trying to display system data sets (SYS1 for example). Perform the following tasks:
Click on the MVS major tree node.
Click on the View menu.
Click on the ShowMVSNodes menu item.
NewTree
The NewTree command deletes the current tree structure and creates a new tree. This process will create a new tree structure that contains only the four major nodes. You will have to add sub nodes under MVS and VOLUMES to perform any useful work. Perform the following process:
Click on the View menu.
Click on the NewTree menu item.
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Setup Menu
The Setup menu provides commands that will
display dialogs that allow you to preset FTP information, set the
amount of data shown in member lists for MVS libraries, and set the level of
trace information created by ExploreMVS. <LH>Setup Menu Commands</LH>
FTP
The FTP command is used to start a dialog that displays a data entry form that allows you to enter default information about your PC domain name or IP address, your PC userid and password and file information. This information is used by ExploreMVS in communicating with the FTP server on the OS/390 system. If you will be doing a number of file transfers, this data will minimize the amount of information that you have to enter for each file transfer. The default information will be effective only for the duration of the current session. The use of this dialog is optional since the form displayed to gather information about a specific file transfer will have the same information requirements. The form contains the following data entry fields:
Conversions This check box should be set if translation from ASCII to EBCDIC is required. Do not check this box if you want BINARY transfer.
Host File: This data entry box can be primed with a default name of the host file that you will be accessing. You may choose to set this value to a directory if you will be accessing an HFS file or an MVS data set high level qualifier.
PC File: This data entry box should be primed with the drive letter and directory name(s) from which you will be receiving or sending files. Later when you are actually sending files you will only have to add the file name.
PC IPaddr(name): This data entry box should be primed with your PC TCP/IP address (9.12.17.202 for example) or the domain name of your PC (work01 for example) on the network. This may also be the IP address of another PC or OS/390 system that contains a file that you want to send to the OS/390 server or the address of another system that you want to send a file to from the OS/390 server.
PC UserID: This data entry box should be primed with your PC UserID that you use to login to your PC. If you will be sending a file from the OS/390 server to another system then this would be a userid that is acceptable on that system. Similarly, if you want to transfer a file from another PC to the OS/390 server then enter the userid that you would use to login to that PC.
PC Password: This data entry box should be primed with your PC Password that you use to login to your PC. If you will be sending a file from the OS/390 server to another PC then this would be a Password that is acceptable on that system. Similarly, if you want to transfer a file from another PC to the OS/390 server then enter the Password that you would use to login to that PC.
Replace File(PC to Host: enter a yes or no. Not used when receiving a file from the OS/390 server. Use a yes when you are sending a PC file to the OS/390 server and you want to replace an existing file. If you send a file to the OS/390 server and it already exists it will be over written. If you leave this blank or enter a no (lowercase yes or no) and the file already exists then FTP will not perform the transfer.
OK or Cancel press the OK button if you want to save the information that you have entered or the Cancel button if you do not.
PDSList
The PDSList command displays a dialog that allows you to
control the appearance of MVS library table displays. ISPF maintains
information about each member of the library. This information can be displayed
in the ExploreMVS table display along with the member name. The dialog will
display the following options:
·
AllData This button
should be pressed if you want to see member information in the table display
for an MVS library. ExploreMVS has to store quite a bit of data if this option
is taken. If your PC has storage constraints then do not use this option.
·
NameOnly This button
should be pressed if you only want to see the member name in a table display
for an MVS library. This is the default.
·
Cancel This button
will cancel the PDSList command without changing the current setting.
Trace
The Trace command is used to set the level of output directed at the ExploreMVS Activity Log window. The Activity Log Window records the events that take place on your PC. Events generate messages which are displayed in this window. The contents of the Activity Log window can be saved to a PC file (if permitted) or to an OS/390 file. There are two recording levels currently available:
All Messages This button should be pressed if you want to see all messages on the activity console. This setting is used to trace activity in order to solve a problem and should be used sparingly since it will generate a large amount of output. The Activity Log window contains a Clear button that allows you to erase all messages. This button should be used periodically because the messages are going to take up space in your PC random access memory. Alternatively you may save the contents of the Activity Log to a file and then clear the window.
Error and Processes only This button should be pressed if you only want to see messages identified by ExploreMVS as required log information. This is the default.
Cancel This button will cancel the Trace command without changing the current setting.
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FTP Menu commands
The FTP menu contains two
commands that allow you to send a PC file to the OS/390 file system (Host) or a
Host file to the PC. The commands can also be used to transfer any file from
the host to any other location (a third party machine other than yours) or to
transfer a file from any location (a third party machine other than yours) to
the Host. The two commands display the same dialog to gather information about
the transfer. To initiate the transfer of a file from your PC to another system
(via the OS/390 server that you are currently connected to) you must have a
userid and password that is allowed to access that third machine. The file
transfer may be to or from the OS/390 MVS file system or the UNIX System
Services file system. Please note that although this document refers to
transferring one file at a time, all file transfer operations may contain a
file mask that allows multiple file to be transferred with one operation.
The FTP service provided by
ExploreMVS will only work if your PC or the third party PC has an operational
FTP server. All transfers are initiated by the ExploreMVS system running on
your PC via the OS/390 server (an ExploreMVS CGI script) that you are
accessing. The CGI script starts a client FTP session with your PC or the third
party machine. The OS/390 acts like the local machine in this setup and either
gets or puts a file from or to the OS/390 system. A "get" obtains a
file from your PC and stores it on the OS/390 file system and a "put"
transfers a file from the OS/390 system to your PC or a third part machine. The
following explains the data entry fields in detail: <LH>
PC_File_To_Host
The PC_File_To_Host command is used to start a dialog that displays a data entry form that allows you to enter information about your PC domain name or IP address, your PC userid and password and file information. The direction of transfer is from your PC or a third party machine to the OS/390 server file system (HFS or MVS). The following explains each data entry field in this form:
Conversions This check box should be set if translation from ASCII to EBCDIC is required (text file transfers). Do not check this box if you want BINARY transfer.
Host File: Enter the full path and file name of the UNIX (HFS) file or the full MVS data set name that will be transferred.
PC File: Enter the drive letter, directory name(s), and file name of the PC file that will be part of the transfer operation (sent or received).
PC IPaddr(name): Enter your PC TCP/IP address (9.12.17.202 for example) or the domain name of your PC (work01 for example) on the network. This may also be the IP address of a third party machine that will either send or receive a file from the OS/390 file system.
PC UserID: Enter your PC UserID that you use to login to your PC. If you will be sending a file to the OS/390 server from a third party machine then this would be a userid that is acceptable on that machine. Similarly, if you want to transfer a file from a third party machine to the OS/390 server then enter the userid that you would use to login to that third party machine.
PC Password: Enter your PC Password that you use to login to your PC. If you will be sending a file to the OS/390 server from a third party machine then this would be a Password that is acceptable on that machine. Similarly, if you want to transfer a file from the OS/390 server to a third party machine then enter the Password that you would use to login to that machine.
Replace File(PC to Host: enter a yes or no. Leave blank or set to no for a Host_File_to_PC transfer. Use a yes when you are sending a PC file to the OS/390 server and you want to replace an existing file. If you send a file to the OS/390 server and it already exists it will be over written. If you leave this blank or enter a no (lowercase yes or no) and the file already exists then FTP will not perform the transfer.
OK or Cancel press the OK button if you want to execute the FTP operation or the Cancel button if you do not.
The Host_File_to_PC command is used to start a dialog that displays a data entry form that allows you to enter information about your PC domain name or IP address, your PC userid and password and file information. The direction of transfer is from the OS/390 server file system (HFS or MVS) to your PC or a third party machine. The data entry fields are the same for this type of transfer as for the PC_File_To_Host transfer described above.
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Unix_Files Menu
The Unix_Files menu provides a number of
commands that assist you in performing basic file manipulations for UNIX System
Services files. You can change the read, write and execute permissions for a
file or directory, and the owner and group ID's assigned to a file or
directory. You can search for files in the HFS file system and search for files
that contain data that is of interest to you. You may also display data at the
start or end of selected files to see what they contain (as opposed to opening
the file and editing its contents). Changing file attributes requires that you
own the file or you have super user authority in the UNIX file system. The
following commands are provided in this menu.
ChangeFileMode
The ChangeFileMode command allows you to change the read, write,
and execute permissions for the owner of the file (yourself), the group the
file is owned by (GroupID), and all other users. The process you should follow
is select the file to be changed in the table display, click on the Unix_Files menu, then click on the ChangeFileMode command. This will
display a dialog with one data entry field. Enter the permissions for the file
as an octal number such as 777 (sets read, write, and execute permissions for
everyone) or as a symbolic value such as a=rwx. Both these examples have the
same effect except the latter is a little easier to follow. There are two ways
to specify file permissions. One is by specifying a set of octal numbers such
as 0555 (sets read and execute permissions for all users) and the other is by
using symbolic values (r,w,x) to represent the read, write and execute
permissions. The following describes the use of symbolic values to set file
permissions.
The first character specifies which set of permissions are
to be set. The choices are:
u which sets
the owners permissions.
g which sets
the group permissions.
o which sets
the other users permissions.
a which sets
all three sets of permissions at the same time.
The second character is an operator that turns the
permission on or off. The possible values are:
+ turns on a permission.
- turns off a permission.
= turns on the
specified permissions and turns off all others.
The third part of a symbolic mode is any combination of the
following characters:
r turns on the read permission.
w turns on the
write permission.
x turns on the execute permission.
The following examples show some combinations that may be of
help.
a=rwx sets all
three sets of permissions for the file so that every one can read, write and
execute the file (octal code 777).
u=rwx sets read,
write and execute permissions for the file owner (octal code 700).
g=rw sets read and
write permissions for the group (octal code 060).
u=rwx,g=rw,o=r sets all
permissions for the owner, read and write permissions for the group, and read
permissions for all other users. Note how you may enter symbolic values for all
three groups by separating them by a comma. The comma must be placed
immediately after each group without any intervening blanks. (octal code 764).
o=r sets read
permission for other users (octal code 004).
u-w turns off
write permission for owner.
g+x turns on
execute permission for group.
You may enter a set of three octal
digits rather than the symbolic values. The first octal digit sets permissions
for the owner, the second for the group, and the third for every one else. The
value "754" sets read, write and execute permissions for the owner of
the file, read and execute for the group, and read only permissions for
everyone else. The following shows the meaning of each bit in the octal number.
0
A
zero indicates no access allowed.
1
A
one indicates execute access only.
2
A
two indicates write only access.
3
A
three indicates write and execute access.
4
A
four indicates read access only.
5
A
five indicates read and execute access.
6
A
six indicates read and write access.
7
A
seven indicates read, write, and execute access.
ChangeFileOwner
The ChangeFileOwner command allows you to set the selected file,
or directory (and all files and sub directories) owner and group ID attributes.
You may have to have super user authority to use this command if you are trying
to set these attributes for files and directories that you do not own.
ExploreMVS presents a dialog with one data entry field into which you may enter
one of the following:
Owner
ID
a RACF user name from a RACF user profile or a numeric user ID (UID) (IBMUSER
for example).
Owner
ID:Group ID
a RACF user name from a RACF user profile or a numeric user ID (UID) (IBMUSER
for example) followed immediately by a colon and a RACF group name or a numeric
group ID(GID). An example would be IBMUSER:IMWEB.
ChangeFileGroup
The ChangeFileGroup command allows you to set the selected file,
or directory (and all files and sub directories) group ID to Group. You may have to have super user
authority to use this command if you are trying to set these attributes for
files and directories that you do not own. ExploreMVS presents a dialog with
one data entry field into which you may enter the RACF group name or a numeric
group ID (GID).
FindFile
The FindFile command lists the names of all files,
starting from the selected directory, whose names match a pattern that you
provide. ExploreMVS displays a dialog that contains the following data entry
fields that can be used to define the search criteria:
1. Search starting at: Enter the
UNIX System Services path where you want the search to start into this data
entry field. For example /u/open1.
This field will contain the current directory that is highlighted in the tree
structure when the dialog is shown.
2. For file name/pattern: Enter the file name or file name
pattern that you are searching for. For example *.c will search for all files that end with a file type of .c.. This field may be left blank if
you intend to search by owner name, group name, or file size. This field will
contain the current file name selected in the table display (if any) when the
dialog is shown.
3. belonging to user name/UID: Enter the
user name or numeric userid (UID) that owns the file as a search criteria. All
files having this name in the owner file attribute field will be listed. The
user name cannot have wild card specifications in the name. For example WEBADM will search for all files that
have an owner name of WEBADM. This
field may be left blank if you intend to search by file name pattern, group
name, or file size.
4. and group name(GID): Enter the group name or numeric
GroupID (GID) associated with the file as a search criteria. All files having
this name in the GroupID file attribute field will be listed. The group name
cannot have wild card specifications in the name. For example IMWEB will search for all files that
have a group name of IMWEB. This
field may be left blank if you intend to search by file name pattern, owner
name, or file size.
5. and (+,-) bytes in file: Enter the number of bytes that a
file must contain in order to be selected for output. If you just provide a
number then a file must have exactly that number of bytes to be selected. You
may precede a number by a plus or minus sign to indicate that you are searching
for any file that contains more bytes then the value you enter (plus sign), or
less then the value that you enter (minus sign). For example +50 will search for all files that
contain more then 50 bytes of data. This field may be left blank if you intend
to search by file name pattern, owner name, or group name.
6. OK and Cancel buttons Click the OK button when you have filled in the search
criteria, to initiate the search. The results will be displayed in a message
window. Click the Cancel button to
cancel the operation.
SearchInFileFor
The SearchInFileFor command lists file names and records that
contain data that you are searching for. The sought after data can be listed
along with identifiers that show what line number it was found at, or you may
choose to list out the number of matches in each file without showing each
record that matched your search criteria. The search only works on text files
that do not contain any null values. ExploreMVS displays a dialog that contains
the following radio buttons that determine the output for the search:
1. Show line number Select this option if you would like
to see the line number of the record that matches your search criteria
displayed along with the actual text in the line. This is the default setting.
2. Just count matched lines Select this option if you do not
want to see the matching text displayed. This option will just display the path
and file name of every file that was searched and a count of the number of
matches found in each file. This will display file names that had no matching
text with a match count of zero.
3. Just show file name Select this option if you do not want
to see the matching text lines nor the list of all files searched. This option
will just display the path and file name of any file that contains matching
text.
The radio buttons are followed by two
data entry fields. They are:
1. Search starting at path/*: This data
entry field will contain the currently selected tree structure path and also a
file name if one is selected from the table display. You may modify the data in
this field. If a file name is present then only that file will be searched. If
you want to search a directory hierarchy then enter an asterisk in place of a
file name or for a portion of the file name. For example use /u/ibmuser/*, or
/u/ibmuser/data*, rather than /u/ibmuser/data01 if you want to extend the
search to more than one file.
2. For character string/pattern Enter the
value that you are searching for. You may use the wild card character
"*" to indicate a range of values and you may also specify a set of
words and symbols that you are searching for. If the search string contains
blanks or special characters other than the asterisk than enclose the string in
double quotes. If you are familiar with regular expressions you may use them
but make sure you precede the double quoted string with -E. For example: -E
"one|two|three". This would search for "one" or
"two" or "three" in the selected path or file. The -E
specifies that you have multiple selection criteria. If you enclose the search
request in double quotes you may also use the wild card character
"?". The question mark is used to stand for any character in the
location that it occupies.
The dialog also contains a check box. Click on the check box if you want to
ignore the case of your search criteria and the case of the text data that you
are searching. Click on the OK button
if you want the search command executed or the Cancel button if you want to cancel the operation.
ShowHead
The ShowHead command lists out the first NN lines of a
text file. ExploreMVS will display a dialog that will ask for the value NN.
Enter the number of lines that you want to list from the beginning of the file
and click on the OK button to
execute the command. Click on the Cancel
button to cancel the operation.
ShowTail
The ShowTail command lists out the last NN lines of a text
file. ExploreMVS will display a dialog that will ask for the value NN. Enter
the number of lines that you want to list from the end of the file and click on
the OK button to execute the
command. Click on the Cancel button to cancel the operation.
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Windows Menu
The Windows menu provides commands that
will display secondary windows that implement other ExploreMVS features. The
commands are:
Command
This
command invokes the Command Processor Console window. This window is a multi purpose window that
implements a number of ExploreMVS functions. Its primary purpose is to provide
entry of both TSO and UNIX OS/390
commands. Enter the TSO or UNIX command in the text window which is just below
a drop down list box. Enter the command just like you would at the TSO command
prompt or the OMVS (UNIX) command prompt line. When you have finished entering
the command click on either the TSOCmd
or UnixCmd button to execute the
command. ExploreMVS saves the command that you typed in the drop down list box
above the text input area. Later if you want to repeat a command just select it
from the list. The command will replace the contents of the text input area.
Click on the appropriate button to execute the command. When the command
finishes execution on the OS/390 system, the results of the command will be
displayed in the text area. You may edit and save this information either on
your PC or on the OS/390 file system. See
“Setting PC Security Permissions for ExploreMVS” if you want to find out
how to give ExploreMVS permission to access the file system on your PC.
There
is a Clear button at the bottom of the
window that will erase the contents of the text area if you no longer need to
see the current display.
This
window also implements the Open command. Files that
are opened from the ExploreMVS primary user interface are displayed in this
window. These files may be edited (edit menu), saved, and submitted (file menu)
as jobs to OS/390 for job execution. This window also implements job management
functions via the MVSJobs menu commands (jobStatus,
jobOutput, and jobDelete). See “Command Window” for a full description of the appearance and use of this
window.
Jobs
This
command invokes the Command Processor Console window. This window is the command window described above
but when it is invoked by the Jobs command it primes the
window with the status information of jobs that you have submitted for
execution on the OS/390 system. Each job that is on the JES hold queue will be
entered into the drop down list box located above the text input area of the
window. When the window displays, click on the down arrow of the drop down list
box to see the list of jobs that are in the hold queue. You may select a job
from this list by clicking on the entry. Once you have selected a job you may
select either the jobOutput or jobDelete commands from the MVSJobs
menu. The jobOutput command will get job output
information from the JES job queue and display it in the text window. The
jobDelete command will delete the job from the JES hold queue. Continue
selecting jobs from the drop down list and performing the above sequence. Each
time that you select from the drop down list, the contents of the text window
are lost. If you want you may edit the output (delete JCL and messages that you
do not want) and save the output to an OS/390 file or to your PC if you have
given
permission
to have ExploreMVS access your PC resources. See “Setting PC Security
Permissions for ExploreMVS if you want to find out how to give ExploreMVS
permission to access the file system on your PC.
DB2
This
command invokes the ExploreDb2 Window.
This window provides the user interface into the OS/390 DB2 system. This window
allows you to access the OS/390 DB2 facility and list data bases, table, views,
and indexes. The user interface has a tree structure that allows you to explore
the SYSIBM structure of your DB2 facility or the databases and their contents.
The SYSIBM tables contain information about all objects in the OS/390 DB2
system. The tables may be explored but be forewarned that these table contain
large volumes of data. For example the SYSCOLUMNS table contains one row for
each column of every table stored in the DB2 system. The retrieval of this much
data can be quit time consuming.
Each
database contains three sub nodes. The three nodes are labeled Tables, Views, and Indexes. Click on
these sub nodes to view the objects for that database. Clicking on the database
name does not perform any function. Clicking on the "Tables" node
under a database will produce new nodes under the "Tables" node. Each
node is a table name. The table display on the right hand side of the window,
will display information about each table defined in the data base. Clicking on
a table name in the tree structure or double clicking a table name in the table
display, will create a new window that will display the contents of the table.
This
new window can be edited. You can change data in the columns, insert new rows,
delete rows and update the table from this new window. You can also change the
text from the table display into text records that can be used in PC
applications like data bases and spread sheets. The converted data can be saved
in the OS/390 file system or on your PC if ExploreMVS has permission to access
your system.
New DB2 tables may be created. Select a table name, from the
right hand table name display, that most resembles the new table that you want
to create. Click on the New button in the tool bar. This procedure will display
the following window:
The selected tables column definitions have been transferred to the “Create/Alter SQL Statement” section of the window. Edit the information and possibly enter new column definitions at the bottom of the table. Click on the “Finish SQL” button to have ExploreMVS add the missing SQL statements.
Click
on a table name in the table display. Then right click to show a pop up menu.
One of the commands on this menu is Columns.
Click this command to see the column information for the table. This
information will be displayed in a new window.
You
may produce a sample of a table by selecting the Sample command from the Actions menu or the pop up menu. The
samples command will show the first 20 rows of a table. This feature will save
you a lot of time if you are only interested in seeing what the table contains
rather than the full table contents.
You
may click on a table name and then select the Query command. This command will create a new window which will provide
information about constructing a query on the selected table.
While in this window you may construct and
execute as many queries as you want. Each query will create a new window that
will display the results of you query.
Clicking
on the Views node will cause the
display of all views defined for the database in the table display. New nodes will be
created for each view. Clicking on a view node in the tree structure or double
clicking a view in the table display will show a new window that displays the
data for that view.
Clicking
on the Indexes node does not produce
new tree nodes. The indexes defined for the database are displayed in the table
along with the information maintained by DB2 for them. See “DB2
User Interface” for a complete list of capabilities for accessing and
manipulating DB2 objects.
Messages
This
command invokes the ExploreMVSMsgClient
Window which provides you with a means to communicate with other ExploreMVS
users. This window allows you to send other users messages, find out which
users are logged on, and what files are currently being edited by other users.
The ExploreMVSMsgClient window is broken up into a number of sections. They
are:
Message options section. This section is at the top of the
window. Click an option's radio button, enter relevant data and click the Send button to execute the option.
System Administrator Options section. This section is
displayed only if the user is the ExploreMVS system administrator. Regular
users will not see these options. The system administrator can broadcast
messages to all users, cancel user sessions, free files stuck on the enqueue
list, and monitor resource usage statistics.
Text input area labeled either Send Message or File Pattern depending on which option button you
click. Clicking on the Show files in use
option will display the "File Pattern" label for this area. The label
is on the top of the text area in the left hand corner.
Text output area is the third section of the window. It has
a label of Incoming Messages located on top of
the window on the left hand side.
An input text box labeled either To userid or Is userid depending on the messaging option you
choose. The "Is userid" label will be displayed only if you select
the Is user online messaging option.
A set of four buttons (Send,ClearMsg,ClearIncoming, and
Close). The Send button is used to
execute a messaging option.
Please note that the two text areas can be resized relative
to each other by moving the bar that separates them up or down. Just move the
mouse pointer over the separator bar until a two directional arrow cursor
appears. Then perform the move by holding the left mouse button down and
dragging the bar up or down.
The proper sequence of operations for this window is: select
a messaging option. Enter text of message or file pattern if you choose either
"send message to user" or "Show files in use" options
respectively. If you choose the "Is user online" or "Send
message to user" option then enter the userid to whom you are sending a
message or the userid whom you want to find online, into the "To
userid" or "Is userid" input box. Click on the Send button to execute your option.
The Incoming Messages text area will
display messages that have been sent to you from other users and messages that
are sent to you by ExploreMVS in response to your messaging options and data
set contention problems. ExploreMVS adds the following messages into this text
area:
userid-PCName/IPAddress This message is placed into this text area in response to
your request to show logged on users. The userid will be replaced by the actual
userid of a logged on user. The PCName will contain the name of the PC as it is
known on your network. The IPAddress will contain the TCP/IP address of the
logged on user 9.12.17.202 for example. When you want to send a message to a
user, first use the Show logged on users
option to get a user list then enter the userid, to whom you want the message
sent, into the To userid: input box.
Userid=userid is online or is not
online at this time. appears as a
response to your request Is user online.
The latter message may also be generated by ExploreMVS if you try to send a
message to a user that is not online.
No files found in enqueue list. appears as a response to your request Show files in use. The following message may also appear in
response to this query.
HFS path and file name or MVS
data set name will appear for each
file currently being edited by someone when you request Show files in use. If the file name is a UNIX file then it will
appear as "/u/p390/file1.tx" for example or as
"ibmuser.test.data01" if its an MVS data set.
userid is waiting for file =
filename will appear in this
window to notify you that a file that you have opened is wanted by the user who
is identified by userid in the message. You should send a message to that user
telling him when the file will be available for his use.
The following describes each messaging option:
Send message
to user click on this option
if you want to send a message to another user. Enter the text you want to send
into the text area that has a label Enter
Message above it. Then enter the userid to whom you want to send the
message in the data input box labeled To
userid:. Click on the Send
button to send it. The button labeled
ClearMsg can be used to erase the contents of the message text area.
Is user online click on this option if you want to find out if a
particular user is online. Enter his userid in the input box labeled Is userid located just above the row of
buttons. Click on the Send button to
find out. The response from ExploreMVS will appear in the Incoming Messages text area.
Show files in
use click on this option
if you want to see which files are currently being tied up by other users. When
you click this option the label above the top text area will change to File Pattern. Enter the first NN
characters of the UNIX path and file name or the MVS data set high level
qualification to limit the listing. Clicking this option clears out this text
input area. If you want to see all files currently in use, leave this area
blank. Do not use any wild card characters (*,?) in the file prefix because
ExploreMVS just checks if the enqueued file names start with what ever you
enter here. Click the Send button to
execute your option.
Show logged on
users click on this option
if you want to see a complete list of all user currently using ExploreMVS. The
messages returned for this option have the format userid-PCName/IPAddress which is explained above in the description
of the contents of Incoming Messages. Click on the Send
button to execute this option.
TSO
This
command invokes the IBM Host on Demand
applet which will appear in a separate Window. The applet provides a TSO session with the
OS/390 system. The full services of TSO and ISPF are available through this
window. Use the online help provided
with this system to get information about its use.
PC_File_Viewer
This
command invokes a dialog that allows you to explore your PC's file system and
select a file for editing. When you find the file that you want, click on the Open button in the dialog
window. The file will be displayed in an ExploreMVS edit window. This window
has a file menu that allows you to save the file into the OS/390 file system
(Saveas) or on your PC (PCSave). This feature is only avail bale to users that
have given ExploreMVS permission to access their PC resources. See “Setting PC
Security Permissions for ExploreMVS” if you want to find out how to give
ExploreMVS permission to access the file system on your PC
<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 3.2//EN">
Help Menu commands
The Help Menu provides two
commands.
Contents
This command will display the ExploreMVS help system displayed
in a tree structure. Explore the tree structure until you find the topic of
interest and then click on it to display the help for that topic.
WindowHelp
This command displays the help window for the window that
you are looking at.
Tree Structure description
The tree structure
shares the main body of the user interface to the left of the table display.
There is a bar that splits the display between the tree and the table display.
This bar is moveable either to the left or right to allow an increase of
viewable space for either object. The tree displays HFS directories and sub
directories, MVS high and mid level data set name qualifiers, MVS library (PDS)
names, and MVS volumes. The tree structure is composed of tree nodes (branches)
that start from the tree root OS/390. There are four major nodes below the root
that provide a starting point for the exploration of OS/390 files. The tree
structure is navigated by choosing a file system (HFS, MVS, VOLUMES, or Your
PC) then click on directory paths under these starting points until you find
the directory or MVS file name hierarchy that contains the file(s) that you
want.
The structure of the
tree is patterned against UNIX and PC file systems where tree nodes are
directories and sub directories that emanate from a root. The MVS file system
of data set names that represent VSAM and non-VSAM files are not strictly
speaking a hierarchical structure. ExploreMVS, however treats them as such by
using the high level data set name qualifier as a primary tree node that start
from the MVS files system node. Each lower level data set name qualifier in the
data set name becomes a sub directory of the preceding level until the lowest
level qualifier is reached. The lowest level qualifier will never appear in the
tree structure (since it does not contain any further qualifiers) but will
appear in the table as a document (file). There is one exception. The lowest
level qualifier of an MVS library (PDS) will appear in the tree structure as a
node because it contains members (files). Clicking on a the lowest level
qualifier of a library will expose the members of that library in the table
display. The example below attempts to show the relationships between a UNIX path
and MVS data sets.
In UNIX a path is
coded as a set of directories followed by a file name such as
/u/p390/filein.txt. The forward slash is used to separate directories and the
file name. The first forward slash represents the root directory. Each directory
contains zero or more files and possibly other sub directories. In the above
path there are three directories. They are the root directory "/";
the sub directory of the root "u"; and the sub directory of
"u" which is p390. The sub directory "p390" contains a file
named filein.txt. In MVS a data set name is segmented into a number of
qualifiers with the first one being a TSO userid, RACF profile
name, or a catalog alias name (or all three) such as P390.TEST.FILEIN (P390 is
the TSO userid). Each level of qualification (P390, test) can be considered a
directory with the low level qualifier becoming the file name. So if we have
two data set names such as P390.TEST.FILEIN and P390.TEST.FILEOUT than the
directory P390 contains one sub directory (TEST) and the directory P390.TEST
contains two files named (FILEIN and FILEOUT)
MVS data sets may be
viewed by following the data set name hierarchy described above or by
displaying all the data sets that reside on a particular DASD volume. The
hierarchy view only shows the data sets that are in or below the data set name
qualifiers in the current path. The volume view shows all data sets that are on
the volume. The tree displays a plus sign when a node of the tree can be
expanded. Click on the plus sign to display sub directories or MVS lower level
data set name qualifiers. A minus sign indicates that you are looking at all
available sub directories for that branch. Click on the minus sign to contract
the tree structure.
The tree initially
shows four major nodes which display the following text:
HFS Directory Structure
HFS
This stands for the Hierarchical File System which is the
UNIX System Services directory and file structure. The directories displayed
under this tree node are all directories defined under the root directory
"/".
MVS Data set Structure – data set qualifiers
MVS
The tree nodes displayed as branches under MVS are the high
level data set qualifiers allocated on your OS/390 system. These are typically
TSO user ID's. Initially only your userid is displayed. The high level
qualifier can be clicked to expose lower level qualifiers. The table will show
all files and lower level qualifiers subordinate to the level that you clicked.
OS/390 VOLUMES
VOLUMES
The nodes that appear under the VOLUMES major node are the
MVS 3380 and 3390 volumes that contain the OS/390 file systems. The volumes may
contain MVS data sets or HFS file structures. Initially there are no volumes
listed. Volumes are added to the tree structure under this node automatically
as you expose the MVS data set hierarchy. Each MVS file that is exposed in the
table has an attribute that is the volume serial number of the Direct Access
Device (DASD) that contains the data set. These volume serial numbers are added
as nodes under "VOLUMES". You may add volume nodes to the tree
structure
Your PC’s File System
Your PC
This tree node begins the directory structure on your PC.
This section is enabled only if your PC contains Java run time security
permissions that allow ExploreMVS access to your PC resources. This feature is
not implemented in the current release of ExploreMVS.
File/Data set Table display description
The file/data set
table display shares the main body of the user interface to the right of the
tree structure. The table displays HFS files and sub directories, MVS low level
data set name qualifiers, MVS library (PDS) member names, and the MVS data set
names residing on a particular volume. The columns of the table contain data
that describes file, library, or directory attributes. The information varies
depending on which file system is being displayed and in MVS there are
different columns for text libraries and load libraries. The columns displayed
in the table may be re-arranged by dragging a column header from one location
to another. The top of the table displays the file path that leads to the names
displayed in columns 1 of the table. The file path is displayed in blue. To
derive the full HFS or MVS file or data set name concatenate to the file path a
"/" or "." and the name in the first table column. The
first term in the descriptions below is the name in the column header and the
second is a description of the columns contents.
HFS Table Column Descriptions
The following
describes five different column structures.
If
the tree structure has an HFS directory selected then the table displays the
following columns. <LH>HFS
table column descriptions</LH>
Object Name
This column contains either a folder Icon 
.
or a document Icon 
.
followed by the name of the directory or file. The folder Icon represents a
directory and the document Icon represents a file. The directory or file will
be referred to as the object in the following column descriptions.
OwnerID
This column can show either the RACF user profile (TSO userid) name or a numeric user ID (UID) that represents the owner
of this object.
GroupID
This column shows the RACF group name assigned to this
object or a numeric group ID (GID).
Bytes
This column shows the size of the file in bytes.
Month
This columns shows the month when the file was last changed
or if it is a directory, the month that it was created.
Day
This columns shows the day when the file was last changed or
if it is a directory, the day that it was created.
Time
This columns shows the time when the file was last changed
or if it is a directory, the time that it was created.
Permit RWX
The first character in this column identifies the file type
a value of "-" indicates a regular file. If this value is
"d" then it is a directory. The next nine characters are in three
groups of three; they describe the permissions on the file. The first group of
three describe the owner permissions: the second describes group permissions;
the third describes other permissions (every one else). Characters that may
appear are:
r - Permission to read the file
w - Permission to write on the file
x - Permission to execute the file
MVS Table Column Descriptions
If
the tree structure has an MVS directory (high level or mid level qualifier)
selected then the table displays the following columns.
Dsname
This column contains either a folder Icon .
or a document Icon .
followed by the data set name (lower level qualifiers). The folder Icon
represents a directory (there is more than one segment in the name or its a
library) and the document Icon represents a data set. The full data set name
can be derived by adding the name above the table display, a period, and the
name shown in this column. The full data set name is a combination of the two
parts.
Dsorg
This column shows the data set organization. The values
displayed here may be one of the following:
PS - Physical Sequential organization.
PO - Partitioned organization. A load library or a text
library.
VSAM - Virtual Storage access method organization.
NONE - The data set does not have organization defined.
Lrecl
This column shows the logical record length of data records
in this data set. If this object is a VSAM file then file attributes will not be
shown. If the "Recfm" column starts with a "U" or
"V" then this value is the maximum size of a record in the data set.
Blksize
This column shows the maximum block size for this object.
Recfm
This column contains the record format codes for this data set.
the codes start with a U, V, or F which stands for Undefined, Variable, or
fixed format records. If the data set contains multiple records in a block then
the second letter is "B" for blocked. A third letter may appear as M
or A which stands for Machine code or ASA print control characters are part of
each record (the first character in each record). If you see VBS or VS than it
is a variable (blocked) spanned record format data set.
Used
This column shows the number of bytes of direct access space
used by the data set.
Ext
This column shows the data set fragmentation. It is the
number of segments that the data set contains.
Volume
This column contains the volume serial number of the volume
that contains this object.
Unit
This column shows the unit type of the DASD volume that
contains this object. The unit type may be 3380, 3390 etc..
VOLUME Table Column Descriptions
If
the tree structure has an MVS VOLUME selected then the table displays the
following columns.
Full Data Set Name
This column contains a document Icon .
followed by the data set name. The volume table display shows the full data set
names and does not attempt to show any hierarchy information.
DSORG
This column shows the data set organization. The values
displayed here may be one of the following:
PS - Physical Sequential organization.
PO - Partitioned organization. A load library or a text
library.
VSAM - Virtual Storage access method organization.
NONE - The data set does not have organization defined.
Created
This column shows the data set creation date as YYYY.DDD
where YYYY is the year it was created and DDD is the Julian day number 001-365.
Expiration
This column shows the data set Expiration date as YYYY.DDD
where YYYY is the year it is to be deleted and DDD is the Julian day number
001-365. This column may contain the value 00.000 to indicate that the data set
has no expiration date.
Extents
This column shows the data set fragmentation. It is the
number of segments that the data set contains.
Security
This column shows if the data set is password protected
(PWD) or not (NONE).
Text Library Table Column Descriptions
If
the tree structure has an MVS library selected and the library is a text
library then the table displays the following columns. Please note that you may
elect to show only the member name column by selecting the menu item PDSList from the Setup menu
and then clicking on the NameOnly button. Selecting the AllData button will
provide the following columns. Please note that data will appear for members
only if the ISPF stats command has been entered for the library and the member
has been updated at least once.
Name
This column contains a document Icon 
. followed by the member name.
VV.MM
This column shows the version number and the modification
number of this member.
Created
This column shows the year, month, and day the member was
created as "YYYY.MM.DD".
Changed
This column shows the year, month, day, and time the member
was last changed as "YYYY.MM.DD_HH.MM".
Size
This column shows the number of bytes of data currently
contained in this member.
Init
This column shows the number of bytes of data initially
contained in this member.
Mod
This column shows the number of times this member has been
modified.
Id
This column shows the TSO userid of the person that last modified this member.
Load Library Table Column Descriptions
If
the tree structure has an MVS library selected and the library is a load
library then the table displays the following columns. Please note that you may
elect to show only the member name column by selecting the menu item PDSList from the Setup menu
and then clicking on the NameOnly button. Selecting the AllData button will
provide the following columns.
Name
This column contains a document Icon . followed by the load module name.
Size
This column shows the size of the load module in hex
notation.
TTR
This column shows the relative track and record number of
the load module in this library.
Amode
This column shows addressing mode for this load module. The
usual data here will be a number such as 24 or 31 indicating 24 bit or 31 bit
addressing.
Rmode
This column shows residency mode addressing for this load
module. The usual data here will be a number such as 24 or 31 indicating 24 bit
or 31 bit addressing or the value "ANY" which indicates a residency
mode of either 24 or 31 bit mode.
AC
This column shows the authorization code for the load
module. A zero means no authorization and a 1 means the load module is
authorized to issue authorized system services commands or SVC's.
Alias-of
This column shows that this load module is an alias of the
load module name contained in this column.
Attributes
This column shows attributes like RN = reentrant, RU =
reusable and TS = has test turned on.
File selection procedures
There are a number of
ways to select sub directories and files from the table display. You may select
multiple files but you must not select multiple sub directories or a mixture of
sub directories and files. A sub directory or a high level qualifier with
subordinate qualifiers, or an MVS library (PDS) is represented in the table
display as a folder icon. A document icon represents a file. A sub directory or
an MVS qualifier that has subordinate qualifiers can be exposed by double
clicking on the name displayed in the table (first column). This has the same
effect as clicking on a plus sign in the tree structure. It expands the tree
and displays the files and sub directories.
You may double click
on a file name to cause ExploreMVS to display the file contents in a new
window. This has the same effect as clicking on a file name and selecting the
"Open" command. The following describes other ways to select
files:
Selecting one file
Click on the file name in the table.
Selecting a continuous list of files
Click on the first file name. Press the shift key. Click on
the last file name that ends the list.
Selecting a discontinuous list of files
Click on the first file name. Press the Ctrl key. Click on
each file name that you want to include.
File and Directory Copy and Move procedures
ExploreMVS provides
three methods to perform a file or directory copy or move operations. Each
method will cause the display of a dialog that will permit the cancellation of
the operation. The dialog will also have a "Copy" and a "Move" button to allow you the choice
of operation on the selected files or directories. In some cases you may also
be allowed to change the target of the operation. If you choose to move or copy
then the operation is started, a progress meter in the tool bar is activated
and shows that the operation is being performed. When the operation is
complete, a message window will be displayed to show how the operation was
carried out and any completion or error messages. The three methods are:
Drag
and Drop (mouse).
Copy/Cut and Paste (Edit menu or Tool
bar buttons).
Copy/Move form (file menu, menu item CopyForm).
The three
implementations provide different levels of control plus the knowledge required
by the user increases, from the simple Drag and Drop to the use of
CopyForm. Choose the method that best meets your needs.
Drag and Drop
Drag and Drop requires the least
amount of user input. The whole operation may be performed via the mouse. The
only drawback is that both the source and target of the Drag and Drop operation
must be made visible. This may take quite a bit of effort in some cases. This
method does not allow you to change the name of the file or directory being
dragged to the target site. If you drag a file named "ABC" from one
directory to another the name remains the same in both directories. The
operation consists of finding the source via the tree structure and clicking on
the source directory exposing the files in the table display. Select the
file(s) in the table then find the target directory (high level qualifier or
volume) in the tree structure by clicking on the plus (+) signs in the tree. Do
not click on another directory or you will loose the source you have already
selected. This is the limiting factor in a drag and drop operation. You must
not be required to find a sub directory that cannot be found by simple
expansion of tree nodes. A drag source is the object(s) being dragged and the
drop target is where the object(s) are dropped. The drag and drop procedure is
described below:
Start the drag operation by clicking on an object or
selecting a set of files in either the tree structure or the table display.
Hold the left mouse button down and drag the mouse to the
tree structure object that you want to drop the file(s) or directory.
The tree structure object is highlighted as you pass over it
to identify the current drop zone. The mouse icon turns into a rectangle when
it is over a target that can accept a Drop.
Release the left mouse key when the highlighted object is
where the drop should occur.
Please note that objects can be dragged from a tree
structure to another tree structure and from the table display to a tree
structure but not from one object in the table to another object in the table.
Copy and Paste
Copy/Cut and Paste can be used when you
need to expand directory structures to find the target directory. Copy/Cut and
paste requires a little more interaction with the system then Drag and Drop but allows more
flexibility in finding the output directory than the drag and drop method. Both
Cut and Move cause the source file to be deleted if you approve the Cut or Move
operation. The Copy/Cut and Paste procedure is described below:
The Copy or Cut operation is started
by clicking on an object or selecting a set of files in either the tree
structure or the table display (select the source for the Copy or Cut).
Click on the Edit menu and then click the Copy or Cut menu item.
Alternately click the Copy or Cut Icon on the tool bar. This causes ExploreMVS
to save information about what is being copied (source).
Find the target directory, MVS high level or mid level data
set qualifier, or the volume, that is to be the target of the Paste operation. Click on
the object that will receive the source
Click on the Paste Icon in the tool bar
or alternately click on the Edit menu, then click on the Paste menu item.
ExploreMVS will display a dialog that will allow you to
cancel the operation and or verify the source and the target of the copy or
move(cut) operation.
Using a Form
The last method used to perform a Copy or Mover operation
is to use a dialog that allows you to enter information about the source and
destination. The CopyForm command provides a
means of performing the copy operation without requiring you to perform tree
structure searches in order to find the source file or the target directory.
The dialog will prime itself with either the files you have currently selected
in the table display or the object selected in the tree structure if no
selections have been made from the table. Click on the File menu and then click on
the CopyForm menu item. What happens next is determined by what objects you
have selected from the tree structure and the table before you selected the
CopyForm command.
If the table does not have any object(s) selected
(highlighted) then a dialog is presented which contains the type of operation
(Copy) pre selected and the currently highlighted tree structure
object displayed in the "From:" input box. This dialog allows you to
select the operation (Copy or Move). It also allows you to select if you want
just files or both files and directories copied or moved (files is pre
selected). Enter the target of the copy/move operation into the input box
labeled "To:". This may be a directory(HFS), an MVS high level
qualifier, a full MVS data set name, or an HFS path and file name. If you
select the files radio button then you may supply a file mask to copy/move a
number of files meeting the mask's constraints. For example a file mask of
"ABC*" would copy any file that began with the letters
"ABC". If you use a file mask then both the "From:" and
"To:" input boxes should contain HFS directories and/or MVS high
level data set qualifiers. If you are copying MVS files to a specific volume
then specify the volume serial number of the target volume. Press the
"OK" button to perform the operation.
You may select the files you want copied/moved from the
table display before you select the CopyForm command. In this
case the source of the copy/move operation has already been established and the
dialog to get source of copy/move information will not be displayed. ExploreMVS
will now display a dialog that requests the destination of the Copy/Move operation. The dialog shows six buttons - MVS, UNIX,
PDS, VOL, VSAM, and Cancel. Click one of the buttons. ExploreMVS will display a
dialog that contains both the source and target of the copy or move operation.
Review the source and destination file and directory names to verify that that
the operation is what you wanted.
Press the "Copy" button to copy the selected objects.
Press the "Move" button to move the objects.
Press the "Cancel" button to cancel the operation.
The system will display a message window showing you the
outcome of the operation and any error messages that may have been generated.
Close the window after you have reviewed the messages.
User Interface inconveniences
A
mouse Drag operation may be inadvertently activated by hovering the mouse
cursor over an object either in the tree structure or the table display. To
turn off the drag operation click the left mouse button anywhere outside the
tree and table structure. The drag icon will turn into a circle with a line
through it when it is over a target that does not accept a drop operation.
A click on an object (file or directory) sometimes does not register with the
system (nothing happens). Retry the click a little more firmly or quickly.
The target drop zone (high lighted directory) is not necessarily under
the mouse pointer. Pay attention to the highlighted directory and drop when the
correct directory is highlighted release the left mouse button
Command Window
The ExploreMVS Command window is comprised of a menu bar, tool bar,
a drop down list box, a text input and output area, a status line, and a set of buttons, from top to bottom respectively.
Command Window Sections
Menu bar
Tool bar
The Tool bar appears below the menu bar and contains buttons which contain Icons and command names for the most often used editing commands. Clicking a tool bar button is the same as selecting the same named command from a menu. The current system contains five buttons that execute the text edit commands "Undo", "Redo", "Cut", "Copy", and "Paste". The left-hand portion of the tool bar contains a progress meter that shows the progress of commands that may take a few seconds to perform.
The system will replace the contents of the text area with the results from the last command executed, when the progress meter reaches 100%. The progress meter is not meant to be exact but a simple tool to let you know work is in progress.
Drop down list box
The drop down list box is below the tool bar. The entries in the list box is dependent on how the window was invoked. If the window was called by the Open command then the list contains file names. If called by the Jobs command then the list contains job names and ID's. If called by the "Command" command than the list is empty initially but will be filled by the commands that you enter for execution.
Text area
The text area, which takes up the bulk of the window, is just below the drop down list box. The text area is the place where you enter commands. This area is also an output area. It will contain the output of commands that you execute, the contents of files that you open, and the output from the jobStatus and jobOutput commands. The Clear button can be used to erase the contents of this area. Selecting any object from the drop down list box replaces the current contents of the text area. Executing a command will erase the contents of this area.
The Edit menu commands and the tool bar short cuts operate on the contents of this area. Please note that the Edit menu commands do not operate with your PC's clipboard. That is the Copy, Cut, and Paste commands do not put or take objects from the PC clip board. All these operations are managed internally by ExploreMVS.
Status line
The status line appears below the text area. The status line will contain messages produced by ExploreMVS to document error or the progress of command execution.
Button area
The button area appears at the bottom of the window. There are four buttons. The functions of these buttons are:
The TSOCmd button executes the command that you have entered into the text area as a TSO command. If the command in incorrectly specified or is not in fact a TSO command, or one that is not supported, then an error message will be returned in the text area replacing the command. If the TSO command executes, the results will be displayed in the text area. Please note that you may enter the TSO help command to get information about TSO syntax and structure. Just type in the help command followed by a space and the command you want help on (help lista). You may also request help on the help command ("help" help). This will provide you with information about how to request help that pinpoints the information you are looking for. Obtaining help for a command may be an overkill if you only want to find out about a particular operand of the command
The UnixCmd button executes the command that you have entered into the text area as a UNIX command. If the command in incorrectly specified or is not in fact a UNIX command, or one that is not supported, then an error message will be returned in the text area replacing the command. If the UNIX command executes, the results will be displayed in the text area. Please note that you can get help on UNIX commands by entering the command man followed by a space and the command name.
The Clear button erases the contents of the text area.
The Close button closes this window.
Displaying the command window
The command window can be invoked in three ways.
Using the open command
The Open command used on a
file in the table display will invoke this window to display the selected file.
The drop down list box will contain up to 200 file names from the table
display. These files can be opened in this window by selecting the file name
from the drop down list box. This action replaces the contents of the text
area.
Selecting the "Command" command from the windows menu
The selection of the "Command" command from the Windows menu will cause this window to
be displayed. The drop down list box will be empty for this type of invocation.
Enter the command, and click on either the TSOCmd
or UnixCmd button to execute the command and save it in the drop down list
box. The result of command execution will replace the contents of the text
area. Commands that you entered previously, can be selected from the drop down
list box for re-execution.
Selecting the Jobs command from the windows menu
The selection of the Jobs command from the Windows menu will cause this window to
be displayed. The Jobs command primes
the window with the status information of jobs that you have submitted for
execution on the OS/390 system. Each job that is on the JES hold queue will be
entered into the drop down list box located above the text input area of the
window. When the window displays, click on the down arrow of the drop down list
box to see the list of jobs that are in the hold queue. You may select a job
from this list by clicking on the entry. Once you have selected a job you may
select either the jobOutput or jobDelete commands from the MVSJobs menu. Select the jobStatus command from the MVSJobs
menu when you want to refresh the information in the drop down list box with
the current status of the JES job hold queue.
Command window menus
The Command window menus provide the actions that you may perform in this window. There are four menus supported by this window. They are File, Edit, MVSJobs, and Help. The following describes each menu and their commands.
File menu
Close command
Close - the Close command closes the file currently displayed in the text area. If the text has been changed then a dialog is presented that asks if the file is to be saved. If the response is yes then another dialog will be displayed that shows the current files path and name or data set name. Click on the OK button if you want to save the file under its original name or modify the data set name and click OK to save the data under a new file name. You may click on the Cancel button in any dialog to cancel the Save function. The Close function will continue whether you save the file or not. The close command releases the enqueue on the current file so that other users can have access to it.
Save command
Save - the Save command saves the contents of the text area. If this is a file that was opened then the contents of the text area replaces the file on the OS/390 file system using the same name that it was open with (replaces the file contents). If the Command window was not invoked to open a file then you will be presented with a dialog that requests the name of the file to which the data in the text area is to be written. Provide this information and click on the "OK" button to save the data. Click on the Cancel button to cancel the Save operation.
Saveas command
Saveas - the Saveas command displays a dialog that requests the name of the file to which the data in the text area is to be written. If the drop down list box contains file names then the file name entry field will already contain the name of the opened file. Provide the file name information and click on the "OK" button to save the data. Click on the Cancel button to cancel the Saveas operation.
PCSave command
PCSave - the PCSave command will try to save the data in the text area to your PC file system. This will occur only if ExploreMVS has been given permission to access your PC resources. If permissions have been granted, then a Save dialog will be presented to allow you to locate or enter the PC file name where you want the data stored. Click on the Save button in the Save dialog when the file name has been set. Click on the Cancel button to bypass the save operation.
Submit command
Submit - the Submit command passes the contents of the text area to the OS/390 job entry subsystem (JES) for batch execution. The contents of the text area should be JCL with a valid job card and job name. If you want to be able to retrieve the jobs output or status information then the job name must be a combination of your userid with one following character or number. If your userid is "ibmuser" then valid job names could be "IBMUSERA", "IBMUSER1", etc.. The output class for MSGCLASS and SYSOUT files contained in your JCL must specify a JES HOLD output class. Note: The maximum LRECL for the submitted job is 254 characters. JES scans only the first 72 characters of JCL. Use the jobStatus command from the MVSJobs menu to check on the status of your batch jobs. The job cards MSGCLASS parameter and the SYSOUT parameters of your print output statements should specify a SYSOUT class that will be directed to the JES hold queue. Otherwise you will not be able to retrieve the jobs output.
Basic editing techniques
There are a few basic editing techniques that you should be aware of. These are listed below:
Inserting Text
Move the cursor to a location in the text and start typing. You can move the cursor using either the mouse or the arrow keys.
Deleting Text
There are a number of ways to delete text:
Delete one character to the left of the cursor using the Back Space key.
Delete one character to the right of the cursor using the Delete key.
Delete selected text using the Delete key.
Type-to-replace the selected text. If you type while text is selected, the selected text is replaced with the characters you type.
Selecting Text
You can select text in the following ways:
Drag through the text you wish to select.
Double-click on a word to select it.
Use Shift and the arrow keys to select text.
Text Edit menu
The
Text Edit menu provides commands that implement the windows type
Copy, Cut, and Paste functions but do not use your PC's clip
board. This menu also has two commands - PCCopy and PCPaste that do use your
PC's clip board if ExploreMVS has been given permission to access your PC. This
feature provides an easy way to transfer information from OS/390 to your PC.
This menu also contains an Undo and Redo command to let you unravel editing that you have
performed to reverse the text back to its previous state. A SelectAll command is provided to select all the text in the
text area in preparation for a Copy, Cut, or Paste operation. There are a
number of commands available that allow you to Find and Replace text within the
text area. Finally, there is a command that checks the lines in the text area
for valid length JCL cards (80 character records).
Undo command
The Undo command changes the text area back to the way it was before the last edit operation. If you have typed in changes then the Undo proceeds back one character at a time in reverse order of what you entered. If you typed in the characters "and" then the first Undo will show "an", the second "a" and the third "". If your last operation was a Cut then the Undo will replace the Cut text. If you have used the Find/Replace commands then the Undo will go back through and change back the replacements to their old values. You can play with the Undo/Redo combination of commands until you get back the text to the way you want it.
Redo command
The Redo command changes the text area back to the way it was before the last Undo operation. You can play with the Undo/Redo combination of commands until you get back the text to the way you want it.
Copy command
The Copy command copies the highlighted (selected) text to an internal storage area. The text in the text area is not changed.
Cut command
The Cut command cuts the highlighted (selected) text to an internal storage area. The highlighted text disappears.
PCCopy command
The PCCopy command copies the highlighted (selected) text to your PC's clip board. The text in the text area is not changed. The text will be available for Pasting into your PC applications.
PCPaste command
The PCPaste command cuts the highlighted (selected) text to your PC's clip board. The highlighted text disappears. The text will be available for Pasting into your PC applications.
SelectAll command
The SelectAll command highlights (selects) all the text to in the text area. The text in the text area is not changed. You may then use the Copy, Cut or Paste commands to copy all the text, cut all the text or replace all the text in the text area.
Paste command
The Paste command pastes the last copied or cut text back into the text area at the current cursor location. You may want to click in the text area prior to performing the paste operation to set the insert point for the paste.
Find/Replace command
The Find/Replace command displays a dialog that lets you define the Find/Replace criteria. If you have selected any text in the text area then the selected text is placed into the Find/Replace dialog "Find What" data entry box. The dialog provides an entry box labeled "Replace with" in which you may enter the replacement text for the "Find What" text. You may select to find whole words or to find text that matches the case of the sought after text. You can select the direction of the search from the current cursor location in the text area as up or down. There are a number of buttons in the dialog such as "Find Next", "Replace", "Replace Next", and "Replace All" that allow you to proceed through the text area and perform find and replace operations one at a time or all at once. The "Close" button will get rid of this dialog. The "Find What" and "Replace With" input boxes are a combination input area and drop down list that stores previously entered find and replace text. You may select from this list rather then retyping values.
FindNext command
The FindNext command can be used to find the next item in the text area that matches the last "Find/Replace" find text. ExploreMVS will notify you if the data item was not found. Otherwise, the next found item is highlighted.
ReplaceNext command
The ReplaceNext command can be used to find the next item in the text area that matches the last "Find/Replace" find text value and replaces it with the "Replace With" text value.
ReplaceAll command
The ReplaceAll command can be used to find all occurrences of the last "Find/Replace" find text value and replace them with the "Replace With" text value.
CheckJCL command
The CheckJCL command can be used to check the text area JCL cards to see if they are 80 characters long. JES scans only the first 72 characters of JCL and the last 8 characters of a JCL file are normally sequence numbers. This command will check the JCL to see if the above specification applies and notify you if that is not the case. The cards that are too long will be identified.
MVSJobs menu
The MVSJobs menu provides three commands that provide job management functions. They are listed below.
jobStatus command
The jobStatus command gets the current status of your batch jobs from the OS/390 system. The information returned from the JES spool for your user ID might look like the following:
MYUSRIDA JOB05444 OUTPUT 3 spool Files
MYUSRIDB JOB05766 OUTPUT 6 spool Files
MYUSRIDC JOB05832 OUTPUT 6 spool Files
MYUSRIDE JOB06021 INPUT -HELD-
The first column displays the job name. The second column displays the job ID, assigned by JES. This 8-character job ID, consisting of JOB followed by a 5-digit number assigned by JES, is the way that JES identifies your job. The third column displays the status of the job. The following is a description of each status:
The job was received, but not run yet.
The JCL specified that the job is to be put on hold.
The job has finished and has output to be printed or retrieved. For each OUTPUT job, there are spool files that consist of JCL messages, JES messages, initiator and terminator messages, and SYSOUT. For jobs with a status of OUTPUT, you are told the number of spool files for each job.
Each job that is on the JES spool will be entered into the drop down list box located above the text input area of the window. When the window displays, click on the down arrow of the drop down list box to see the list of jobs that are in the hold queue. You may select a job from this list by clicking on the entry. Once you have selected a job you may select either the jobOutput or jobDelete commands from the MVSJobs menu.
jobOutput command
The jobOutput command will get job output generated by your job from the JES spool and display it in the text window. Each time that you select a job from the drop down list, the previous contents of the text window are lost. If you want you may edit the output (delete JCL and messages that you do not want) and save the output to an OS/390 file or to your PC if you have given permission to have ExploreMVS access your PC resources.
jobDelete command
The jobDelete command deletes the job from the JES spool. All job output is lost after this command is executed.
Help menu
The Help menu provides entry into the on-line ExploreMVS help system. It currently provides access to the main help menu for the ExploreMVS system by clicking on the
Contents command
The Contents command displays the ExploreMVS help window. This window provides access to all help files.
WindowHelp command
The WindowHelp command displays a new browser window containing help information for the Command Window.
UnixCmdHelp command
The UnixCmdHelp command displays a new browser window containing a summary of the Unix System Services commands and their functions. The information displayed does not include syntax help for the commands. To obtain syntax and sub parameter information for a command enter the command "man 1 cmd" into the text area and click on the UnixCmd button. Replace "cmd" above with the command name that you want help on. The "man" command is the Unix command that displays information about Unix commands. For example "man 1 chgrp" will obtain information about the change group owner (chgrp) of a file or directory command.
TSOCmdHelp command
The TSOCmdHelp command displays a new browser window containing a summary of the TSO commands and their functions. The information displayed does not include syntax or sub parameter help for the commands. If you want full help on a TSO command's syntax and sub parameters enter the command "help cmd" into the text area and click on the TSOCmd button. Replace "cmd" above with the command name that you want help on. For example "help listalc" will obtain information on the LISTALC command syntax and sub parameters (this command lists active data sets assigned to the TSO session).
Define VSAM Cluster
The
ExploreMVS Define VSAM Cluster window is comprised
of a menu bar, tool bar, a set of buttons, a list box, and a text input area
from top to bottom respectively. The five areas that define this window are:
Menu bar
The menu bar is at the top of the window below the window
title. The menu bar consists of the following menus that contain commands that
provide an action or help. The menus are File, Edit, Samples, and Help.
Tool bar
The Tool bar appears below the
menu bar and contains buttons which contain Icons and command names for the
most often used editing commands. Clicking a tool bar button is the same as
selecting the same named command from a menu. The current system contains five
buttons that execute the Edit commands "Undo", "Redo",
"Cut", "Copy", and "Paste". The left hand portion of the tool bar contains a
progress meter that shows the progress of commands that may take a few seconds
to perform. The progress meter is not meant to be exact but a simple tool to
let you know work is in progress.
Button area
The button area appears below the tool bar. There are three
buttons. The functions of these buttons are:
Submit button
The Submit button executes the define
command that you have constructed in the text area. If the command is
incorrectly constructed or has syntax errors then an error message will be
returned in a message window. The message window will also contain the results
from a successful allocation of a new VSAM cluster.
Clear button
The Clear button erases the contents
of the text area.
Cancel button
The Cancel button closes this window.
Define Cluster sub parameters list box
The list box is below the tool bar and on the left hand side
of the window. It has a label above it of Define
Cluster sub parameters. It shares space with the text input area which is
on the right hand side of a divider bar. This bar can be dragged to the left or
right to provide more viewable area for either object. Hover your mouse pointer
over the bar until it turns into a bi-directional arrow, press your left mouse
button down and drag the bar left or right.
The list box contains sub parameters of the Define VSAM cluster command. Clicking
on a sub parameter cause the parameter to be transferred to the next row of the
text area. Click the sub parameters that you want to use to define your new
VSAM file. After you have selected the sub parameters modify the text in the
adjacent text area to suit your needs.
Text area
The text area is on the right hand side of the window next
to the list of define command sub parameters. This is the area where you enter
the define command and its sub parameters. The edit menu, the sub parameter
list, and the Samples menu provide
input to this area.
The Edit menu commands and the tool bar short cuts operate
on the contents of this area. Please note that the Edit menu commands do not
operate with your PC's clip board. That is the Copy, Cut, and Paste commands do not put or take objects from the PC clip board. All
these operations are managed internally by ExploreMVS.
File Menu
The
File menu provides only one
command that allows you to save the contents of the text area to an OS/390
file. The command is:
Saveas command
Saveas the Saveas command displays a dialog
that requests the name of the file to which the data in the text area is to be
written. Provide the file name information and click on the "OK"
button to save the data. Click on the Cancel button to cancel the Saveas
operation.
Edit Menu
The
Edit menu for text editing contains
commands that are shared among several ExploreMVS windows and the explanation
of the Edit Menu commands at: “Text
Edit Menu”.
Samples Menu
The
Samples menu provides five commands
that will display a new window with a sample define command and the explanation
of the sub parameters that were used in constructing the VSAM cluster
definition. Please note that the request for a sample wipes out the contents of
the text area. Whatever was in the text area will be replaced by the sample
define code. After you have read the description press the OK button. This will close the window. You can edit the sample to
suit your needs. The command names spell out the type of VSAM cluster that the
sample will display. They are:
SMSManagedKeySequencedCluster command
SMSManagedKeySequencedCluster displays the define command for an SMS managed key
sequenced cluster.
SMSManagedKeySequencedClusterWithDataAndIndex command
SMSManagedKeySequencedClusterWithDataAndIndex displays the define command for an SMS managed key
sequenced cluster with both data and index components.
KeySequencedClusterWithDataAndIndex command
KeySequencedClusterWithDataAndIndex displays the define command for a key sequenced cluster
with both data and index components.
RelativeRecordCluster command
RelativeRecordCluster displays the define command for a relative record cluster.
ReusableEntrySequencedCluster command
ReusableEntrySequencedCluster displays the define command for a reusable entry sequenced
cluster.
Help Menu description
The
Help menu provides entry into
the on-line ExploreMVS help system. It currently provides the following help
commands:
Contents command
The Contents command provides access to
the main help menu for the ExploreMVS system.
WindowHelp command
The WindowHelp command displays a new browser
window containing help information for the Define VSAM Cluster Window.
DefineHelp command
The DefineHelp
command will display the TSO help for the define
command in a new window.
Search Command Window
The Search command is used to
find, change, and display data in the selected file. A set of control
parameters and find and change statements can be used to control processing
logic. Selected records may be copied to an output file. Selected records may
be shown in both text and hex format and the selection process may be stopped
after a number of selections have been made. The input file may be edited and
copied in it entirety to an output file. You define control statements that
change certain values to other values or change a data type to another data
type. The Search command only works
on MVS files (both VSAM and non-VSAM). This is an optional feature of
ExploreMVS that the data center may choose to exclude.
The
Search Command window is comprised
of eight sections. each section has a section label and an enclosing line
border which identifies the section. Initially only two sections are displayed.
They are the Global Options and the Actions sections. Selecting certain
options from the Global section will cause the system to reveal these other
sections. The explanation of the functions performed by each option will tell
you what options reveal a specific window section. The following explains the
Global and Action sections followed by the six optional sections.
Global Options Section
The Global Options
section provides check boxes to allow you to select the search options,
processing logic, output options and record editing processing that you want to
establish for the current execution of the Search program. The following options may be
selected:
Display Records Option
The Display Records option, when
checked, will cause each selected record, or portion of the record, to be
displayed. If this option is left unchecked then no record display will be shown.
If this option is checked and the Record
Selection and the Limit output
options are not checked then all records in the selected file will be
displayed. Not checking this option provides a means of preventing large
volumes of output for editing or file copy file operations.
Select Records Option
The Select Records
option, when checked, will cause record selection to take place. Three sections
will be revealed in the window. They are the Select type of condition test..., Find data in records containing a... and the Find statements sections. These
sections provide for selection of logical operators (comparison or bit tests),
entry of find statements and the storage of find statements respectively. The
find statements provide the criteria for selecting records from the selected
file.
Copy Select Records option
The Copy Select Records option, when checked,
will cause the selected records to be
copied to an output file. ExploreMVS will display a dialog that requests the
MVS data set name for the output file. UNIX System Services files are not
supported for the search command.
Use AND Logic option
The Use AND Logic
option, when
checked, will cause the window to reveal the Condition for selection must include the criteria from... section.
This section provides for entry of find statement numbers. Each number entered
identifies another find statement whose selection criteria must be found in a
record for it to be selected (and logic).
Text File option
The Text File
option, when
checked, this option tells the search command that the selected file contains
only character data records. If you elect to display selected records then only
text output will be produced. If the records contains both text and non text
fields, and you want to be able to see the contents of these fields, then leave
this option unchecked. If this option is not checked then selected data records
are output in both Hex and character format.
Change Records option
The Change Records
option, when
checked, will cause the window to reveal the Change found data to... section. This section provides entry of a
new value and its data type that will replace the found value in the data
record.
Edit File option
The Edit File
option, when
checked, tells the search command that all records, even those not selected via
find statements, are to be copied to the output file. This option is meaningful
only when the Copy Selected Records option is
also selected. In an edit operation selected records are modified via the
replace function and both modified and unmodified records are copied to the
output file. If the Copy Selected
Records option is checked and this one is not then only modified records
are copied to the output file.
Limit Output option
The Limit Output
option, when
checked, reveals the Output Options...
section. This section has three data entry fields. They allow you to set the
maximum number of output records and the section of the selected records to be
displayed.
Actions Section
The Actions
section provides buttons that are labeled with the action to be performed. The
buttons are Run Query, Cancel, Add, and
Help. The following explains these actions:
Run Query button
The Run Query button causes the Search command to execute the query that you have
constructed. The query includes the Global options that you have selected and
any find/replace statements that you have defined. ExploreMVS will display a
message window with the results of the query. The message window will show the
query statements that were used and the output generated. If no output is shown
then check the query statements for error messages from the Program EXPLISTR.
Its possible that some of the statements are in error. If that is the case then
go back to the Search command window and correct the statement in error. Click
on this button again to retry the query. You may perform any number of search
requests on the selected data set. Click on the Cancel button when you are through.
Cancel button
The Cancel button, when clicked, will cancel the
search command and dismiss the search command window.
Add button
The Add button is used to add a find/replace statement into the drop down list
box in the Find Statement...
section. Click on this button when you have entered all the data for the
find/replace statement. This could include data from the three sections labeled
Find data in records containing a...,
Condition for selection must include criteria from..., and Change found data
to... sections. The data from the first section, named above, must always
be present. Data from the other two sections are optional.
Help button
The Help button, when clicked shows this help
window.
Output Options Section
The Output Options... section provides three data entry boxes. They
allow you to limit the number of selected records that are to be displayed, and
limit output to a specific portion of the selected records rather than the
whole record.
Stop After input box
The Stop After: data entry box is independent of the last two. If you
want to limit the number of records that are to be displayed, enter the number
here. If this data entry box is left blank then all selected records will be
displayed and/or copied.
Display at offset input box
The Display at offset: data entry
box allows you to enter the offset from the start of each record that is to be
displayed. The record starts at offset zero. This value has no effect on
records copied to an output file. If this is left blank then output will start
from offset zero (beginning of record).
for length of input box
The for length of: data entry box allows you to enter the length of the
section of the selected record to display. If you specify a value for Display at offset: then you must
specify a value here. Leaving both Display
at offset: and this data entry field blank will cause the whole record to
be displayed. This value has no effect on records copied to an output file.
Select type of condition test section
The Select type of condition test... section provides two mutually
exclusive radio buttons that allow you to choose the type of logical operators
to use for a find statement. The choices are:
Compare option
The Compare option selects the logical operators to be comparison operators. These
operators will be accessed from a drop down list box in the Find data in records containing a...
section preceded by the label if:.
The comparison operators supported are Equals,
Not Equals, Less Than, Greater Than, Not Less Than, and Not Greater Than.
For example, if the find value that you enter Equals the data in a record then
the record is selected.
Bit Test option
The Bit Test option selects the logical operators to be Bit Test operators. These
operators will be accessed from a drop down list box in the Find data in records containing a...
section preceded by the label if:.
The Bit Test operators supported are Bits
on, Bits off, Bits mixed, and Bits not on. For example, if the find value
that you enter is a hex value of "01" and the operator you select is
"Bits on" then the data in the record is tested for the low order bit
being on and if true then the record is selected. The find data value must be
specified as a hexadecimal value. The data in the file record may be of any
data type.
Find data in records containing a section
The Find data in records containing a... section provides data entry
boxes, and drop down list boxes that are used to enter information about search
criteria. This is the first of three sections that may be used in constructing
a find/replace statement. This section alone or in combination with the next
section will construct the find statement. You may add data from the Replace
section to create the find/replace statement. This section contains the
following data entry fields and drop down list boxes:
Value data entry box
The Value: data entry box is provided so that you can enter the data
value you are searching for in each data record. How this value is interpreted
is dependent on the information that you select from the next two drop down
list boxes (data format and data comparison operator). If the data is
character, then make sure that you provide the value in the proper case and
also supply any blanks that separate words. If the value is to be converted to
binary then make sure it contains only the numeric digits from 0-9. If the data
is hexadecimal then enter values in the range of 0-f, for each character
position. The system converts the characters a-f to upper case. Hex data is
limited to 8 hex digits. For binary full word or half word data the data value
you enter must not exceed 4,294,967,295 and 65,535 respectively. Packed decimal
data may be up to 16 bytes (31 numeric digits in the value that you enter).
data format is list box
The data format is: label
precedes the drop down list box that contain the data formats supported by the
search command. The value you supply in the Value data entry box will be converted, if needed, to the internal format you select.
The data formats are Character, Hex,
Decimal, Binary 4 bytes, and Binary 2 bytes. Click on the down arrow and
click on the data format to make your selection.
If list box
The if: label precedes the drop down list box that contain the logical
operators that can be used to determine record selection. This drop down list
box may contain comparison operators or Bit test operators depending on the
selection that you made in the Select
type of condition test... section. Select the operator that meets your
requirements. If the wrong drop down list box is displayed then re-select the
proper type of operators (comparison or Bit test) from the previous section.
At data entry box
The At: label precedes the data entry box where you may enter the
offset in the data records that you want to check for the value that you supply
in the "Value:" data entry box. This is optional. The default value
"Anyplace" means that the whole record will be scanned for the data
value. If the data value is found anywhere in the record, the record will be
selected. Otherwise, enter an offset value to the field in the record where you
want the find to take place.
Condition for selection must include the criteria from section
The Condition for selection must include the criteria from... section
provides for entry of find statement numbers. Each number entered identifies
another find statement whose selection criteria must be found in a record for
it to be selected (and logic). The current find statement and the other find
statements identified by the list of find statement numbers is considered an and group. The numbers entered must be
separated by commas.
Please note, if "and" logic
is not being used then each find/replace statement will be applied against each
record in the file. If you have three find/replace statements then each one
acts independently of the other and can cause a record to be selected or data
to be replaced.
Each find statement entered is given a
number. The first is number 1, the second is number two, etc.. If you are
entering the third find statement and the first two find statements are part of
the and group then you would enter
1,2 into the data entry box labeled other
FIND statements numbered:. You should have entered 2,3 for the first find
statement that you defined and 1,3 for the second. Each find statement must
reference the numbers of the other find statements in the and group. When you set up the search command query, you must plan
in advance your and groups so that
you can enter the other find statement numbers as you are creating each find
statement.
Change found data to section
The Change found data to... section provides a data entry box and a
drop down list box. You may enter a replacement value in the data entry box
preceded by the label New Value: and select
its data type from the drop down list box which is preceded by the label Data Type:. The new value will replace the found value in the data
record. The replacing of data in a record will occur if all other finds in the and group are true (the data record
contains data that matches all the find statement criteria of each statement in
the and group). If no and logic is
being used then a replacement will take place if the find part of the statement
has a match in the data record being processed.
If you have multiple find criteria to
be checked but only one replacement field then place the replace value with the
find statement that it is replacing and do not put replace values on find
statements that are simply used as conditional tests.
Find statements section
The Find statements... section has four objects. There are two labels
that show the number of the last find statement that you selected from the drop
down list box and a label that tells you the total number of find statements
currently in the drop down list box. A drop down list box that shows the
previously defined find/replace statements, and a button that allows you to
remove find/replace statements from the drop down list box. These objects are
defined below:
FindNumber output display
The label FindNumber= displays the index number of the find statement within
the drop down list box that is currently displayed at the top of the box. The
find statement that you see is the one you last selected or the one that was
last popped up to replace the one that you removed. The number is provided in
order for you to correctly determine the find statement numbers used to define
an and group.
#Find output display
The label #Find= shows how many find/replace statements are currently in the
next object which is a drop down list box. This number will change as you add
and remove find/replace statements from the search operation. It is provided,
along with the drop down list box, and the previous label to provide aid in
determining how to specify and group
information.
Find Statement list box
The third object in this section is a
drop down list box that contains the find/replace statements currently defined.
Click on the down arrow to view these statements and click on the one that you
want to be viewable. You may use this object to refresh your memory of what you
have entered so far. You may edit the selected find/replace statement (the one
that you can see). Press the Enter
key on your key board to cause the changes to be recorded. No changes take
place if you do not press the Enter
key.
Remove Find Statement button
The fourth object is a button that allows you to remove selected find/replace statements from the drop down list box. Click on the down arrow in the drop down list box, click on the find/replace statement that you no longer want, and then click on the remove button.
DB2 User Interface
This window provides
the user interface into the OS/390 DB2 system. It allows
you to explore the OS/390 DB2 facility and view data bases, table, views, and
indexes. The user interface window is comprised of a menu bar, a tool bar, a
DB2 system tree structure, and a table containing the DB2 objects in the
currently selected database, table, view, or index. The interface follows the object
action paradigm. You select an object from the user interface (tree or table)
then select an action (command). The four objects that define the user
interface are:
Menu bar
The
Menu bar is at the top of the
window below the window title. The menu bar consists of the following menus
that contain commands that provide an action, store information, display a
dialog or another window, and provide help. The menus are File, View, Actions,
and Help.
Tool bar
The
Tool bar appears below the
menu bar and contains buttons which contain Icons and command names for the
most often used File, View, and Actions
commands. Clicking a tool bar button is the same as selecting the same named
command from a menu. The current system contains eight buttons that execute the
commands "New",
"Alter", "Drop", "Select", "Query",
"Sample", "Columns", and "SQLInput".
Tree structure
The
Tree structure is located on the
left hand side of the user interface window. The tree structure models the DB2 facility as a
hierarchy of databases, Tables, Views, and Indexes collectively called DB2
objects. The tree structure for DB2 starts out with two major nodes SYSIBM and Databases. The catalog is
composed of tables that start with SYSIBM.
The SYSIBM tables contain information about all objects in the OS/390 DB2
system. The tables may be explored but be for warned that these table contain
large volumes of data. For example the SYSCOLUMNS table contains one row for
each column of every table stored in the DB2 system. The retrieval of this much
data can be quite time consuming.
Clicking
on the Databases major node causes
ExploreMVS to expose the databases defined within your OS/390 DB2 facility. The
databases will be displayed in the table display on the right hand side of the
window along with information about the database. ExploreMVS builds a tree node
for each data base name and a node for each of the three DB2 objects: Tables, Views, and Indexes below each
data base name. Find the database name that you want to explore and click on
the plus sign next to it to expose the three DB2 objects. Click on one of the
three objects to display the tables, views, or indexes that have been defined
for the data base.
This
will cause ExploreMVS to build one node for each object under the object
clicked (Table, or View). Clicking on the Indexes
node does not produce new tree nodes. The indexes defined for the database are
displayed in the table along with the information maintained by DB2 for them. If you
clicked on the Tables or Views nodes
then there will be a new node for each table or view in the data base. The
tables or views are also displayed in the adjacent table display along with
information about each object. You may then click on the tree object that you
want to explore to see its contents.
There is a bar that splits the display between the tree and the table
display. This bar is moveable to allow an increase of viewable space for either
object.
Table Display of tables and views
The
Table on the right hand side of the
user interface window displays the DB2 objects associated
with the currently selected tree object. This could be database names, or the
names of tables, views or indexes. The table also shows the information kept by
the DB2 facility for these objects as columns following the names. The column
headers are the labels under which DB2 maintains the shown data. The columns
displayed in the table may be re-arranged by dragging a column header from one
location to another.
Click
on a table or view name in the table display. Then right click to show a pop up
menu. The pop up menu displays the commands that you may apply against the
selected table. They are Select, Query,
Sample, Columns, Alter, and Drop. These same commands may be selected from
the File and Actions menus on the
menu bar.
Clicking on a table or view name in the tree structure or double clicking
a table or view name in the table display, will create a new window that will
display the contents of the table or view. This new window provides
capabilities to update, delete and insert information in the table or view. The
data displayed in this table can be changed into text records that can be used
in PC applications like PC databases and spreadsheets. The converted data can
be saved in the OS/390 file system or on your PC if ExploreMVS has permission
to access your system.
The
menu bar supports the File, View,
Actions, and Help menus. The commands supported under each menu follow:
File Menu
The
File Menu provides commands
that create, modify, and delete tables, views, and indexes.
New command
The New command is used to create a
new table in the currently selected database or create an index on the selected
table. Click on a table name in the table display on the right hand side of
this window. Then click on the file menu and then the New command. A new window will be displayed which is primed with
information about the selected table. Choose a table that is similar to the one
that you want to create to minimize your input. See “Db2 New/Alter Table
Window” to get an explanation of that windows capabilities. The New command only supports the creation
of tables and indexes in this release of the system.
Alter command
The Alter command is used to modify a
table by adding additional columns. Click on the table name that you want to
modify in the table display on the right hand side of this window. Then click
on the file menu and then the Alter
command. A new window will be displayed which is primed with information about
the selected table. The Alter
command only supports the modification of tables in this release of the system.
Drop command
The Drop command is used to delete
references to a table, view or index from the DB2 catalog. The drop
command destroys the object. If you are dropping a database table than all
indexes and views defined on that base table are automatically destroyed also.
The system will display a dialog to make sure that this is what you want to do.
You may cancel the operation from the dialog if you change your mind.
View Menu
The
View Menu currently supports
two commands.
SQLInput command
The SQLInput
command will display a new
window named “DB2 Command Window”. This window is designed to help you create DB2 SQL
scripts, execute, store, and retrieve them. You must be proficient in the DB2
command language and SQL in order to use this window. You may use this window
to create SQL statements that will be run more than once or re-run with small
modifications. Once you have created the SQL statements you may save them to an
OS/390 file or a PC file. Later when you want to reuse these scripts you may
retrieve them from these files. modify them, and execute them.
Refresh command
The Refresh command will reload the
objects in the currently selected tree node. Use this command if you or someone
else have modified any of the objects that are contained in the selected node.
Click on a tree node that you want to reload then click on the View menu and the Refresh command.
Actions Menu
The
Actions Menu supports commands
that perform an action against the selected table or view. The action provides
information that will be displayed in a new window. See “DB2 Data Display Window” for detailed information. The proper procedure for using
the following commands is to click on an object in the table display, then
click on the Actions menu and then the desired command.
Select command
The Select
command will cause the
contents of the selected table or View to be displayed. This command is
equivalent to clicking on the table or view name in the tree structure or double
clicking a table or view name in the table display.
Query command
The Query command gathers information
about the selected table or view and displays a new window that will assist you
in creating a data base query to selectively display information contained in
the selected table or view. See “DB2 Query Window” for more details.
Sample command
The Sample
command produces a sub set
of the information in a table or view. The Sample command will show the first
20 rows of a table. This feature will save you a lot of time if you are only
interested in seeing what the table contains rather than the full table
contents.
Columns command
The Columns
command can be used to
display the information used in constructing the selected table or view. This
includes the column names and the data specifications maintained by DB2 in the catalog.
ViewDefinition command
The ViewDefinition
command is used to display
the information maintained in the DB2 catalog table named
SYSIBM.SYSVIEWS for the selected view. This information contains a column
labeled TEXT that may provide
information about the purpose of this view.
Help Menu
The
Help Menu provides two
commands.
Contents command
The Contents command will display the
ExploreMVS help system displayed in a tree structure. Explore the tree
structure until you find the topic of interest and then click on it to display
the help for that topic.
WindowHelp command
The WindowHelp command displays this help
window.
DB2 Data Display Window
The Data Display Window is comprised
of a menu bar, a tool bar, and a table.
Menu bar section
The menu bar is at
the top of the window below the window title. The Menu bar consists of an Action and Help menus.
Tool bar section
The Tool bar appears below the
menu bar and contains buttons that contain Icons and command names for the most
often used Action commands. Clicking a tool bar button is the same as selecting
the same named command from a menu. The current system contains four buttons
that execute the Action commands "Delete", "Insert", "Update", and
"ToText".
Table Display Section
The table displays
the contents of a database table or view, a sub set of a table or view, the
results of a query, or the column descriptions for a table or view. The window
follows the object action paradigm. You select a row from the table then select
an action.
The Data Display Window allows you to
perform database operations on the data displayed in the table, unless the data
displayed is column information for a table or view. You may delete, update, or
insert rows into the base table that is shown. You may not perform data base
operations on a view's data but you may create a text output file from a view.
The table can be directly edited or you can select a row that you want to
modify and click on the Update
command.
ExploreMVS will display a data entry dialog with the contents of the clicked
row. You may make your modifications in the data entry form.
The actual
modification is made to the database table via a set of SQL statements
generated by ExploreMVS based on information that you have entered. The
generated SQL statements are shown to you for Update and Delete operations before
they are executed. You have an option to cancel the operation, modify the SQL
statements, and execute the delete, or update operation. ExploreMVS uses key
information returned by JDBC to identify the column(s) in each row in the WHERE clause. This information is not
always returned by JDBC. In that case ExploreMVS uses the first column of the
table as the key column in the WHERE
clause of each SQL statement to direct the update, or delete operation to the
correct row of the table. The key column(s) chosen may be incorrect and you may
have to edit the SQL statements accordingly. This will certainly be true if
JDBC does not return the key columns for the table. The objective is to make
sure that the correct row is being deleted or updated. The where clause must
uniquely identify this row.
The direct editing of
the information displayed in the table may be performed in the following
manner:
Select a cell that you want to edit by using the tab key,
the arrow keys, or click on the cell that you want to edit. You will notice
that the background color of the selected cell is white and the rest of the
cells in the row are dark blue or black.
If you want to add data to the end of data currently in the
cell just key in the data. You may have to click in the cell more than once for
editing to take place. Use the back space key and the delete key to delete data
in the cell. While in the cell you may use the arrow keys to move the entry
point to a particular character in the cell.
When through editing a cell, use the tab key to go to the
next cell or press the enter key. Perform all the cell editing you want in any
row of your choice.
When you want to update the data base table, click on the Action menu and then the Update command.
ExploreMVS will generate a set of SQL statements to apply the updates that you
have entered.
You
may choose to perform indirect editing rather than direct editing, by using a
data entry dialog. This form of editing may be accomplished by the following
methodology:
Select a row that you want to edit by using the tab key, the
arrow keys, or click on the row that you want to edit.
Click on the Action
menu and then the Update command.
ExploreMVS will display a data entry dialog that contains the data from the
selected row. Each column of the row will be displayed in an edit box in the
dialog preceded by the column label that identifies the data.
Make your changes to the data items in the dialog and click
on the Update button to update the
database table.
Click on the Cancel
button to dismiss the data
entry dialog and return to the table.
Repeat this process until you are through updating the
table.
The
following menus are supported in this window:
Action menu
The
Action menu contains five commands
that perform actions on the data displayed by the table. These actions are:
Delete command
The Delete command deletes the selected
row(s) from the database table. ExploreMVS will display the SQL delete
statements. Verify that the correct rows are being deleted by checking the
constraints imposed by the WHERE
clause. These constraints may have to be changed before you allow the delete
operation to proceed. Clicking on the Cancel
button in the dialog will
cancel the operation.
The Insert
command gathers the information from the currently selected row and presents a
data entry dialog with this information displayed in data entry boxes preceded
by the appropriate column label. Update the data entry dialog with the data
that you want inserted before the row that you have selected. Click on the Insert button to perform the operation
or the Cancel button to dismiss the
dialog and cancel the operation. This command does not display the SQL
statement generated by ExploreMVS to perform the Insert operation.
Update command
The Update
command behaves in two different ways depending on
how you are performing modifications. If you are performing a direct edit of
the information in the table display than click on the Update command, ExploreMVS will generate an SQL UPDATE statement for each row that you
have edited. These statements are shown to you in a dialog that contains these
statements. You may modify these statements before they are executed. Verify
that the WHERE clause correctly
constrains the update to the correct row before you allow the update to take
place. Clicking on the Cancel button in the dialog will
cancel the operation.
If you have selected a table row and have not modified any
data in the table display and click on the Update
command,
you will be presented with a data entry dialog showing the data from the
selected row. You will make modifications in the dialog's data entry boxes and
click on the Update button to cause
generation of an SQL UPDATE
statement. This statement will be displayed in a dialog. Verify that the WHERE clause correctly constrains the
update to the correct row before you allow the update to take place. Clicking
on the Cancel button in the dialog will
cancel the operation.
Select_All command
The Select_All command causes all rows of
the table to be selected. Use this command if you want to Delete all rows of a table.
Click on the Action menu then click on the Select_All command then click on the Delete command. ExploreMVS will generate an SQL DELETE statement for every row in the table. These statements will
be shown to you in a dialog. Verify that the WHERE clause correctly constrains the update to the correct row
before you allow the update to take place. Clicking on the Cancel button in the dialog will
cancel the operation.
ToText command
The ToText
command will gather all data
displayed in the table and create a comma delimited text file that will contain
one row of data for each row in the table. This text file will be displayed in
an edit window. You may edit the results or just save this information into an
OS/390 file or a PC file. You may also use the PCCopy command to copy the
information from the edit window to the PC clipboard and then paste it directly
into a PC application. This information can be used as input to PC applications
such as word processors, spread sheets, or PC data bases. The above discussion
assumes that you have given ExploreMVS permission to access your PC resources.
If not then you other choice is to select all the data in the edit window and
use your key board Ctrl+c keys to
copy the text to the clipboard and then paste the data into you PC application.
Help menu
The
Help menu contains two
commands. They are:
Contents command
The Contents command will display the
ExploreMVS help system displayed in a tree structure. Explore the tree
structure until you find the topic of interest and then click on it to display
the help for that topic.
WindowHelp command
The WindowHelp command displays help for
this window.
DB2 New/Alter Table Window
This window is displayed
by the New or Alter
commands . Its purpose is to define a new table, an index on an
existing table or an index on the new table being created, or alter an existing
table by adding additional columns. This window is comprised of a menu bar, a
tool bar, a table information data entry section, an SQL statement edit and
display area, and a section that allows entry of column definitions for a new
or existing table.
The bottom section of
the window provides data entry boxes and a drop down list box to obtain the new
tables column definitions or the new column definitions for an altered table.
Most of your interaction, with this window, will be in this section. The five
sections that define this window and their functions are:
Menu bar section
The Menu bar is at the top of the
window below the window title. It contains four menus File, Edit, Action, and Help. The following explains the menus and
the commands supported by these menus:
File menu
The File menu provides commands
that allow you to open files that may be loaded into the SQL statement edit and
display area. These files should contain previously saved SQL statements that
create or alter tables in order to reduce your data input requirements. The
menu also provides commands to save the SQL statements currently displayed in
the SQL display area. The commands are:
Open command
The Open command displays a
dialog that requests entry of a fully qualified MVS or UNIX file name. The file
is opened and its contents displayed in the SQL statement edit and display area
of the window.
PCOpen command
The PCOpen
command displays a dialog that allows you to search your PC's file system for
the file that you want to open. The file is opened and its contents displayed
in the SQL statement edit and display area of the window.
PCSave command
The PCSave
command displays a dialog
that allows you to search for a file name in your PC's file system or enter the
file name which is used to store the contents of the SQL statement edit and
display area of the window. The files contents will be overwritten.
SaveAS command
The SaveAs
command displays a dialog that requests entry of a fully qualified MVS or UNIX
file name. The contents of the SQL statement edit and display area of the
window is written to the file that you specify.
Edit menu
The Edit menu
provides commands that allow you to edit the SQL statements currently displayed
in the SQL display area. See “Text Editing Commands” for an explanation of
these commands.
Action menu
The Action menu provides commands
that allow you to execute the SQL statements currently displayed in the SQL
edit and display area (create table or alter) or generate SQL statements to
create a new index. The commands are:
CreateTable command
The CreateTable
command executes the SQL
statement currently displayed in the SQL edit and display area of the window.
Verify that the SQL statement is correct before you select this command.
CreateIndex command
The CreateIndex
command creates an SQL
statement that will create an index on the table specified in the Table Information data entry section of the window. This
operation will occur only if the data entry box labeled Primary Key: contains one or more column names separated by commas (if
more than one). The rest of the information in this data entry section is
filled by ExploreMVS from the table information in the DB2 user interface where
you selected the New command. You may, of course, have altered this information to suit
your current needs.
ExploreMVS presents the Create
Index SQL statement in a dialog that allows you to make changes before you
execute the statement. Click the OK
button in the dialog to execute the SQL statement or the Cancel button to cancel the
operation.
Alter command
The Alter command executes the SQL
statement currently displayed in the SQL edit and display area of the window.
Verify that the SQL statement is the correct before you select this command.
Help Menu
The Help Menu provides two
commands.
Contents command
The Contents command will display the
ExploreMVS help system displayed in a tree structure. Explore the tree
structure until you find the topic of interest and then click on it to display
the help for that topic.
WindowHelp command
The WindowHelp command displays this help
window.
Tool bar
The Tool bar appears below the
menu bar and contains buttons which contain Icons and command names for the
most often used editing commands. Clicking a tool bar button is the same as
selecting the same named command from a menu. The current system contains five
buttons that execute the Edit commands "Undo", "Redo",
"Cut", "Copy", and "Paste". See “Text Editing Commands” for an explanation of
these commands.
Table Information data entry section
The Table Information
data entry section appears below the
tool bar on the left -hand side of the window. This area contains information
about the table that was selected from the previous window. You may edit this
information as necessary. If you are creating a new table or an index you may
have to supply information about table key(s). Make sure this section is
completed prior to clicking on the button labeled Finish SQL or clicking any command in the Action menu. This section contains the following data entry fields:
Table Name
The label Table Name: precedes a data entry box that contains the name of the
table that was selected in the previous window. If you are creating a new table
than change this item to the name of the new table. If you are altering the
table or creating an index on the table than you should leave this item alone
(as long as it is not blank).
Authorization ID
The label Authorization
ID: precedes a data entry box that contains the name of the
creator of the table that was selected in the previous window. You may replace
this ID with yours or if you are authorized to use that ID than leave it alone.
If you are altering the table or creating an index on the table than you should
leave this item alone (as long as it is not blank).
Primary Key
The label Primary Key: precedes a data entry box that should be blank. If you are
altering a table than leave this input area blank. If you are creating a new
table and you want to define unique keys for it then enter the column names
that contain the keys. If you have more then one column name then separate the
names with a comma.
ExploreMVS will construct a Create Index SQL statement along with a Create Table SQL statement when you specify column names in this
data entry box. If you are creating an index on an existing table (window is
not being displayed to create a new table) then enter the names of the columns
by which the table will be indexed.
Database Name
The label Database
Name: precedes a data entry box that contains the name of the
data base that contains the table that was selected in the previous window. If
you are creating a new table and you want to place it in a different database
then enter the database name here. If you are altering a table or creating a
new index on a table leave this information as you found it (unless its blank).
Table Space Name
The label Table Space
Name: precedes a data entry box that contains the name of the
table space (TSNAME column) that
contains the table that was selected in the previous window. If you are
creating a new table and don't want the table to reside in the named table
space then change it. If you are altering the table or creating an index on the
table than you should leave this item alone (as long as it is not blank).
Create/Alter SQL Statement text area section
The Create/Alter SQL
Statement text area section appears below the
tool bar on the right hand side of the window. This area displays the current
SQL statement being constructed. This may be a Create Table or Alter Table SQL statement. The information in this
text area may be replaced by an Open or PCOpen
command or saved by a Saveas or PCSave
command. You may edit the information in this text area. The edit
commands from the edit menu and tool bar operate on the contents of this area.
If you are creating or altering a table then the column definitions will appear
in this area as you click on the Add
Column button. If you are creating a new table based on the table you
selected, ExploreMVS loads the column definitions for the table that you have
selected. The rest of the SQL statement will be added when you click on the Finish SQL button.
Enter column information for your new table section
The Enter column
information for your new table section appears at the bottom of the window. This
area contains data entry fields, a drop down list box, command buttons, and a
status line. This area is used to enter column information for a new
table or the column definitions that you are adding to an existing table
(Alter). The following describes the objects in this section:
Column Name
The label Column Name: appears above the data entry box that you use to enter the
new column name. Provide a name of your choice that is descriptive of the
information that will be placed into this column. The name may be in any case.
Data Type
The label Data Type: appears above the drop down list box that you use to
specify the data type of the information that will be placed into the new
column. Click on the down arrow and select the data type from the drop down
list. You may edit the data type if required.
Length/Precision
The label Length/Precision: appears above the data entry box where you enter length
information for character and bit data types and precision information for
decimal data types. If you are entering a length, make sure that you have all
numeric data. For decimal precision enter the maximum number of decimal digits
allowed followed by a comma and the number of digits following the decimal
point (e.g. 7,2).
Allow Null Values
The label Allow Null
Values: appears above a check box. The check box has a caption Not Null. Check this box if the column
you are defining cannot contain a null value. A key column for example would
not be allowed to contain null values.
Finish SQL button
The command button labeled Finish SQL adds additional information to the SQL statement being
constructed in the text area. If you are creating a new table, or altering a
table then click on this button when you have finished defining columns for the
table. The completed SQL statement will be shown in the text area. You may edit
the statement if there are any mistakes (you chose the wrong data type for a
column for example). After verifying the SQL statement click on the Action menu and the appropriate
action command (CreateTable or
Alter) to send the SQL statement to DB2 for execution. The
status of the execution of the SQL statement will be returned in the status
line below the button.
Add Column button
The command button labeled Add Column adds the column information you provided in the row of
objects above the button, to the SQL text area with the appropriate punctuation
symbols (column name, data type, length/precision and not null check box).
After, you click on this button, you may add another column definition.
Continue editing the column data and clicking on this add button until you have
finished entering all column definitions. Click on the Finish SQL button to complete the SQL
statement.
status line
The last object in this section is the status line. It will display the status information returned by DB2 about how the
previous action completed. It may also contain error messages from ExploreMVS
if processing errors are detected prior to executing an SQL statement.
DB2 Command Window
This window is
displayed by the SQLInput command executed from the DB2 User Interface window (View menu).
Its purpose is to provide a means of entering SQL statements, executing them
and save them to either a PC or OS/390 file. This window does not provide any
help in creating SQL statements. You are expected to be knowledgeable about
DB2, and know how to construct SQL statements. This window is comprised of a
menu bar, a tool bar, and a tab area that contains two tabs labeled Script and Results. The three sections
that define this window and their functions are:
Menu bar section
The Menu bar is at the top of the
window below the window title. It contains four menus File, Edit, Action, and Help. The following explains the menus and
the commands supported by these menus:
File menu
The File menu provides commands
that allow you to open files that contain previously saved SQL statements or
save SQL statements that you have created in the current session. The SQL
statements are stored in a drop down list box which resides at the top of the Script tab text area. When you
save SQL statements they are taken from this list box. When SQL statements are
saved, ExploreMVS replaces all end of line characters (newline) with the
exclamation point symbol "!". When SQL statements are loaded via the Open or PCOpen
commands, ExploreMVS replaces the "!" symbols with end of line
characters before storing each SQL statement as a new list entry. The file menu
commands are:
Open command
The Open command displays a
dialog that requests entry of a fully qualified MVS or Unix file name. The file
is opened and its contents are stored in the drop down list box which is
displayed above the text area under the Script
tab. The SQL statements are expected to be terminated by a
semicolon. All exclamation points ("!") are replaced by new line
characters ("\n") before an SQL statement is stored in the drop down
list box. The Open command assumes
that it is processing a file that was saved by this program using the Save or Saveas commands. These commands replace all end of line characters with
the exclamation point character prior to writing the SQL statements to the
output file.
PCOpen command
The PCOpen
command displays a dialog that allows you to search your PC's file system for
the file that you want to open. The file is opened and its contents are stored
in the drop down list box which is displayed above the text area under the Script tab. The SQL statements are expected to be terminated by a
semicolon. All exclamation points ("!") are replaced by new line
characters ("\n") before an SQL statement is stored in the drop down
list box. The PCOpen command assumes
that it is processing a file that was saved by this program using the PCSave command. This command replaces all end of line characters with the
exclamation point character prior to writing the SQL statements to the output
file.
PCSave command
The PCSave
command displays a dialog that
allows you to search for a file name in your PC's file system or enter the file
name into the dialog. The data to be saved is obtained from the drop down list
box, which stores SQL statements that you have executed or those obtained from
a file that you have opened previously. All new line characters
("\n") are replaced with exclamation points ("!") before an
SQL statement is written to the output file. The files contents will be
overwritten.
Save command
The Save command saves the contents
of the drop down list box (SQL statements that you have executed or loaded).
The output file is the one that you opened previously (with the Open command) or if you
have not Opened a file, ExploreMVS displays a dialog that requests entry of a
fully qualified MVS or Unix file name. The contents of the drop down list box
are written to the file that you specify. All new line characters
("\n") are replaced with exclamation points ("!") before an
SQL statement is written to the output file. The file’s contents will be
overwritten.
SaveAs command
The SaveAs
command displays a dialog that requests entry of a fully qualified MVS or Unix
file name. The contents of the drop down list box are written to the file that
you specify. All new line characters ("\n") are replaced with
exclamation points ("!") before an SQL statement is written to the
output file. The files contents will be overwritten.
Edit menu
The Edit menu
provides commands that allow you to edit the SQL statements currently displayed
in the text area under the Script
tab. See “Text Edit Menu” for an explanation of these commands.
Please note that the
edit menu does not operate on the text area under the Results tab. This text area is meant to be an output area for messages.
You however, can edit the Results tab text area by entering data, deleting text
with the delete key or back space key and use your key board key combinations
for copy and paste Ctrl+c and Ctrl+v
respectively.
Action menu
The Action menu provides commands
that operate on the SQL statements contained in the text area or the drop down
list box under the Script tab. The Exec and Clear
commands execute SQL statements in the text area or erase SQL statements from
the text area. The Load and Unload
commands load SQL statements from the text area into the drop down
list box or unload SQL statements from the drop down list box into the text
area. The full explanation of each command follows:
Exec command
The Exec command executes the SQL
statement(s) currently in the text area under the Script tab. The statements are then added to the drop down list box
above the text area. This process allows you to select the SQL for editing and
re-execution at a later time or to save the SQL statements to a file. If the
SQL statement being executed is a SELECT
statement then the table returned by DB2 will be displayed in
a new window.
Clear command
The Clear command
erases the current contents of the text area under the Script tab. You may Load
the contents of the text area into the drop down list box prior to clicking on
the Clear command otherwise all data
in the text area will be lost.
Load command
The Load command adds the SQL
statement(s), currently in the text area under the Script tab, into the drop down list box at the top of the text area.
This process allows you to select the SQL for editing and re-execution at a
later time or to save the SQL statements, contained in the drop down list box,
to a file.
Unload command
The Unload
command takes all the SQL
statement(s) entries currently in the drop down list box and places them into
the text area under the Script tab. The drop-down list box entries are deleted after they are
transferred to the text area. This allows you to edit the text area and delete
any entries that you may not want and use the Copy, Cut, PCCopy,
PCPaste, and Paste edit commands to
move the SQL statements about. After editing the statements you may Load the contents of the text area back
into the drop down list box. You may use the Save, Saveas, and PCSave commands to save the SQL statements, contained in the drop down list
box, to a file.
Help Menu
The Help Menu provides two
commands.
Contents command
The Contents command will display the
ExploreMVS help system displayed in a tree structure. Explore the tree
structure until you find the topic of interest and then click on it to display
the help for that topic.
WindowHelp command
The WindowHelp command displays this help
window.
Tool bar
The Tool bar appears below the
menu bar and contains buttons which contain Icons and command names for the
most often used editing commands. Clicking a tool bar button is the same as
selecting the same named command from a menu. The current system contains five
buttons that execute the Edit commands "Undo", "Redo",
"Cut", "Copy", and "Paste". These tool bar commands only operate on the text in
the text area of the Script tab.
The tool bar also contains buttons for executing the SQL
statements in the text area under the Script
tab or clearing that
area.
Tab area
The
Tab area appears below the
tool bar and contains two tabs labeled Script
and Results. Click on a tab label to active the object(s) under that tab.
The following describes the contents of these tabs.
Script tab
The Script tab contains two objects. They are a drop down
list box located at the top and a text area below it.
The drop down list box is used to store SQL statements that you have executed, SQL statements that you have obtained by opening a file, or SQL statements that have been loaded from the text area. You may click on the right hand portion of the drop down list box (down arrow) to expose the entries in the list. Click on an entry to have it replace the current contents of the text area. You may then edit the statement and execute it or load it back into the list box.
The text area
is where you enter SQL commands that you want to execute. The edit commands
work on the text contained in this area.
Results tab
The Results tab contains a text area that displays messages
returned by DB2 concerning the execution of SQL statements.
This area may also contain messages from ExploreMVS concerning processing
errors and trace information. You may clear the current set of messages from
this text area by right clicking into this area and clicking on the Clear command that is displayed as a
pop-up menu. The clear button on the tool bar and the clear command in the Action menu do not operate on the Results text area.
A
third tab may be added to this window by ExploreMVS if it detects an error in a
SELECT statement that you are trying
to execute via the Exec command. This tab will contain the results of the query (a table)
that would normally appear in a new window. The table displayed in the Result Table cannot be manipulated.
DB2 Query Window
This window is
displayed by the Query command executed from the DB2 User Interface window (Actions
menu). Its purpose is to help you define a query against the selected table(s).
The six sections that define this window and their functions are:
Menu bar
The Menu bar is at the top of the window below the window
title. It contains three menus File,
Edit, and Help. The following explains the menus and the commands supported
by these menus:
File menu
The File menu provides commands that allow you to open
files that may be loaded into the SQL statement edit and display area. These
files should contain previously saved Select
SQL statements. The menu also provides commands to save the SQL statements
currently displayed in the SQL display area. The commands are:
Open command
The Open command displays a dialog that requests entry
of a fully qualified MVS or Unix file name. The file is opened and its contents
displayed in the SQL statement edit and display area of the window.
PCOpen command
The PCOpen
command displays a dialog that allows you to search your PC's file system for
the file that you want to open. The file is opened and its contents displayed
in the SQL statement edit and display area of the window.
PCSave command
The PCSave
command displays a dialog that allows you to search
for a file name in your PC's file system or enter the file name which is used
to store the contents of the SQL statement edit and display area of the window.
The files contents will be overwritten.
SaveAs command
The SaveAs
command displays a dialog that requests entry of a fully qualified MVS or Unix
file name. The contents of the SQL statement edit and display area of the
window is written to the file that you specify.
Edit menu
The Edit menu
provides commands that allow you to edit the SQL statements currently displayed
in the SQL display area. See “Text Edit Menu” for an explanation
of these commands.
Help Menu
The Help Menu provides two
commands.
Contents command
The Contents command will display the ExploreMVS help system
displayed in a tree structure. Explore the tree structure until you find the
topic of interest and then click on it to display the help for that topic.
WindowHelp command
The WindowHelp command displays this help window.
Tool bar
The Tool bar appears below the menu bar and contains
buttons which contain Icons and command names for the most often used editing
commands. Clicking a tool bar button is the same as selecting the same named
command from a menu. The current system contains five buttons that execute the
Text Edit commands "Undo", "Redo", "Cut", "Copy", and
"Paste".
Query SQL verbs section
The Query SQL verbs
section appears below the tool bar on the left hand
side of the window. This area contains buttons with labels specifying key verbs
that may be used in constructing a Select
SQL statement. They are ordered in the sequence that they would normally appear
in a Select statement. The normal
procedure is to click on the Select button followed by the Distinct (optional) button, then
manually insert an asterisk after it or select column names from the Column names list box, followed by the From buttons. This process will add the
following information into the text area SELECT
DISTINCT * FROM ID.TABLENAME WHERE. You would then add the constraints for
the "WHERE" clause by making selections from the list boxes at the
bottom of the window. The list boxes contain table names, column names for the
current table, the most often used conditional symbols (constraints), and a
sample of DB2 built in functions that may be used in
constructing a query. The Group By,
Having, and Order By buttons may be clicked to add these verbs to the Select statement. Manually edit the
select statement until it is complete and then click on the Exec Query button to send the query to
DB2 for execution. If the query runs without errors then a new window will be
displayed with the results of the query. If there are errors the status
information will be displayed at the bottom of this window. Click on the Cancel button to close this window.
The objects in this
window are designed to make construction of a Select statement as easy as possible but you still have to know
what you are doing, especially for more complex queries. This window is
designed to make simple queries simple to do with minimal typing activity on
your part. The following description of these verbs is not meant to be
exhaustive and in fact may be an over simplification.
Select verb
The Select verb identifies the SQL
statement as a query statement. It must be the first item in the SQL statement.
You must specify column names or built in functions following this verb to
identify what is to be selected or displayed. An asterisk may be used to
specify output of all columns.
DISTINCT verb
The DISTINCT verb specifies
elimination of duplicate data. This verb may be used after the Select verb to indicate listing
of data from the specified columns should only include unique values. The
distinct verb may also appear in built in functions such as "Count
(DISTINCT colname)".
From verb
The From verb identifies the table
on which the query is to be performed. ExploreMVS will insert into the text
area the From verb followed by the
ID of the table creator (Authorization ID) followed by a period and then the table name. This is the
preferred way to reference a table.
Where verb
The Where verb introduces the
constraints clause. This clause provides for qualified retrieval of information
from a table. The typical clause consists of a column name, a condition for
acceptance (constraint) followed by a value. For example WHERE colname = 'ABC'. ExploreMVS just inserts the value WHERE into the text area at the current
cursor location. You must construct the clause by using column names from the Column names list box, a condition from the Constraints
list box and a value that you
supply. Manual editing is required to complete the where clause. The where
clause is used to eliminate rows of data from the query. Any row that does not
meet the constraints imposed by this clause will be eliminated from the query.
Group By verb
The Group By verb conceptually
rearranges the table represented by the FROM clause into partitions or groups,
such that within any one group all rows have the same value for the group by
field. Select a column name from the Column
names list box to complete the
group by clause. A simple query using this clause may appear as follows: SELECT col1, SUM(col2) FROM id.tablename
GROUP BY col3;.
Having verb
The Having verb is to groups as WHERE is to rows. If HAVING is specified, GROUP BY should also be specified. In
other words, HAVING is used to
eliminate groups just as WHERE is
used to eliminate rows. Expressions in a HAVING
clause must be single-valued per group. A simple query using this clause may
appear as follows: SELECT col1 FROM
id.tablename GROUP BY col1 HAVING COUNT(*) 1;. You may use the information
in the list boxes to help you construct this clause but manual editing will
also be required.
Order By verb
The Order By verb allows display of
output based on an ascending or descending sort of one or more columns
contents. Select one or more column name from the Column names list box after you click on
this button. If the sort order is to be ascending then nothing more needs to be
included. You may optionally enter the value ASC following the column name to show an ascending sort is
required. If the sort order is to be descending then you must manually enter DESC following the column name. A
simple query using this clause may appear as follows: SELECT col1, col2 FROM id.tablename WHERE col3 = 'ABC' ORDER BY col2
DESC;.
Text Area section
The Text Area section is below the tool
bar on the right hand side of the window. This is where the Select SQL statement is constructed.
There is a drop down list box at the top of this area. Each time that you
execute a query, ExploreMVS will save the query (Select statement) in this list
box. Later, you may click on the down arrow to display the list of queries and
select one that you want to execute again. The selected query will replace the
contents of the text area. The Edit
menu commands and the tool bar work on data in the text area. Similarly, the File menu commands either
store information into this area (Open, and PCOpen or take data from this area and write it to a file Saveas and PCSave. The Query SQL verbs section and the text area
section are divided by a bar that can be dragged left or right to provide more
viewable space for either object. Move the mouse cursor over this bar until a
dual arrow cursor appears and press the left mouse button down and drag in the
direction that you want to diminish.
List Box section
The List Box section is below the Query SQL verbs and text area sections.
There are four lists in this section that contain information that can be used
in constructing a query. This information will save you time and typing mistakes.
Just click on an item in a list and it will be added to the end of the text
area (at the current insert point - cursor position). The only exception to
this rule is the Table names list
box. Clicking an entry in this list does not cause the table
name to be entered into the text area. Selecting a table name makes it the
current active table and causes ExploreMVS to fill the Column names list box with that tables
column names. The four list boxes are:
Table names list box
The Table names list box contains the names
of all tables that were displayed in the table display in the DB2 user interface window. The current table name is displayed in the window
title at the top of the window. This is the table name that you selected for
this query. If you select a table name from this list then ExploreMVS will make
that table the current table and load the column names of this table into the Column names list box. You will note that the window title will show this table
as the current table. Selecting a table name does not enter the name into the
text area.
Column names list box
The Column names list box contains the names
of all columns contained in the current table. The column names are for the
table displayed in the window title at the top of the window. These names are
replaced each time you select a new table name from the Table names list box. Clicking on a column name will cause that name to appear
in the text area at the current cursor location. Typically you will click on a
verb then click on a column name in this list. For example click on the Where button then click on a column
name in this list then click on an item in the Constraints list box then enter a value
or click on another column name to construct the where clause.
Constraints list box
The Constraints list box contains comparison
operators (condition or predicate) that may be used in the where and having
clauses. Typically you will enter a value on one side of the constraint and a
column name on the other.
Functions list box
The Functions list box contains built in
functions supported by DB2. These functions are used in the Select clause and operate on
the column of values in one column of some table and produce a single value.
Normally you will click on the Select
button then click on a built in function and then a column name. Add a set of
parenthesis around the column name manually to finish the entry. You may have
to delete a comma that ExploreMVS inserts after column names. The following
built in functions are provided in this table.
The COUNT function provides the number of
values in the column. You may specify "Count (DISTINCT colname)" to
show the Count of non-duplicate values in the column named colname. You may
enter "COUNT(*)" to count all rows in a table without any duplicate
elimination.
The SUM function provides the sum of the
values in the column. The column must contain numeric values. You may specify
"Sum (DISTINCT colname)" to show the Sum of non-duplicate values in
the column named colname.
The AVG function provides the Average of
the values in the column. The column must contain numeric values. You may
specify "AVG (DISTINCT colname)" to show the Average of non-duplicate
values in the column named colname.
The MAX function provides the largest value
in the column. You should not use "DISTINCT" with the MAX function.
The MIN function provides the smallest
value in the column. You should not use "DISTINCT" with the MAX
function.
Status information
The last object in
this section is the status information text area. It will display the status
information returned by DB2 about how the
previous action completed. It may also contain error messages from ExploreMVS
if processing errors are detected prior to executing an SQL statement.
Index