Welcome to the IBM Student Mainframe Contest!

The contest this year is based around a crossword puzzle, as you complete the tasks more clues will be revealed. Be sure to note the clues and answers in a member of your part 2 entry called XWORD. The XWORD member will be used as part of the pass / fail criteria. In part 3 the final crossword clues are revealed and you will be tasked with displaying your completed crossword using a Webserver running on z/OS.

To help you know whether you have collected all the clues, they will be revealed as follows :

Part 1 – Seven cluesPart 2 - Twelve cluesPart 3 – Fourteen clues

The next page displays a blank crossword you can print to help you keep track of the answers as you solve them.

Part 1: Introduction

Approximate time to completion: less than one hour.

The object of this part of the contest is to get you acquainted with the mainframe interface as well as with some basic user commands. The instructions below will lead you through exactly what you need to do to successfully complete Part 1 of the contest. The faster you complete this section, the better your chances of winning. The first 200 contestants to complete this section win T-shirts. On completing Part 1, you will receive the first set of clues to the crossword, keep these safe and move onto Part 2 to collect more clues.

Good luck!

Warning: This part of the contest is marked automatically and therefore any deviation may be reported as a failure. Please follow the instructions carefully!

Notes on restarting 3270 sessions: When logged onto to z/OS if your session hangs or seems stuck, try hitting the ATTN key. To find this key you will need to look at the keyboard map of your 3270 terminal emulator. If you get logged off after a period of inactivity, just log back on. This is a 'feature' of the firewall protecting the system.

Table of ContentsDownload & install a 3270 Emulator1. Use the Emulator to connect to the mainframe2. Logon to z/OS using your ID3. Customise your environment4. Use ISPF facilities to locate the data sets created for your ID5. Allocate a partitioned data set extended (PDSE) using ISPF panels6. Populate your new PDSE with a member7. Enter three lines of text into your new data set member8. Use the ISPF editor to manipulate the text9. Run an executable against your new data set member10. Run another exec to check your entry. If you've passed well done,

you will find a set of clues to start the crossword. If you failed please try again.

1.Download and install a 3270 emulator

In order to access a z/OS mainframe (z/OS is the mainframe operating system), you'll need a

3270 terminal emulator. Follow the instructions based on your operating system:

• If you are running Windows, pick up an emulator here : http://www.tombrennansoftware.com/download.html• Download the Vista V1.24 .exe file. Double-click on the .exe file and

follow the installation instructions. The screenshots given throughout these instructions were taken on a Windows machine. There may be slight variations for other operating systems.

• If you are using a Mac machine, you can pick up a 3270 emulator here : http://brown.edu/cis/tn3270/

• If you are running Linux, install the following package: x3270 -port 1023. Available here : http://x3270.bgp.nu/

Once installed, the default location to access the 3270 emulator on a Windows machine is: Start-> Programs -> Vista tn3270 -> Vista Standard Session. Open the emulator. The first time you do this, you might get this error:

If you do, simply click "OK" to proceed. You are now ready to set up your emulator and connect to the mainframe.

2.Use the emulator to connect to the mainframe

For Windows users, from the menu bar in Vista Session A, select File -> Reconnect Ask. (For other operating systems: configure your emulator with the same values listed here.) The Host IP Name for the z/OS system you'll be accessing for the contest is 129.35.161.131. The IP Port is 23. Fill in these two values, and click Connect:

You should see the z/OS welcome screen below :

You are connected to a mainframe. Congratulations!

3.Logon to z/OS using your ID

A quick note about z/OSz/OS is an upgrade of what was previously called OS/390. Both of these operating systems are an evolution of MVS, which stands for Multiple Virtual Storage. There are still many references to MVS and OS/390 in mainframe literature.To gain access to the mainframe with your user ID, you need to login to TSO (which stands for Time Sharing Option, but you don't need to remember that).Here's where things will be a little different than what you are probably used to.

On the mainframe, the right Ctrl key enters commands. The Enter key, the arrow keys and the tab key are used for navigating the cursor. If you master this, you're halfway to becoming a mainframe wizard! Well, maybe not quite halfway, but you're getting there.

Note : depending in the emulator you use the key mapping may be different to what is described in this text. You should familiarise yourself with keys for Enter,F3,F7,F8 Insert & reset.

To get to the TSO logon screen, type: TSO enter hit CTRL (known as Enter from now on) You will see a screen with the following message IKJ56700A ENTER USERID At this point enter you userid that you have been allocated. For the Russian contest it will be be 7 characters long starting RUS

.

You will be taken to this screen:

Your user ID is also your password the first time you log in. After putting your user ID in the password field, hit Ctrl. You will be prompted to choose a new password:

Choose a new password and enter it again for verification. Note : MAXIMUM of 8characters. You will be taken to the ZEUS welcome screen:

Notice at the bottom of the text, you see this: ***. The three asterisks mean that the system is waiting for your input to continue. Press Ctrl to continue and you're on your way.

The screen in front of you now is the starting point for much of what is done on the mainframe, the ISPF Primary Option Menu (ISPF stands for Interactive System Productivity Facility, but you don't need to remember that, either.) Hit Ctrl to clear the Copyright popup window:

ISPF is where the magic happens. You are officially logged into a z/OS mainframe, and you've completed the first three steps of Part 1 of the contest. Congratulations! Welcome to Big Iron.

4. Customise your environment

The default setting in ISPF is for the command line to be at the bottom of the screen. Most system programmers prefer to have the command line at the top of the screen. Lets quickly change this so you'll look like an old pro.

On the command line enter 0 (you pressed Ctrl, not Enter, right ? Good !) . This takes you to the ISPF settings menu.

On this screen, practice navigating through the menu by pressing the TAB key repeatedly. The cursor will stop at every field on the screen. Now try pressing the enter key repeatedly.The cursor only stops at the leftmost field on any given line.

Navigate to the field beside 'Command line at bottom' Delete the '/' using the delete key (the backspace key will bring you back a space but will not delete characters). Press enter. The command line jumps to the top of the screen.

Now your screen is set up like an experienced system programmer. To get back to the ISPF Primary Option Menu press F3.

F3 almost always takes you back one screen. Like many things in z/OS, the F keys are customisable by the user or the application. F3 is a very important key to remember.

If you accidentally hit F3 twice, you'll be taken all the way back to the TSO READY prompt. To get back to ISPF Primary Option Menu from here, enter ISPF and press Enter (CTRL remember !).

Important note about logging off and logging back on

If you don't intend to logoff before completing Part 1, you should skip to task 5 after reading this sentence.

Be sure to come back and read this section before attempting to end your session so that you don't get locked out of your account.

When you need to logoff of z/OS, press F3 until you arrive at the TSO READY

prompt. Type LOGOFF and hit enter.

You can now safely close the emulator window. However, if you have done more extensive work during your session, you will see the screen below when you attempt to F3 back to the TSO READY prompt.

If you encounter this screen, select option 2. 'Delete data set without printing' and press Enter. You will then be taken to the TSO READY prompt where you can enter LOGOFF.

If you get problems where your session has been dropped for any reason and you cannot logon because the system has not dropped your userid, wait 10 mins and try again. You userid will time out. If you are still having problems, contact shane_babey@hotmail.com on MSN, If I'm online I'll fix your problem.

5.Use ISPF to locate the data sets created for your ID

From the ISPF main menu :

Type 3 on the command line and hit enter.

On the next screen : Type 4 (Dslist – short for data set list) and press Enter.

Lets take a look at the data sets that have already been created for your userid :

On the line Dsname Level, type your userid in this example RUS0000 (for Russia contest) or UK00000 (for UK contest) and press Enter. You'll be presented with a list of all the data sets that your userid owns.

A partitioned data set (PDS) is the mainframe equivalent of a folder or a directory. It contains members, which you are probably used to calling 'files'.

Let's have a look at the members within the dataset called Rusxxxx.PDS.CNTL. Tab down until your cursor is beside it, type a b (for browse), and press enter. You'll see a list of members.

These members are all empty except for JOBSTMT, which contains a small bit of JCL (job control language). More on that later.

You can also browse members by entering a b on the field next to them. Try this on one of the members (if you were going to edit a member, you'd enter e instead – but we're not doing that just yet). There's not much to look at here now, but you've just learned how to navigate into datasets and members. Now let's create some new ones.

Background to explore : Quick and dirty overview of mainframe file systems :

As you will shortly find out, the simple action of creating a file is more of a process on a mainframe than a PC. On a PC or Mac, all the operating systems (Windows, Linux, Mac etc.) use what are called bitwise file systems. The majority of z/OS uses what is called a record oriented file system. What's the difference ? Well, in a bitwise file system, files are just a collection of sequential streams of bits, and there is a special character to tell the computer where a line (or 'record' in mainframe speak) ends and the next one starts. In a record oriented file system, instead of having a stream of bits, files are organised on the disk into

separate records. Now because of this property, you define the sizes and attributes of your records so there is no need for a special end of line character, which helps to conserve system resources. Mainframes can also support special bitwise file systems called HFSes & ZFSes.

What else makes z/OS different ? Z/OS has very rich support for controlling resources, and this spills over into the file system. When you create a new dataset , you have to define how big it can grow, as well as how its records are set up. You might think this seems cumbersome. 'I don't need to define every file on my PC', you might be thinking. But the reason that z/OS needs to track each file is because the disk access speeds on the mainframe are amazing. Suppose you have a rogue program that has some flaw, and it just keeps writing out to disk. If we left this unchecked one a mainframe, you could find terabytes of data written out, filling up your disks. Before you realised what was happening, it would be too late. Not a big deal if you are downloading music on your PC, but it this happened to a bank or an airline while processing millions of transactions, it could be crippling. That's why the mainframe works the way it does. It's an important consideration in large systems thinking!

6.Allocate a partitioned dataset extended (PDSE) using ISPF panels

The mainframe is designed to waste minimal resources. As a result, something as simple as creating a new partitioned data set (folder) is a very customisable task. With thousands of users accessing one machine, and millions of transactions per second, it's important to do things this way.

Press F3 until you are back at the ISPF primary option. Select 3 (utilities). On the next screen, select 2 (data set), you'll be taken to this screen :

Here, you need to supply the name of your new dataset. Datasets are named with 1-8 character identifiers separated by periods, like this : RUSxxxx.ZOS.PARTONE. The system automatically assumes that you want the first identifier to be your userid (unless you put single quotes around the name). In this case, in the Data Set Name field, enter ZOS.PARTONE ('RUSxxxx.ZOS.PARTONE' would also work).

On the option line, type A for Allocate a new data set, press enter to continue.

This next screen is the one you use to customise your new dataset. See how it says More: + in the top right hand corner ? That means that the page is too large to fit on one screen. Use F7 and F8 to page up and down.

Specify the following attributes for your PDSE : The PDSE should be allocated in tracks, with a primary quantity (allocation) of 1, and a secondary quantity of 1. Record format should be FB (fixed block). Record length should be 80. Blocksize should be 32000. Data set type should be LIBRARY (this tells the system that you are creating a PDSE).

Set these values appropriately on this screen. Any field that is not explicitly mentioned in italics can be left blank or left with the default the system provided. Hit enter to continue. On the next screen, notice the message in the top right hand corner : Data set allocated. Whenever you see a message appear in the top right hand corner, you can hit F1 (Help key) for additional information.

You've successfully created a new dataset on the mainframe. Now let's play with your new toy.

More background to explore : So what types of datasets can I make anyway ?

You've just made a PDSE, Partitioned Data Set Extended, and as the extended implies, the PDS was its predecessor . PDSEs are very similar to the PDSs, with a few internal improvements. There is another type of dataset called a sequential dataset. A sequential dataset is like a flat file; it behaves the same way as a a member of a PDS would. You can edit a sequential dataset directly, and it doesn't hold any members.

7.Populate your new PDSE with a member

Right now, your dataset is just an empty container. We need to put something in it. A member can be anything you want it to be – flat text, executables, program output – just like the files in your home computer. Let's create a simple flat text member.

F3 all the way back to the ISPF Primary Option Menu. Select option 2 (Edit). Let's name the new member after the person who is going to create it – you.

To create a member, input your dataset name with the new member name (up to the first 8 letters of your first name) in brackets directly afterwards, like so :

Press enter and the system will create a new member named your_name in the dataset RUSxxxx.ZOS.PARTONE and automatically open it in an editor session.

8.Enter three lines of text into your new dataset member

You are now in the ISPF editor, looking at a blank member :

Move your cursor to the first line of the blank space (two lines under the '-warning' message)

Now type in three lines worth of text. It doesn't matter what you type but follow the instructions!

Note : Keep the length of text you type under 40 characters long, if you ignore this you may find the count exec fails rc 1.

When you've entered three lines of text hit enter. Should you mess up enter CAN on the command line (short for cancel) and you will return to the previous screen. You can also enter HELP at any time on the command line for more information about the ISPF editor.

The screen should now look something like this :

The ISPF editor is very careful to preserve system resources. It has made the member exactly three lines long, and chopped off the excess blank lines. To save your work, type SAVE on the command line and hit enter.

9.Use the ISPF editor to manipulate the text

Now let's practice some simple ISPF editor commands – The basic tools for editing and modifying members.

To insert more blank lines, use the I command (for insert). Editor commands go in the numbered field besides the lines of text, right on top of the existing line numbers. Let's insert two lines by putting I2 command on the third line. (Go ahead and type right over the line numbers that are there).

Now press enter. Two blank lines have been created.

Let's now copy your text fifty times over. To do this, put a CC on the first line you want to copy, and a CC on the last line you want to copy (the first & third lines of your text respectively). To tell the editor to paste the copied section fifty times, go to the last line, and put an A50 in the command field (the A stands for 'paste after this line'. A B would be paste it before the line).

Hit enter and your text will have been repeated fifty times.

Your screen should look something like the following :

Notice that one blank line – ISPF doesn't like wasted resources. Paging up & down using F7 & F8 will automatically delete the blank lines. You can also delete the blank line by putting a D to the left of it and pressing enter, if you prefer. Delete the line now.

You can use DD the same way you used CC to delete sections of the text, as well.

Now let's repeat the first line of text 10 times. To do this, use the R (repeat) command. Type R10 on the first line.

Now press enter and your first line repeats ten times, with new line numbers to match :

On the command line, enter the command BOTTOM this takes you to the bottom of the member. Tab down and use the I command to insert one more line after the last line of the member. On the new line, enter the T-shirt size you would like, should you be a winner in this part of the contest.

You've now learned how to log into a mainframe, to browse and create datasets, and to create and edit your own dataset member. Now let's run an executable program against the member you created.

More background to explore : Where do I have to keep pressing page up and page down ?

Probably the most unfamiliar part of the ISPF editor is the fact that it doesn't just automatically scroll up and down like most PC editors do. There is a good reason for this ! It's for efficiency's sake. In the non-mainframe world, when you are using an editor that scrolls in real-time, going through the network to a server, you are always sending data back and forth to the server (for just about every key stroke). With mainframes (and the emulator you're using), data is only sent to the mainframe when you hit enter or an F key. This saves a lot of traffic. When you have upwards of 10,000 or more folks working at the same time, those few bytes on the network can mean big savings.

10.Run an executable against your new dataset member

F3 out of your dataset member – it will save automatically (if you ever want to

quit without saving, CAN or CANCEL on the command line will do the trick.

From ISPF Primary Option screen, select option 6 Command.

This screen lets you enter TSO commands from ISPF. We need to execute a REXX program (REXX is a powerful, user friendly programming language available on many platforms but originated on the mainframe, we will be using that in part2 of the contest), that is stored in the member ZOS.CONTEST.REXX(COUNT) against the member you created.

'EX' is the TSO command for 'execute'

To execute the REXX program, enter the following on the command line :

EX 'ZOS.CONTEST.REXX(COUNT)' 'xxxxxxx' (where xxxxxx is whatever you named the member you created) :

The program will begin, giving the following messages :

Remember, the *** means the system is waiting for your input. Press enter to continue to execute the program.

Press enter again to clear the system output. The program has now executed. Let's go see what it did. Instead of using F3 to back out to the ISPF Primary Option Menu, let's use a shortcut. On the command line, enter =3.4.

This is the same as choosing 3 from the Primary Option Menu, then choosing 4 on the next screen. Also note the system has saved the command you ran previously, saves typing again if you want to run again, move the cursor down and press enter. You should recognise the screen you are now looking at :

Make sure your userid is specified on the Dsname Level field, and press enter.

On the next screen, put an E for edit beside the dataset RUSxxxx.ZOS.PARTONE :

Press enter. There is a new member in your dataset now, named after your userid. Put an E beside it and press enter to have a look.

The REXX exec counted each occurrence of the lines in your member that you created (plus your T-shirt size), and generated output to this new accordingly.

Important : Type SAVE on the command line and press enter. Doing this will time-stamp the member so the judge can see when you completed this step. If you fail to do this you will not be eligible for a prize in part1.

After you save the member, you can verify that it was saved correctly by the white message in the upper right hand corner, 'Member RUSxxxx saved'

F3 back one screen. The prompt informs you that the member was edited :

Now run the following exec to check your output and be presented with the first set of clues for the crossword ! Read the messages carefully to find out where the clues are stored.

EX 'ZOS.CONTEST.REXX(CZCOMP2)' 'RUSxxxx.ZOS.PARTONE'

You've now completed all the steps for 'Part1 Introduction'

If you passed Well done, if you are in the first 200 hundred successful winners, you will receive a T-shirt in due course.

In all the commotion, you might not have noticed how much you've just accomplished - not only can you create and edit data sets and members, but you can run programs, generate output etc.

You might want to consider putting the completion of this part of the contest on your resume - hands-on mainframe experience certainly sets you apart from other job seekers. With the current generation of mainframe programmers reaching retirement age, many large employers are actively seeking mainframe skills.

That's a major reason for the creation of this contest. For more background and current information on mainframes and to see how widely mainframes are used in the real world, check out the following web sites:

System z homepage : http://www-03.ibm.com/systems/uk/z/

IBM Academic Initiative System z program (US) :

http://www-304.ibm.com/jct09002c/university/scholars/products/zseries/index.html

IBM Academic Initiative System z program (RUS) :

http://www.ibm.com/ru/software/info/students/members/

Thanks for participating, and good luck in Part 2!