Re: Where do I start?

On 5/23/2010 3:43 PM, Ron Hudson wrote:
> Time for the next great leap forward!  I want to write a simple full
> screen application..
>
> One that keeps a contact list perhaps....
>
> What language would be best for this?
>
> I am guessing Cobol as I have heard it associated with
> full screen apps.

The language to write it in is the one you know well enough to 
finish the task <g>  Of course, *real* programmers use assembler 
language (or better yet, key code in from the front panel <G>).

CoBOL doesn't know 3270s from a hole in the ground; however, it 
is frequently used with CICS because it makes transaction 
writing fairly simple, and leaves all the dirty work to CICS. 
There is a TSO application called KICKS that's still a work in 
progress, that might do most of the work for you. CICS also 
works with PL/I, but I don't know whether KICKS supports it.

(While I was writing this, I was interrupted by a phone call, 
and when I came back I noticed Mike Stramba supplied most of the 
information).

For VSAM, look at Dave Cole's SCHEDULE program - you don't need 
to schedule stuff, but it has a generalized VSAM I/O routine 
that could get you started.

For 3270, I looked at FSI, but have never tried it, as I prefer 
to use my own code. The big hitch is learning how the display 
hardware works, and writing code that is not locked into the 
default 24*80 size.


Gerhard Postpischil
Bradford, VT