Robin Murray's Rexx Pages

Rexx Tools/Utilities

Here is a list of my more useful utilities. You can browse the main rexx to get a better idea of what it does by clicking on the utility name, but you should install all the libraries if you plan to actually use them, since each utilitiy may call other rexx programs not listed here, or use ISPF services requiring panel or table libraries.

These utilities have been tested using OS/390 2.10 as of March 2004. They will be tested on z/OS 1.4 as soon as possible.

These utilities are provided as is with no warranties or guarantees of any kind whatsoever. Use at your own risk!

The libraries are in xmit format, and are zipped into an archive. To install:

Download the zipped file to your pc.
Unzip the enclosed XMI file to a temporary directory.
Upload it to the mainframe with DCB LRECL(80) BLKSIZE(6160).
Enter TSO RECEIVE INDATASET(uploaded-dataset-name).
Follow the instructions in the $RUNME member to recieve the rest of the libs.
In the SAMPLIB dataset, follow the directions in members $INSTALL, $IVP, and $INSTAL2, in that order.

Last updated: 7-July-2004

Utility Description

$START A model for starting most reasonably complex programs. Just copy this into your new member and begin customizing it. For details on why I start rexx programs this way, see my hints and tips section.

$TBDISPL A model to display an ISPF table. Copy this code into your program and make a few adjustments to display your table. Contains boiler plate code for handling both primary and line commands.

APARSTRP A program to strip off the comments from CA supplied PTFs. Used in conjunction with EACHMEM and possibly FTPPDS.

COMPRESS
New A program to compress a PDS. Can be run either as an edit macro or as a TSO exec. Useful when you get out of space errors while in edit: simply enter COMPRESS on the command line and save again.

DELALL Deletes all datasets beginning with the passed high levelqualifier(s). Uses ISPF 3.4 masking if ISPF is active for greater flexibility.

DUPMEM Checks for duplicate members of a concatenation. Pass the DDName of the concatanation and a card deck will be generated that can be fed to the PDS program to delete them. LINKLIST and LPALIST can also be passed as the DDName, and the current, in-storage concatenation will be checked.

EACHMEM To process a PDS by calling the passed rexx program for each member. It's meant as a generalized service to process all members of a PDS.

FTPPDS
New A utility to ftp a remote directory to a PDS or a PDS to a remote directory. Uses a profile dataset to store the commands to be executed. Can be run in batch or online.

GO A simple edit macro to execute the member you are editing. Simply enter GO on the command line along with any parms to execute your program. Pending changes are automatically saved before the exec is run. If the save fails, a compress is run and the save is attempted again.

NJ To navigate through lengthy and complex JCL. Front-ends CA's JCLCHECK product with several ISPF tables. Presents several different views of the JCL including datasets, programs, procedures, reports, and JCL errors. Allows you to select any line to take you to the exact JCL source line to which it corresponds, no matter if it's in stream or in a procedure. Allows you to zoom in to datasets on the dataset view. See the job navigator section for more details on this powerful utility.

QUOTES A simple edit macro to flag lines that have uneven or missing quotes.

RESTART
New An IOF rexx to process the joblog and create a series of IDCAMS delete statements so that you can restart the job.

SAVELIB A quick way to make a backup copy of a PDS.

SORTTB To sort any ISPF table passed to it. Pops up a small panel where you can select Ascending or Decsending sort sequences on any field in the table. A good utility to call from another program to allow complex sorting on a table.

SRCHGO Used in the Search-For IBM utility to allow you to zoom in from the lines in the search results list to edit the target dataset where the line was found.

STARTUP An ISPF session manager to allow you to create and easily navigate thru many concurrent ISPF sessions. Combines the functionality of the ISPF START, SCRNAME, SWAP LIST, and SWAP XXX command into one easy to remember command. Allows dynamic command tables to be built for each individual user. See the startup command section for more details.

SWIMACRO A sample site-wide initial edit macro showing how to create special protection for certain key system datasets like SYS1.PARMLIB and others. Ensures that AUTOSAVE is OFF for these particular datasets so that any changes will require a manual SAVE command before leaving your edit session.

CATLIBS A new and unique way to concatenate the required TSO and ISPF libraries at logon time. Separates products into convenient parmlib members that are assigned as needed to each user group. It's so flexible it can hardly stand up. Automatically recovers from missing / enqueued / misspelled datasets. See the CatLibs section for more details.

Finders A group of find commands to quickly and easily find source library members of various sorts and by various methods. See the find utilities section for more details on this group of very useful programs. They are indispensible in our shop.

SVCDumps
New A modern SVC dump manager. Creates a log of your SVC dumps. Allows ISPF table interaction with the log of dumps. Allows interactive archiving, recalling, tersing, ftping, deletion etc. All dump management can be automated using one multi-purpose started task. See the SVCDumps section for more details.

Utility	Description
$START	A model for starting most reasonably complex programs. Just copy this into your new member and begin customizing it. For details on why I start rexx programs this way, see my hints and tips section.
$TBDISPL	A model to display an ISPF table. Copy this code into your program and make a few adjustments to display your table. Contains boiler plate code for handling both primary and line commands.
APARSTRP	A program to strip off the comments from CA supplied PTFs. Used in conjunction with EACHMEM and possibly FTPPDS.
COMPRESS	A program to compress a PDS. Can be run either as an edit macro or as a TSO exec. Useful when you get out of space errors while in edit: simply enter COMPRESS on the command line and save again.
DELALL	Deletes all datasets beginning with the passed high levelqualifier(s). Uses ISPF 3.4 masking if ISPF is active for greater flexibility.
DUPMEM	Checks for duplicate members of a concatenation. Pass the DDName of the concatanation and a card deck will be generated that can be fed to the PDS program to delete them. LINKLIST and LPALIST can also be passed as the DDName, and the current, in-storage concatenation will be checked.
EACHMEM	To process a PDS by calling the passed rexx program for each member. It's meant as a generalized service to process all members of a PDS.
FTPPDS	A utility to ftp a remote directory to a PDS or a PDS to a remote directory. Uses a profile dataset to store the commands to be executed. Can be run in batch or online.
GO	A simple edit macro to execute the member you are editing. Simply enter GO on the command line along with any parms to execute your program. Pending changes are automatically saved before the exec is run. If the save fails, a compress is run and the save is attempted again.
NJ	To navigate through lengthy and complex JCL. Front-ends CA's JCLCHECK product with several ISPF tables. Presents several different views of the JCL including datasets, programs, procedures, reports, and JCL errors. Allows you to select any line to take you to the exact JCL source line to which it corresponds, no matter if it's in stream or in a procedure. Allows you to zoom in to datasets on the dataset view. See the job navigator section for more details on this powerful utility.
QUOTES	A simple edit macro to flag lines that have uneven or missing quotes.
RESTART	An IOF rexx to process the joblog and create a series of IDCAMS delete statements so that you can restart the job.
SAVELIB	A quick way to make a backup copy of a PDS.
SORTTB	To sort any ISPF table passed to it. Pops up a small panel where you can select Ascending or Decsending sort sequences on any field in the table. A good utility to call from another program to allow complex sorting on a table.
SRCHGO	Used in the Search-For IBM utility to allow you to zoom in from the lines in the search results list to edit the target dataset where the line was found.
STARTUP	An ISPF session manager to allow you to create and easily navigate thru many concurrent ISPF sessions. Combines the functionality of the ISPF START, SCRNAME, SWAP LIST, and SWAP XXX command into one easy to remember command. Allows dynamic command tables to be built for each individual user. See the startup command section for more details.
SWIMACRO	A sample site-wide initial edit macro showing how to create special protection for certain key system datasets like SYS1.PARMLIB and others. Ensures that AUTOSAVE is OFF for these particular datasets so that any changes will require a manual SAVE command before leaving your edit session.
CATLIBS	A new and unique way to concatenate the required TSO and ISPF libraries at logon time. Separates products into convenient parmlib members that are assigned as needed to each user group. It's so flexible it can hardly stand up. Automatically recovers from missing / enqueued / misspelled datasets. See the CatLibs section for more details.
Finders	A group of find commands to quickly and easily find source library members of various sorts and by various methods. See the find utilities section for more details on this group of very useful programs. They are indispensible in our shop.
SVCDumps	A modern SVC dump manager. Creates a log of your SVC dumps. Allows ISPF table interaction with the log of dumps. Allows interactive archiving, recalling, tersing, ftping, deletion etc. All dump management can be automated using one multi-purpose started task. See the SVCDumps section for more details.