The Vancouver Utilities - Introduction, Summary, Uses,& Benefits

A1.	Overview of major applications for Vancouver Utilities
	- converting mainframe JCL,COBOL,& DATA to unix,linux,& windows.

B1.	History of the Vancouver Utility package.

C1.	Summary description of the Vancouver Utilities
	(uvcopy,uvqrpg,uvsort,uvcp,uvhd,uvhdcob,uvlist,jclunix,etc).

D1.	Converting MVS JCL to Korn shell scripts for unix, linux,or windows(SFU)
D2.	Converting mainframe EBCDIC data files to ASCII, preserving packed fields.

E1.	Pre-programmed jobs for the uvcopy interpreter.

F1.	Investigating the Vancouver Utilities - Where to Start ???

G1.	Customer Reference List.

H1.	Customer Letters & Comments.

I1.	Useful scripts you can download from the UV Software website
	- regardless of whether you have purchased the Vancouver Utilities

                      Owen Townsend,
                      UV Software Inc.,
                      4667 Hoskins Rd.,
                      North Vancouver,
                      BC, Canada, V7K2R3,
                      Tel: 604-980-5434, Fax: 604-980-5404
                      Eml: 'owen@uvsoftware.ca'
                      Web: https://www.uvsoftware.ca

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A1. Major Applications of Vancouver Utilities

The Vancouver Utilities are most often purchased to convert mainframe JCL,COBOL,DATA to Unix,Linux,Windows, or for uvsort to replace mainframe DFSORT/SYNCSORT functionality on Unix/Linux/Windows.

JCL Conversions

The Vancouver Utilities convert both MVS & VSE JCL to Korn shell scripts for Unix, Linux, or Windows running the 'bash' shell (on Windows 10).

These conversions can provide the complete solution for 'batch' systems of JCL, COBOL,& Data. Solutions for 'online' (CICS & IMS) are available from other vendors. IBM AIX unix systems provide 'TX Series software which includes AIX COBOL & CICS. Micro Focus provides "Server Enterprise Edition", which includes CICS emulation. It also includes "JCL emulation" which is very limiting because you cannot run unix scripts & open source software (without writing a COBOL program to call them).

See MVS JCL conversion at: https://www.uvsoftware.ca/jclcnv1demo.htm.

DATA Conversions

The Vancouver Utilities provide the tools to convert mainframe data files for unix, linux, or windows. EBCDIC data files are converted to ASCII, preserving any packed/binary fields & correcting any signs in unpacked fields. Conversion jobs are automatically generated from the COBOL copybook record description of the data files.

The output record layout can be the same, which requires no change to the COBOL programs. Alternatively, the output data may be all ASCII text delimited files suitable for loading Relational Databases. Any packed fields are unpacked and edited with signs & decimal points.

See Data Conversion at: https://www.uvsoftware.ca/datacnv1.htm.

COBOL Conversions

There is not much conversion required for COBOL, especially if Micro Focus COBOL is chosen for the Unix, Linux, or Windows systems. But the Vancouver Utilities COBOL converter will minimize any manual changes required. A search/replace table may be edited to solve any 'reserved word' conflicts.

The COBOL converter also translates the language to lower case (except for literals in quotes). This provides a more modern appearance & makes the programs much easier to maintain with editors such as 'vi'.

See COBOL Conversion at: https://www.uvsoftware.ca/mvscobol.htm.

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A2. Major Applications of Vancouver Utilities (continued)

Mainframe Utility replacements

Various Vancouver Utilities (uvcopy,uvsort,uvcp,uvlist,uvqrpg) are available independently of the JCL conversions to perform the usual ongoing data file maintenance & reporting functions.

These utilities can replace various mainframe utilities such as IEBGENER, IDCAMS, DITTO, FILEAID, EASYTRIEVE, etc. The Vancouver Utilities understand mainframe concepts such as packed decimal fields & Indexed (VSAM) files. None of the standard unix/linux utilities understand these concepts.

Also note that the JCL converter automatically converts mainframe utilities to Vancouver Utilities. Mainframe 'SORT' is replaced with 'uvsort', IDCAMS and IEBGENER are replaced with 'uvcp', etc.

Free sample Vancouver Utility 'uvhd'

There is 1 free utility (uvhd) that may be downloaded from the website at https://www.uvsoftware.ca/libuvhd.htm.

'uvhd' is an interactive file investigation utility which displays data in vertical hexadecimal. This is especially useful for mainframe type data files which may contain packed fields & which usually lack the LineFeeds required by most unix/linux/windows utilities. uvhd provides many functions (browse,search,select,drop,update,scan/replace,translate,sequence#,etc).

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A3. Major Applications of Vancouver Utilities (continued)

Vancouver Utilities Conversion Summary

The Vancouver Utilities from UV Software are the most powerful set of utilities in existence for converting mainframe applications to unix/linux and for ongoing file maintenance.

The Vancouver Utilities are especially valuable for mainframe conversion because they supply mainframe capabilities that are missing in unix system software. For example:

Vancouver Utilities can process packed decimal fields (not posible with any unix system utility).
VU can process mainframe type files (fixed length records without linefeeds, Indexed files, RDW variable length files, etc).
'uvsort' replaces the 'unix system sort' which cannot sort files without linefeeds & cannot sort on packed decimal key fields.
'uvsort' can handle hundreds of record OMIT's, INCLUDE's,& FIELD reformats The JCL converter automatically converts DFSORT/SYNCSORT steps to uvsort.
Vancouver Utilities can address record fields by column displacements, as is common with mainframe utilities. Most unix utilities cannot or require field delimiters.
VU provides GDG (Generation Data Group) files on unix systems. Unix system software does not include GDG files. New generations are not comitted until the JCL/script reaches Normal termination (vs AIX gdgmgr which comits immediately).

Vancouver Utilities Track Record

The Vancouver Utilities have succeeded in very complex conversions where other vendors have failed. For example, one customer had tried to convert with two other vendors before UV Software was successful. The second vendor had to pay $1 million to get out of the contract.

See the UV Software customer list starting on page 'G1' and reference letters starting on page 'H1'.

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B1. History of the Vancouver Utilities

The Vancouver Utilities were originally developed for the Unisys System 80 mainframe computers during the many years that I (Owen Townsend) worked for Unisys. In 1993, after many years with Unisys and 2 years with Allinson-Ross, I incorporated UV Software Inc. to develop and market software for UNIX systems with the initial emphasis on assisting mainframe customers to convert to UNIX.

The Vancouver Utilities were rewritten in the 'C' language and the first customer installation was in May 1993. By January 1999, the package had been installed at about 40 sites. The package is being continually enhanced (often due to customer feedback and suggestions) and annual updates are available.

The Vancouver utilities have been extensively used to assist mainframe users to convert to Unix. In addition to the conversion utilities, I also provide onsite training & conversion assistance. If you are a mainframe customer, I would be pleased to discuss your conversion plans with you over the phone.

This package is designed for general purpose use by any UNIX user, not just for conversion, and the conversion tools are not limited to any specific mainframe. Any mainframe customer can use the COBOL conversion, the file transfer, the scan & replace, the ISAM file maintenance, and many other items such as the mainframe console logging replacement utilities.

Many documents are dedicated to the conversion utilities, but many others document general purpose utilities & pre-programmed jobs that can be useful to any Unix user. The emphasis is on providing functions & capabilities that were built in to mainframe proprietary systems & that are lacking in Unix systems. For example, these utilities can process indexed files compatible with C-ISAM & Micro Focus COBOL. Without these utilities you would have to write a COBOL program to perform file maintenance on indexed files.

The package is continually updated to address current issues. Several Year 2000 tools were developed and used with great success in 1998 & 1999. In the new millennium there is strong demand for tools that can convert mainframe files to ASCII delimited files suitable for SQL Server and the internet.

For loading data-bases, we must convert any packed fields to zoned numeric and separate any redefined areas. We will also generate the control file for loading a Microsoft SQL database, or an Oracle database.

These conversions are driven by the COBOL 'copybooks' (record layouts). The heart of this process is 'genpipe1', a master uvcopy job which reads the COBOL copybooks,& generates worker uvcopy jobs to convert the data files.

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C1. Vancouver Utilities Features - Multi-Purpose Utilities

The Vancouver Utilities is a general purpose package of powerful data manipulation tools from UV Software Inc. The package has been widely used to convert mainframe COBOL shops to Unix/Linux systems, but is equally as important for ongoing file maintenance.

This package fills the 'gaps' in Unix/Linux system software that were supplied by proprietary data management on mainframe systems. For example these utilities will process Micro Focus compatible indexed files. Without these utilities, you would have to write COBOL programs to perform even the simplest file maintenance on indexed files.

A utility package such as this is essential to the successful operation and maintenance of mainframe systems converted to UNIX. Mainframe systems depended heavily on utilities such as DATA & SORT which are column orientated & packed decimal capable. Unix/Linux systems have no such utilities & this package fills that void.

uvsort

parameter driven sort for UNIX with mainframe functionality.
especially valuable to mainframe sites converting to Unix.
because the Unix system sort can not be used on mainframe file
types (fixed record lengths without linefeeds). Uvsort can also
process indexed files & can sort on packed decimal keys.

uvhd

interactive file investigation utility for files with packed
fields, or without the linefeeds required by UNIX utilities.
uvhd displays files in vertical hexadecimal (chars, zones,& digits).
uvhd is the favorite utility of most customers. You can browse,
search, update, print, select, or delete records interactively.

uvhdcob

similar to uvhd, and also displays COBOL fieldnames beside the data.
browse,search,update,print,drop,check sequence (same as uvhd).
a real hit with COBOL programmers.

uvlist

file print utility with many options for laser printers.
especially valuable for mainframe conversions to UNIX.
you can print 132 column reports on 8.5 by 11 (portrait/Landscape).
options to begin & end on specified page#s are particularly useful.

uvcp	mini-version of uvcopy which can accept all parameters on the command line. uvcp is the mainframe replacement for DATA utilities in scripts converted from mainframe JCL.

uvcopy

the flagship program in the package. This is a powerful interpretive
utility & over 500 pre-programmed jobs are supplied.
uvcopy is the ultimate in power and flexibility. You can do whatever
kind of data transformations are required, no matter how complex.
uvcopy is especially valuable on UNIX systems with mainframe type
files (indexed &/or sequential fixed records, without linefeeds).

uvqrpg

Makes it easy to create control level reports, reports with up to
8 total levels depending on specified control fields, such as
customer#, salesman#, division, etc.
Similar to uvcopy, but includes functions for report writing.
Built-in sort, to sort input prior to control level report phase.

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D1. Vancouver Utilities Features - Mainframe Conversions

JCLcnv1demo - Converting JCL to Korn shell scripts

JCLcnv1demo.htm is the detailed step by step instructions for converting an EBCDIC mainframe (IBM or Unisys) to UNIX, using the Vancouver Utilities.

Part 0 Overview of the Conversion & Testing plans & procedures.

 Part 1 Install Vancouver Utilities - brief review
        - setting up profiles for appsadm, programmers,& operators
        - setup 'appsadm' (applications administrator) homedir /home/appsadm
          to hold profiles modified for site, site specific scripts,crontabs,etc
        - Directory & File-Design for JCL conversions
        - RUNLIBS & RUNDATA environmental variables allow multiple sets of
          Libraries & Data, with no changes in JCL/scripts

 Part 2 Sample JCL/scripts listings for test/demos
        - 12 mainframe JCLs + converted Korn shell script equivalents
        - Demos conversions of various utilities (SORT,IDCAMS,IEBGENER,etc)
          and GDG file conversions.

 Part 3 Operating Instructions to convert the VU supplied demo JCL & COBOL
        - Directories for JCL conversions & testing
        - script 'mvslibsdirs' sets up subdirs within testlibs
        - script 'mvsdatadirs' sets up subdirs within testdata
        - script 'copymvsctls' copies control files from uvadm
        - script 'cnvMF51A'  performs all steps of COBOL program  conversion
        - script 'jcl2ksh51A' performs all steps of JCL/PROCs/Parms conversion

 Part 4 Execute converted JCL/scripts
        - review testlibs & testdata sub-directories
        - Data-Files provided for Test/Demos
        - ar.customer.master & ar.sales.items
        - gl.account.master_000001 & gl.account.trans_000001
        - Job-Logging & Console-Logging
        - Execute all demo JCL/scripts & show joblogs

Part 5 Test/Debug Tips & Techniques

 Part 6 3rd party software conversions
        - QuikJob, Easytrieve, Teradata

 Part 7 Cross-References available
        - COBOL copybooks & called programs
        - JCL/script files, programs,& parms

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D2. Vancouver Utilities Features - Mainframe Conversions

DATAcnv1 - Data Conversion

'DATAcnv1.doc' is intended to help you convert EBCDIC data files whether or not the COBOL copybook is available. Other conversion documents in the Vancouver Utilities presume the COBOL copybooks are available.
When the COBOL copybook is not available, we have procedures to scan the EBCDIC data to determine the record layout. 'signscanA' can determine the locations of packed fields & zoned signs which would be destroyed if you translate the entire record to ASCII.
When the COBOL copybook is available, you can use it with this document, by skipping the signscanA & sign2cpyA procedures. All the data conversion procedures are driven by the copybook whether supplied or created by scanning the data.
Part 3 documents converting 1 file at a time. Part 6 documents converting entire mainframe sites with hundreds of data files.
The procedures in Part 3 are simpler & easier to execute than those in the following parts. You may well need Parts 4,5,& 6 for more complex situations (multiple record types, variable length records, etc).

JCLcnv2real - advanced DATA conversion

See JCLcnv2real.htm for more comprehensive data conversion instructions.

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E1. Vancouver Utilities Features - Pre-Programmed Jobs

The Vancouver utility package includes over 500 pre-programmed jobs for the uvcopy interpreter. This interpretive code is easily modified & customized in case the original job does not meet your precise needs. Many jobs would be useful to any UNIX site, for example:

DATAcnv1

convert mainframe data files to ASCII delimited files to load
databases (SQL Server or Oracle) for access from the Internet.
Translates EBCDIC to ASCII, unpacks packed decimal, corrects
signs of zoned decimal, etc.

SQLdemo

procedures to download & install MySQL & Oracle
jobs to generate batch-file to create tables from copybooks
jobs to generate table loader control-files from copybooks

COBMAP

generate COBOL record layouts from copy-books or source
programs showing field type, length, start,& end bytes.
These reports are so useful, that most sites laser print them
(entire copy library), and mount them in 3 ring binders.

REFORMjobs

reformat data files automatically, based on old & new versions
of the copy-book. Whenever you need to change record layouts
(expand fields, rearrange fields, change field types), simply
make up a new copybook, & 'reform1' will generate interpretive
code. If required, this code can be easily modified before
execution. For example, you may need to add record type testing
for redefined records, since this info is not in the copy-books.
This utility is far more flexible than black box utilities that
attempt to do the job internally with no fine-tuning possible.

XREFjobs

general purpose Cross-Reference (anything by anything).
any 2 target-words identified by preceding key-words.
Run your own cross-reference for whatever kind of parameter
files you have (database procedures, etc).

COBfiles

create a report of files used in each COBOL program and for
all programs in the source directory. The report shows:
internal & external names, org, access, open mode,& copybooks.
especially useful for conversion planning.

SCANREPjobs

general purpose SEARCH/REPLACE jobs, for mass changes in one
file or all files in a directory.
more useful than 'grep' because you can specify 2 qualifiers
(present or not-present) in addition to primary search pattern.
driven by command line prompts for 1 search/replace/qualifier.
table driven for unlimited number of search/replace/qualifiers.

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F1. Investigating Vancouver Utilities - WHERE TO START ???

The Vancouver Utility package consists of:

Fifteen utility programs written in ANSI C language.
Over 600 pre-programmed jobs written in the uvcopy interpretive language (uvcopy is a powerful data manipulation utility with access to ISAM files).
Over 500 scripts written for the Korn shell. Most of these will run on the Bourne shell, but the Korn shell is strongly recommended because of the command history & many superior script processing features.
Three volumes of documentation. In addition to documenting the above, these volumes contain a lot of information useful for anybody new to Unix, especially for mainframers converting to Unix, Linux,or Windows.

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F2. Exploring Vancouver Utilities - Where to Start ?????

Assuming you have installed & compiled the Vancouver Utility programs as documented in the installation guide install.htm.

uvhd	the 1 free utility you can download from the website see https://uvsoftware.ca/freestuff.htm an interactive utility for investigating binary files the favorite utility of most customers

TestDemo

brief examples of the most useful utilities
run these demos & compare your outputs to expected results
see documentation at testdemo.htm

uvtrain

tutorials on uvhd, uvlist, uvsort, uvcp,& uvcopy
test/demo files provided
see documentation at uvtrain.htm

Try some utilities & pre-programmed jobs on your own files. Here are three suggestions to get you started.

uvsort

try uvsort on 1 of your data files. uvsort has several
features not found in mainframe sorts (see uvsort.htm).
can load Indexed files on output
options to drop duplicate records or retain only duplicates

uvcopy cobmap1

generate record layouts from your COBOL copy-books.
adds field start/end/length/type on right hand side

uvcopy table2

table summary analysis. You only need to enter 'uvcopy table2'
you will be prompted for your filename, record size,
start byte,& length of table argument.
Optionally enter start byte & length of amount/quantity
to accumulate (Record counts are accumulated automatically).
Example: table record counts by birthdate,state,salesman,etc.

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G1. Customer Reference List

As of April 2021, I have had over 70 customers in Canada, the United States, Chile, England, France, Switzerland, Germany, Spain, Latvia, India, China, and Hong Kong.

The following sites are listed in sequence from the most recent. I have performed from 2 to 6 weeks of on-site training & conversion assistance at many of these sites. On-site visits are usually followed up with email and telephone support from my home office.

If you wish to contact references, please email me with your request and I will ask the customer for a current name & telephone number for you to call.

 001. Fujitsu Finland, 2018-2019, 4 weeks onsite in Helsinki to train system
      integrator & enduser team (Belgian mainframe). Java conversion provided
      by Xact (Denmark).

 002. Temenos, spring 2017, 4 weeks on-site in Shanghai, China
      - world leader in banking software solutions, HQ Switzerland
      - converting JCL to Korn shell scripts calling JAVA programs

 003. Compfort, Warsaw Poland, spring 2016
      - partner for future mainframe conversion projects

 004. Worldpay, Atlanta Georgia, 2015
      - conversion from Windows MF COBOL to AIX COBOL
      - managed by Cothern Computer Systems (UV Software partner)

 005. AGS/MOPS, Waldorf Germany, November 2015
      Mainframe conversion managed by Hewlett-Packard Enterprises

 006. Accenture, London UK & Pune India, December 2015
      - mainframe conversion

 007. Immigration Dept. of Hong Kong, 2014
      Mainframe conversion project managed by IBM Hong Kong

 008. Windstream Communications, Salt Lake City, USA, 2014
      - primary interest 'uvsort'

 009. Colonial Savings, Fort Worth, Texas, USA, 2014
      - primary interest 'uvsort'

 010. ACI Worldwide Corp, Elkhorn, Nebraska, USA, 2013
      - converting mainframe JCL to Korn shell scripts

 011. R.R. Donnelly, Toronto, Canada, 2013
      - primary interest 'uvsort'

 012. Diyotta Inc. Charlotte NC, 2013
      - data conversion EBCDIC to ASCII guided by COBOL copybooks

 013. Berks EIT, Wyomissing PA, repeat visit Feb 2014, updates & training,
      originally converted 1999, recurring visits 2006, 2011, 2012, 2013

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G2. Customer Reference List (continued)

 014. Karum Group, January 2013
      - primary interest 'uvsort'

 015. Datamail, New Zealand, August 2012,
      - primary interest 'uvsort'

 016. Sears IT & management Services, Pune India, January 2012,
      continued support into 2013

 017. Cowthern Computer Systems, March 2012,
      (a UV Software partner reselling Vancouver Utilities)

018. Diebold, Cothern Computer's 1st conversion using Vancouver Utilities

 019. Berks EIT, Wyomissing PA, Sept 2011, assist upgrade to new hardware
      and migration from unixware to Red Hat linux
      originally converted 1999, recurring visits 2006, 2011, 2012

020. Almega Consulting, Cape Town South Africa, Feb 2011

021. Old Mutual, Cape Town South Africa, Oct 2010

022. Macrosoft, Parsippany NJ USA, Sept 2010

023. Exigen Services (Riga, Latvia), March 2010

024. Everis Chile, Santiago Chile, Feb 2010

025. CenterPoint Energy, Shreveport LA, May 2009

026. Essentis Euronet, Watford England, Sept 2008

027. eFunds Corp., Phoenix AZ, September 2007

028. Sapiens Technologies, Israel, Dec 2007

029. City of Laval, Montreal Canada, Dec 2006

030. Kanbay Software, Hyderabad India, Nov 2006

031. Berks EIT, Wyomissing PA, Sept 2006

032. Medavie BlueCross, Dartmouth Nova Scotia, Aug 2006

033. R.R. Donnelly, Thurmont MD, June 2006

034. EDS, Dayton Ohio, May 2006

035. Laborers National Pension Fund, Dallas TX, Dec 2005

036. Credit Union Central of BC, Vancouver BC, Sept 2005

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G3. Customer Reference List (continued)

037. Consultas SA, Lausanne Switzerland, July 2005

038. DST Systems, Kansas City MO, May 2005

039. Real Consulting, Rocklin CA, March 2005

040. Lucent Technologies, Whippany NJ, Dec 2004

041. Deutsche Bank, Baltimore MO, Aug 2004

042. UBS London UK, June 2004

043. Caisse Central Desjardins, St. Lambert PQ, May 2004

044. McKesson Corp, Carrollton TX, June 2003

045. MCI Wireless, Garden City NY, 2003

046. Titan Software Systems, Colorado Springs CO, 2003

047. Gannett Offset, Springfield VA, 2002

048. Hadley Auto Transport, Santa Ana CA, 2002

049. Muskegon Community College, Muskegon MI, 2001

050. Wood County, Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin, 2001

051. Cast North America, Montreal PQ & Cast Europe, Zebrugge Belgium, 2000

052. Grain Dealers Mutual Insurance, Indianapolis IN, 2000

053. County of Henrico, Richmond VA, 2000

054. Peacock Inc, Montreal PQ, 1999

055. Complus Data Innovations, Hawthorne NY, 1999

056. City of Temple, Temple Texas, 1998

057. Hillerich & Bradsby, Louisville KY, 1998

058. Knouse Foods, Peach Glen PA, 1998

059. Henkels & McCoy, Blue Bell PA, 1997

060. Maritime Medical, Dartmouth Nova Scotia, 1997

061. Metro Separate School Board, Toronto ON, 1997

062. Trenton Works, Trenton Nova Scotia, 1997

063. Pennsylvania Lumbermen's Mutual Insurance, Philadelphia PA, 1996

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G4. Customer Reference List (continued)

064. Waukesha Pearce, Houston Texas, 1996

065. Transcontinental Printing, Owen Sound Ontario, 1995

066. Credit Data Southwest, Phoenix AZ, 1995

067. Ayuntamiento de Zaragoza, Spain, 1995

068. Wright Tool, Barberton Ohio, 1994

069. Labourer's National Pension Fund, 1994

070. Berks EIT, Wyomissing PA, 1994

071. Elwyn Inc., Elwyn PA, 1993

072. Symark International, Westlake Village CA, July 2003

Note	reminder to me (Owen Townsend) how to resquence customer list above without manual editing edit doc/uvintro.doc, adding new customers with seq# 000. run uvcopy job 'docseq3' copies this file resequencing lines with 3 digits cols 1-3 + '.' col 4.


 #1. uvcopy docseq3,fili1=doc/uvintro.doc,filo1=tmp/uvintro.doc
     ==========================================================
     - run docseq3 to copy to tmp/... while resequencing


 #2. cp tmp/uvintro.doc doc   <-- copy back to doc dir
     ======================

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H1. Customer Comments about the Vancouver Utilities

Reference from Fanie Prins, Almega Consulting

I Project Managed a project to convert a major workload from the Mainframe to a UNIX server. During my analysis and investigation into the requirements, I soon realized that two of the major components we had to address were the replacement of Syncsort and the conversion of JCL's to Script. The workload we had to convert retained the same file structures and execution rules, so we did not have to do any file or code conversions.

UV Software had all the solutions that we required to complete the workload conversion. After acquiring the license to use the UV software, Owen Townsend did the initial conversions and then came to South Africa to assist with the JCL conversions. During the two visits the following was done:

Because of the way Old Mutual structured their JCL into multiple steps, Owen amended his conversion utility to emulate the steps in the Scripts.
Re-converted all the JCL's
Amended the utility to cater for mainframe GDG's
Changed and tested UV sort to utilize all the functionality of Syncsort
Trained key staff members in the use of the UV utilities

All the assistance and advice from UV software has always been of an exceptional standard and Owen's knowledge and assistance has always been beyond expectations.

The project produced a working model of the workloads and all the performance and functional tests were concluded with very satisfactory results.

As a result of additional asynchronous data transfer development and testing requirements that were changed during the project, the project was shelved due to extended internal costs and testing schedules.

Fanie Prins Almega Consulting Cape Town, South Africa

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H2. Customer Comments about the Vancouver Utilities

Reference letter from Exigen Services

In 2009, Exigen Services (Riga, Latvia) was selected as systems integrator to migrate a mainframe system to Linux. The application involved 300,000 lines of COBOL code, 150 JCLs, and about 100 different file types.

We decided to use Vancouver Utilities for:

JCL migration to Korn shell scripts

COBOL migration to Micro Focus

Data file conversion EBCDIC to ASCII, preserving packed fields
and converting unpacked sign conventions.

We did the conversion without Owen's on site support. Off site support from Owen was always quick and effective. Our learning process thus was a little bit longer, but we managed it as planned.

The first problem we discovered was that the then current version of Vancouver Utilities was not able to work with specific EBCDIC to ASCII conversion tables (in our case the German tables were necessary). In a short time, in spite of being busy with another conversion project, Owen delivered an enhanced version and this problem was eliminated.

The remaining migrations progressed smoothly and robustly. Vancouver Utilities worked as described and did what was promised. The initial JCL migration was a pilot project and the client's requirements and desired new software components were not completely clear at the beginning of the project. We migrated the JCLs several times, until all parties were completely satisfied. Re-conversions were very fast after Owen adjusted options and/or customized the converter for our unique requirements.

Now that the migration project is complete, the maintenance team is still using the uvhd utility to view exotic file types, such as variable record length files. uvhd allowed us to identify corrupted data fields, after unsuccessful analysis with another file utility.

Performance was one of our big concerns before the project began. The resulting performance on the target environment is at least as good as on the original environment. One small note in reaching this, we re-engineered one INSPECT statement in COBOL code, which degraded the performance about 10 times. The biggest problems in this project were caused by dirty data in both numeric and character fields.

It was a pleasure to work on this project with Owen as a very responsible and responsive off site assistant.

Valdis Prodnieks, Exigen Services, Riga Latvia.

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H3. Customer Comments about the Vancouver Utilities

Reference letter from CenterPoint Energy

In 2008 the Pipeline Group began a project to convert mainframe applications to Unix. The mainframe applications used Software AG Adabas (databases) and Natural (4th generation programming language), and flat files.

The Adabas databases and Natural programming code were mediated and moved to the Unix environment with the help of Software AG. The flat files consisted of hundreds of active and archived files that had to be converted from EBCDIC to ASCII. Many of these files were variable length with multiple record types and contained many packed decimal data fields.

UV Software's suite of tools was selected to convert the flat files from EBCDIC to ASCII. Owen Townsend worked closely with the migration team that included Software AG employees to understand the file layouts, to tweak the tools to work with Natural local data areas, and to assist with initial conversion of some of the files. Owen was very quick to respond to questions and with solutions.

Owen was also give the tasks to convert over 100 special accounting files from EBCDIC to ASCII and load the data into Microsoft SQL Server. Owen's UV Software tools were able to convert the data and create scripts to create and load the SQL tables. The table create and load batch files were generated automatically from the COBOL copybooks.

Owen was also brought on-site to train the programming staff on the use of UV Software tools. Beside the conversion tools, we also use the UV Software's list programs, report generator, print utilities, etc.

Owen did a wonderful job with the data conversion assistance and with the training classes at a very reasonable price.

Emmett Oliver, CenterPoint Energy, Shreveport LA.

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H4. Customer Comments about the Vancouver Utilities

Reference letter for: Owen Townsend, UV Software Inc. From: Gaetan Cadieux, City of Laval, Quebec Canada

Because of the lack of software support (WESTI and old version of VSE/ESA), Ville de Laval has decided to convert the taxation application from a mainframe platform to a Linux platform.

Early in 2006, we contracted UV Software to help Ville de Laval to convert our mainframe Cobol/DOS/VS/VSAM batch environment to Linux Redhat and Micro Focus COBOL (about 400 JCL, 450 COBOL programs, 250 sorts and 35 VSAM files).

Before going ahead with the project, we asked UV Software to run a pilot (proof of concept), and UV Software accepted the challenge. We selected a small standalone system that created reports that we could match to our mainframe reports. We sent the JCL, COBOL programs, and data files by email attachment.

We received the results in only a few days and the results were astonishing. They matched our own results perfectly. This gave us confidence that UVSoftware's tools could perform the batch conversion.

In December 2006, UV Software's president Owen Townsend came on-site to train our conversion team in using the Vancouver Utilities and get our conversion started quickly. In just four weeks, we were able to convert all the JCL, COBOL & some DATA files, and had started testing.

UV Software has adapted some of the tools to better respond to Ville de Laval's requirements. We were impressed with Owen's willingness to modify the tools and improve the conversions.

UV Software have also provided Ville de Laval help and support from their office. We were always pleased and satisfied with the fast response to all our requests. Normally, within a few hours, we received the appropriate answer or a tool update if it was necessary. We always felt like UV Software (in Vancouver) was just the next door to us (in Quebec).

In January 2007, we started the application tests and verifications under Linux. Because we had to maintain the application on the mainframe as well as on Linux, we had to postpone full production until the end of the year. The performance is about 8 times faster than on our IBM mainframe. We have eliminated the magnetic tapes (6000 tapes) and report printing.

Today, all reports are available directly on the users Windows terminals, using Microsoft Word. The user can see the report and if needed, print the complete report or a portion (such as the last page only). Today, we are evaluating the migration from Word to PDF, which will give us a faster way to view the reports.

Overall, we were truly satisfied with the support and professionalism provided by UV Software. They have the skills and the tools to perform IBM COBOL batch conversion to UNIX environments.

Gaetan Cadieux, Special Projects Coordinator, 3 Place Laval Suite 160, Laval Qu�bec H7N 1A, 450-978-6888

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H5. Customer Comments about the Vancouver Utilities

Central1's experience with UV Software and Mainframe conversion

Central1 is a financial technology company, providing banking services to our credit union and other clients. By 2005, we had an extensive number of applications on a number of servers. In order to improve reliability and interchangeability, we had most applications on a standard platform and environment based on Linux. Our mainframe was an exception residing on a Flex-ES mainframe emulator with custom and third party mainframe tools.

The mainframe did not have any database, and had limited connectivity to the rest of the company's applications. The mainframe was being left behind with improvements in technology. It was running out of horsepower, and in order to upgrade it, we would need to purchase IBM and 3rd party monthly maintenance at $10k to $20k per month. As well the machines were getting old, and slow. In other words something had to be done, and soon!

We looked at alternatives, IBM upgrades, outsourcing, windows, and Sun. The preferable alternative was to convert the machine to Linux, but we had a lot of risks. Converting the programs to Micro Focus COBOL was one thing, but we had a problem with all the custom JCL we wrote. It would be very risky re-writing these, and require a lot of time experimenting how to re-write them.

Then we found UV Software and realized that the Vancouver Utilities could convert our JCL to Linux scripts, and convert the programs using a standard model, inserting special functions at the same time for items such as date calls. With Owen Townsend's conversion utilities the task of converting DATA files was also made much easier. We had the ability to repeat the conversion process as many times as required, for multiple sets of data, and several conversion iterations.

The benefits of the Vancouver Utilities did not end with the conversion. We continue to use them to perform various as required functions, which were previously performed by mainframe utilities such as DITTO, IDCAMS, and DYL280 (a 3rd party utility).

The Vancouver Utilities automatically converted JCL, COBOL programs, and DATA files. They reduced the effort required for CICS conversions, job unit, and QA testing. It likely reduced the effort from a 2 year effort to a 10 month successful on time conversion.

Once the conversion was complete, what were the savings? We did expect a saving on mainframe personnel, but the conversion did not result in staff reduction. After migration to Linux, our applications had new life, with faster speed, database connectivity and more capacity for new work. This resulted in increased staffing if anything. We did however experience real cost savings in the elimination of the mainframe third party software of about $100k per year.

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We also experienced significant job processing time improvements. Key batch jobs running over 2 hours before conversion were completed in 40 minutes. Generally jobs ran 2-3 times faster, and we now have the potential for even more improvements by upgrading only the hardware, with no increase in software licensing costs.

The conversion was not easy. I don't think any conversion is easy. Several cycles were needed to optimize conversion of JCL, programs, and data files, as we discovered problems and better solutions during testing. We also needed extra time because we had Owen customize the JCL conversion to add new features. We had a lot of problems on the QA of the applications, where we discovered obscure bugs on EBCDIC to ASCII conversions. We struggled with the QA plan, but we did not have problems with the Vancouver Utilities.

Some of the new features added during conversion have improved our systems. The JCL conversion automatically inserts a restart capability. We can now rerun from any desired step in the converted script. This makes re-runs and testing easier. Owen assisted us in the custom conversion of DYL280 code using only Vancouver Utilities. We enhanced the logging, and with a java program produced a mainframe-like dashboard that monitored the application as much as our POWER/VSE one did, but faster. Printer scripting was made easier and report generation allowed us to identify report source quickly.

Owen was very helpful at all times; if I asked for something, it was always possible. He worked with us, customizing everything to suit our exacting demands without fail. Before the conversion we did a Proof of Concept. Owen provided excellent training on the Vancouver Utilties. Each staff member was assigned at least one program and its JCL to be converted. This 3 week POC enabled us to construct an accurate conversion plan that was successful.

After the migration was completed (Successfully!), our applications and the Vancouver Utilities have run with no major problems. In the 2 years since the migration was completed, we have had only minor updates. We are now upgrading our hardware and software from 32 bit to 64 bit systems.

Tom Balabanov, Central Credit Union of British Columbia, September 2008.

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H6. Customer Comments about the Vancouver Utilities

eFunds Corp. - Phoenix (2007)

A decision was made in June 2007 to bring UV Software's Mainframe Migration package to a major Financial Corporation in Phoenix, as a solution for the Batch Conversion of Mainframe JCL Jobs to Korn Shells to run under Linux. The 'Vancouver Utilities' software was chosen because it had a comprehensive solution for migrating mainframe batch applications (JCL & DATA) to UNIX or LINUX.

The JCL converter has many features that appealed to us. It generates well structured code with step markers and some JCL statements reproduced as comments that help us relate the script code to the original JCL. Job restart & pause are built into every step.

Mainframe utilities (such as SORT, IDCAMS, IEBGENER, IEFBR14, and FTP) are replaced by Vancouver Utility equivalents. The 'uvsort' handled most of our very complex SORT INCLUDEs, OMITS, and OUTREC FIELD reformatting. The conversion includes support for Generation Data Groups (GDG's), as well as fixed, variable, and Indexed files.

The UV Software Company, under Owen Townsend, provided outstanding support for the JCL to Korn Shell Script Conversion Product. This was true from the beginning, the software evaluation phase, as well as during the installation and the training phases of the project. Owen Townsend was very responsive and helpful to satisfy all of our project needs.

Owen provided timely answers on all questions and issues encountered during the evaluation of the JCL conversion to Korn Shell Scripts. In every case the support was superb. Once we were done with our evaluation, we were convinced that UV Software product provide EFunds with an excellent solution for our batch mainframe migration.

Our outstanding relationship with Owen Townsend, UV Software, Inc. continued through training to our staff and the testing of the product. In a very short time we were using the product. The Korn Shell product was installed with ease and we were able to readily to run all of our batch jobs through the Korn Shell conversion. Any conversion exceptions were readily resolved by Owen. The conversion of all mainframe JCL jobs was done with little effort, incorporating customization for selected utilities and EXEC statements.

The UV Software also has a strong Data Conversion subsystem. It can readily handle IBM EBCDIC files with packed decimal/binary fields that you need to be converted to ASCII. The Data Conversion Tools were found to be easy to learn, took minimal effort to setup and allowed for a minimal effort for the conversion of the input files for our applications.

John Bolingbroke, eFunds Corp, Phoenix AZ, November 2007

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H7. Customer Comments about the Vancouver Utilities

update from Telematch (2006)

Hello Owen,

We at telematch would like to thank you for the UV utilities software you provided us few years back. UV Copy has replaced 80% of our Cobol modules and it is relatively fast as we do not have to worry about compiling and linking our modules. The simple programming structure in UV Copy has made training a lot easier for anyone who wants to learn it. I personally had a few new programmers for my team and training them was quick.

I still remember that when we were on the mainframe, we could replace huge Cobol modules with eztrieve. When we migrated to UNIX and LINUX, we found we could quickly replace our eztrieve programs with UV Copy and we decided we are going to stick with it.

We have a lot of stable systems that uses UV Copy and UV Sort and running steady for the past six years.

We also use UV Sort, quite a lot which replaced all our other sort utilities, the 2 line program which does a lot of work is very much appreciated by our fellow programmers.

The shorter version of UV Copy, uvcp we use this for simple reformats and record resizing. Another two line code that works a lot of magic for us.

We have to mention that we are very pleased with the software. We also have to thank you for the customer support you have been providing us, your responses are quick over the phone or through email and your solutions have always helped us do our job at the right time. We also appreciate you modifying the software with our reasonable requests/suggestion.

With regards, Saravana Kumar. Team Lead Telematch IT Gannett Inc.,

Note	Most of my customers are interested in mainframe conversions This letter discusses the ongoing usefulness of Vancouver Utilities.

Gannett Offset Telematch (original install 1999)

The training proved to be the most outstanding we have ever had. We now realize this software is even more powerful than we thought. The most notable utility is the 'uvcopy' interpreter which has the power of assembler but very easy to use. Some of our programmers are already familiar with the syntax, and the other programmers found it easy to learn.

We are converting from IBM 4381 to UNIX. We used lots of EASYTRIEVE on the mainframe and thought we would have to rewrite these in COBOL. Owen wrote an EASYTRIEVE to uvcopy converter which converts about 80% of our EASYTRIEVE. The data file reformats convert 100%.

>>> Frank & Ann Clay, Gannett Offset Telematch, Springfield VA

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H8. Customer Comments about the Vancouver Utilities

Titan Software Systems, Colorado Springs

I want to express my sincere appreciation for the support you are providing to Titan Software Systems in our Year 2000 renovation and testing efforts.

Vancouver Utilities for UNIX systems has been a key factor in making our current Y2K renovation and testing project with MCI Wireless a success. The versatility of Vancouver Utilities has given us a unique capability to expand, modify, age, and analyze gigabytes of customer data contained in hundreds of ISAM files.

In addition, the training you provided was superb, and the four volumes of documentation that accompanied your UV software allowed us to become expert users of the tools in just a few weeks.

Without Vancouver Utilities and your unselfish and dedicated support, this project would not have been a success. Thank you again for all your help. I wish you the greatest success in all your future endeavors.

 >>>> Sincerely, Jack E. Brandt Test Project Manager Titan Software Systems
      1115 Elkton Dr.  Suite 200 Colorado Springs, CO  80907

Peacock Inc, Montreal

Peacock went live on a SUN Enterprise 4000 UNIX system in May 1997. The conversion from the Unisys mainframe involved over 1200 programs and was completed on schedule in 6 months. Much of the credit for the success of this project is due to the efforts of the Peacock staff and Owen Townsend. The Vancouver Utilities software and the Allinson-Ross HSP package were an invaluable part of the conversion team.

>>> Gilbert Shaw and Howard Lobsinger, Peacock Inc., Montreal PQ

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H9. Customer Comments about the Vancouver Utilities

Hadley Auto Transport, Santa Ana CA

This letter is to thank you for your Vancouver Utilities for UNIX systems. Your products are innovative, dynamic and flexible. The complex mainframe to UNIX conversion at Hadley would not be possible without your tools. Furthermore, Vancouver Utilities have handled every complex problem while other vendor's tools have failed. Also, your excellent support and customization specific to our site solved all of our conversion issues.

Prior to using your tools we faced several issues that we could not solve. We were told several times that what worked at over 1000 other sites did not work in our shop due to complexities in our computing environment. Vancouver Utilities addressed and had support for these items. Instead of not supporting items that were not used at other sites, you understood that your tools needed to work at our site. The key point is that your support has allowed us to maintain current operating procedures, without having to rewrite code. For example, your tools support difficult file locking issues (shared read, exclusive locking, shared update, etc.) that UNIX can not handle alone, and file conversions that handle any mainframe file (including support for unique fields that can contain mixed binary and non-binary data).

Additionally, the testing and comparison tools have sped up and streamlined our testing. Your tools allow us to compare and confirm the outputs from the mainframe to the outputs from UNIX. Your comparison tools work where standard UNIX comparison tools (i.e. diff, cmp) have failed.

Owen, we especially appreciate that your dedication to our project did not stop at your own utilities. For example, the programming, time and effort you spent with EasySpooler, D-ISAM, Data General and Allinson-Ross solved many other problems in our conversion.

We look forward to working with you and having you back on-site when our UNIX system goes into production.

>>> Scott M. Gelb, Hadley Auto Transport, Santa Ana CA

County of Henrico, Richmond VA

We have used the mainframe version of the Vancouver Utilities for years. We are currently paralleling our first system to be converted to UNIX. The Vancouver Utilities saved us a lot of time converting our files for loading into an Oracle data-base.

The conversion jobs were generated automatically from the old and new versions of the copy-books. Packed fields were unpacked and 6 digit dates were expanded to 8 digits.

>>> Bill Haynes and Tom Owdom, County of Henrico, Richmond VA

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H10. Customer Comments about the Vancouver Utilities

Pennsylvania Lumbermen's Mutual Insurance Co

The Vancouver Utilities on the System 80 mainframe were invaluable to us. We used them to convert to UNIX and find them to be even more valuable for ongoing everday use.

The package, the documentation, and the support are excellent, and well worth the price. We are now working on our Year 2000 project, and have found that the Vancouver Utilities provide the tools needed to solve this problem.

>>> Joe McGurrin and Lee Frantz, Pennsylvania Lumbermen's, Philadelphia

Berks EIT, Wyomissing PA

Our conversion was completed in 2 weeks & we went live 2 weeks later (after testing & parallel runs). Owen Townsend was onsite start to finish, since we were a small RPG shop and new to Unix. In addition to converting the JCL, programs,& data, Owen setup crontabs for unattended nightly jobs & backups. We also had time for training on Unix, shell scripts, and the Vancouver Utilities.

We have been live for over 2 years now, and I have found the uvcopy utility a real bonus. I use it to convert incoming Excel spread sheet data into the fixed fields required by our RPG programs. uvcopy has powerful instructions that replace pages of RPG or COBOL code. For example the search/replace instructions make it easy to standardize street addresses (street to ST., road to RD., etc).

>>> Jack Stamy, Berks EIT, Wyomissing Pa

Laborer's National Pension Fund, Dallas TX

Manually it would have taken months to convert the mainframe JCL to UNIX scripts, but with the Vancouver Utilities, the conversion was performed so quickly and completely it was a non-issue.

I am impressed with the performance of both the UNISYS 6000/65, and the Vancouver Utility production programs such as the 'uvsort'. A batch job that took 4 hours on the System 80 now takes 8 minutes nd a sort that used to take 30 minutes now takes 3 minutes.

>>> Tom Hicks, Laborer's National Pension Fund, Dallas TX

Trenton Works, Trenton NS

I highly recommend the Vancouver Utilities and a one week onsite training course. By the end of the week, we had converted most of our mainframe JCL and COBOL programs, and had successfully tested our first batch job under UNIX. Owen is a good teacher. We learned a lot, not only about the conversion, but about using the Vancouver Utilities for the ongoing file maintenance.

>>> Simon Fraser, Trenton Works, Trenton NS

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H11. Customer Comments about the Vancouver Utilities

Elwyn Inc, Elwyn PA

My favorite utility is uvhd (interactive file investigation utility). I use it almost every day to investigate, search, and update files with packed or binary data (vi can not access these file types). I find the write function particularly useful for selecting records from large files to create smaller test files.

>>> Warren Whitney, Elwyn Inc.

Franchise Enterprises, Rocky Mount NC

We made extensive use of the SORT3 utility on the mainframe system, some of our jobs had over 50 record select statements. The jclunix utility converted our SORT3 steps to the uvsort utility and these jobs ran perfectly on our UNIX system without any manual changes required.

The documentation alone is worth the price of the package. There are over 2000 pages in 4 volumes filled with the kind of information that mainframe users need to design their UNIX systems, assist with the conversion, and with the ongoing operation of a UNIX system.

>>> Carol Griffin, Franchise Enterprises, Rocky Mount NC

Maritime Medical, Halifax

We recently converted from the mainframe to UNIX using both Allinson- Ross conversion tools and the Vancouver Utilities. The uvcopy all-purpose converter and the uvhd file dump utility were essential to the successful conversion of our data files and COBOL programs.

Owen Townsend's expertise in both mainframe and UNIX helped us avoid numerous pitfalls and to quickly recover from the potholes we didn't see. Owen's onsite assistance and telephone support were invaluable. I am confident that Owen and the Vancouver Utilities will be instrumental in the successful completion of our upcoming Year 2000 project.

>>> Allan Crowther and Paul Boutilier, Maritime Medical, Halifax NS

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H12. Customer Comments about the Vancouver Utilities

I have used the Vancouver Utilities to assist three mainframe customers with their conversion to UNIX. I would not want to attempt the this conversion without the Vancouver Utilities.

The Vancouver Utilities can solve those unexpected problems that always seem to arise during conversions. The mass change facility has saved me many hours of time (and the customer many thousands of dollars).

The mass change facility in the Vancouver Utility package is a valuable resource. Early versions of Micro Focus cobol restricted filenames to 14 characters and the mainframe JCL had a lot of filenames that needed to be shortened. It was a simple matter to edit a table of search and replace patterns for the 'rep2d' job to perform the changes automatically.

>>> Tim Burtner, Unisys Corp., Charlotte NC

I think the most useful thing in the Vancouver Utilities is the ability to perform file maintenance on Indexed files. I converted to UNIX in 1992, before the Vancouver Utilities for UNIX were available, and the most frustrating thing was that I had to write a COBOL program every time I had to perform simple file maintenance operations, such as clearing fields or dropping flagged records.

>>> Charlie Gibbs, Python Systems Corp., Port Coquitlam BC Canada

The uvcopy and uvsort programs, in the UNIX version of the Vancouver Utilities, provide us with far more capability for file maintenance and sorting than we had on the mainframe system. These powerful interpretive utilities allow us to perform complex record selections and reformatting without having to write programs.

>>> Sid Treur, Datex Services Ltd., Vancouver Canada

The UNIX system has a lot of tools for manipulating text files, but they are unsuitable for maintaining our mainframe files because they are not column specific, can not handle packed decimal fields, and can not read or write indexed files.

>>> Mike Fey, Datex Services Ltd., Vancouver Canada

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I1. Useful scripts you can download from the UV Software website

www_uvsoftware.ca is the 'BIBLE'

A friend tells me that he knows an IT shop that calls my website the 'BIBLE' (on mainframe conversions I assume). Of course I was pleased to hear that my website is appreciated.

I have worked diligently to make the UV Software website a source of real knowledge about converting mainframe JCL, COBOL,& DATA to Unix/Linux/Windows (not just the collection of buzzwords I see on some websites).

In this email, I would like to illustrate a few items that you might be able to use in your shop - regardless of whether you buy my mainframe conversion software or not.

user profiles

https://www.uvsoftware.ca/admjobs.htm#Part_1 explains the advantages of installing a 'stub_profile' in user homedirs that calls a 'common_profile' from /home/appsadm/env.

The system administrator (appsadm) can make changes in 1 place to affect all users (vs having to update profiles in all user homedirs).
The user's 'stub_profile' (renamed .profile for ksh or .bash_profile for bash), defines RUNLIBS/RUNDATA as TESTLIBS/TESTDATA for programmers or PRODLIBS/PRODDATA for operators.

2c. The 'common_profile' then defines the various 'PATH's using $RUNLIBS For example: export PATH=$PATH:$RUNLIBS/jcls (converted JCL/scripts).

The benefits of the above system are HUGE:

3a. You never need to change JCL/scripts between TESTING & PRODUCTION. Programmers execute JCL/scripts from $TESTLIBS/jcls that access data from $TESTDATA/... because their profiles define RUNLIBS/RUNDATA as TESTLIBS/TESTDATA. Operators execute JCL/scripts from $PRODLIBS/jcls that access data from $PRODDATA/... because their profiles define RUNLIBS/RUNDATA as PRODLIBS/PRODDATA. Operators

3b. If Testing & Production are on different machines & storage systems, this system still provides great flexibility to programmers. Different programmers can have their own set of TESTDATA simply by changing the definition of RUNDATA in their profile.

Note	you can download these profiles from the website https://www.uvsoftware.ca/admjobs.htm#1C1.

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I2. Useful scripts you can download from the UV Software website

Directory Design

 /p1                 <---- /p1 file system mount point
 :-----testlibs        <-- RUNLIBS=$TESTLIBS=/p1/testlibs
 :     :-----cbls        - COBOL programs
 :     :-----jcls        - JCL/scripts
 :     :---etc---        - see other subdirs at ADMjobs.htm#2B1
 :-----testdata      <---- RUNDATA=$TESTDATA=/p1/testdata
 :     :-----mstr        - data files (or use topnodes as subdirs)
 :     :-----jobtmp      - job temporary files
 :     :---etc---        - see other subdirs at ADMjobs.htm#2B2
 /p2                 <---- /p2 file system mount point
 :-----prodlibs        <-- RUNLIBS=$PRODLIBS=/p2/prodlibs
 :     :-----cbls        - COBOL programs (production)
 :     :-----jcls        - JCL/scripts (production)
 :     :---etc---
 :-----proddata
 :     :-----mstr        - data files (or use topnodes as subdirs)
 :     :-----jobtmp      - job temporary files
 /p3                 <---- /p3 file system mount point
 :-----backup            - backup & restore directories
 :-----restore
 /p4                 <---- /p4 file system mount point
 :-----cnvdata           - data conversion directories
 :     :----d1ebc        - EBCDIC data files from mainframe
 :     :----d2asc        - converted to ASCII (preserving packed)

p1,p2,p3,p4 are partitions or 'mount points' on the Unix/Linux file system.
Separate partitions protects production data from the possibility of the testing or backup partitions filling up & freezing production.
Separate partitions protects production data from the possibility of file system corruption in other partitions affecting production data.

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I3. Useful scripts you can download from the UV Software website

Vancouver Utilities - Backup scripts

See	'https://www.uvsoftware.ca/admjobs.htm#Part_4'

This system takes advantage of the massive inexpensive disc systems now available to maintain zip file backups on-disc for the last 40 days, the last 15 end of month backups,& the last 7 end of year backups.
Backups automatically scheduled by 'cron'
Two days backup on-disc, unzipped, instantly available for file recovery.
Zipped file of nightly backups maintained on-disc for 40 days, 1st of month zip file maintained on-disc for 15 months, & 1st of year zip file maintanined on-disc for 7 years.
Zip file names have embedded date & time to eliminate confusion. For example, the 3 nightly zip files used in the backup examples are: proddata_yymmdd_HHMM.zip, prodlibs_yymmdd_HHMM.zip, homedirs_yymmdd_HHMM.zip.
This backup system is intended for the applications that may need quick restore (production data, production libraries,& home dirs). Most sites will already have backups for the entire system, but those probably do not provide the quick restore possible with these smaller targeted backup files.
Nightly zip files backed up to tape by cron & tapes cycled over 31 days. For smaller sites with single tape units, I suggest you simply label 31 tapes with numbers 1 to 31. Each morning the operator changes tapes & inserts the tape# for today's day of month, with no need to write anything.
The nightly backup tapes can be stored onsite in fireproof vault. The end of month tape should be taken offsite & new tape inserted in rotation, progressing thru the 31 tapes, so tapes are reused maximum 31 times.
Directories & devices defined in 1 place (/home/appsadm/env/common_profile), to make it easier, to install backup scripts at new sites & to make changes, when directories or tape devices change.
This is achieved by having all scripts '.' dot-execute the 'common_profile' which define the symbols ($PRODDATA,$PRODLIBS,$BACKUP,$TAPERWD,$TAPENRW), which are used thruout the scripts. Please see the profiles listed begining on page https://www.uvsoftware.ca/admjobs.htm#1C1.
Executing the backups under cron means the console logs will be 'mailed' to the crontab owner, which is 'appsadm', so the site administrator can investigate any errors.
These scripts use zip/unzip for Linux, but Unix users may have to change these to gzip/gunzip or to tar+compress/uncompress/untar.

Note	the backup scripts are all automatically scheduled by cron see cronbackupNight at: https://www.uvsoftware.ca/admjobs.htm#4D1

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I4. Vancouver Utilities - Introduction, Summary, Uses,& Benefits

Conclusions

I hope you can make good use of these & many other scripts you can find on my website.

If you are interested in mainframe conversion, I invite you to send some sample JCL for conversion to Korn shell scripts & return by email.

Be sure to read the reference letters begining on page '1H1'.

Owen Townsend owen@uvsoftware.ca 604-980-5434

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