Re: BPCS mailing list -- BPCS-L

Dennis,

In a message dated 98-11-30 16:59:09 EST, you write:

> I am new to the BPCS-L mailing system.  What I have not figured out is how
>  to respond to a message that has been posted.  As you can see, I can send
it
>  to you by using your "address" but not to the "list" as an answer to a
>  question.  We are using Outlook for e-mail.  The first time I replied to a
>  message that was sent to me, it was sent to me so I am confused.  Just to
>  let you know why I'm responding in this fashion.

As a list member, all your replies will also be copied back to you.  That is
all that I can imagine in this instance.   All replies should be sent to BPCS-
L@MIDRANGE.COM.  I'll copy this to the list.

>  To respond to your comments and explain some other things:
>  
>  *    We are 6.0.02 full client/server running a 24/7 operation.
>  *    We have been live since 8/1/98 and are still "learning" what BPCS is
>  all about.
>  *    We have 3 environments on the production machine and I am in the
>  process of getting it down to one - the "live" environment.  Our contention
>  is that it makes it confusing for the users.  With the BPCS program
>  security, they have different sign-ons but that is a pain to set up and
>  maintain for 125 possible users.

That _would_ be rather confusing!  Ignoring the multiplicity of plants, we
have two environments on the production machine -- production and training.
Users sign on to the production environment with their regular ID, and onto
training with one of several "training" ID's assigned when they need to train.
We make extensive use of the new "group profile" feature of V6 for action code
and function key security, so setting up different ID's for our nearly 2,000
users would be a somewhat daunting task.

We have four environments on the development box.  One for each of the
individual developers, one for development integration testing, one for user
acceptance testing, and one for production (which cannot be updated, as it is
the "mirror" for the high-availability system from the production box).  We
use SoftLanding's TurnOver product with the Set/Turn add-on to manage the
development box.

>  *    The test/dev machine now has three environments also on it - this
>  was our conference room pilot machine before the production machine was
>  ordered.
>  *    The reason I have the CL/RPGLE programs written to disable/enable
>  the user profiles is because we are in an IP environment.  The system
>  console is the only terminal that does not use the  WAN/LAN  to communicate
>  with the AS/400.  To get a dedicated system AND keep IP running, that was
>  the easiest way I thought of to keep people from signing back on.  I also
>  needed two terminals operational to run month-end besides the system
>  console.  It really did not take that long to write the RPGLE program to
>  create the two CL programs to disable/enable the user profiles of all
people
>  except for the IS team members.  
>  *    I looked at my month end joblogs and I do not see where SYS003B is
>  referenced

You probably won't see SYS003B in the job log.  SYS003B is the program that
interactive programs call to submit jobs for AS/Set programs.  SYSOVRC is the
batch portion, and provides (redundantly) many of the overrides that SYS003B
does.  You pass a run-time parameter, a selection list (256 bytes), and a
parameter list (also 256 bytes) to SYS003B, which in turn get passed to
SYSOVRC.

>  *    I looked at the FFD of ZLDA but did not see any reference to "valid
>  license" but I assume it must be labeled something else.

No, all the binary fields in ZLDA are populated by SYS664.  These binary
fields somehow tell the other "KRSO" (Key Requesting Security Object?)
programs that your license is valid.  Almost every BPCS API calls one of these
"KRSO" programs, so the binary fields must be populated in the LDA.

>  *    The CL I had written as an attempt to automate the month-end process
>  is enclosed.  It has been a month or more since I last played with it and I
>  do not remember what problems I had encountered.  I know the 3rd parm was
in
>  character format but I converted it to hex because I could copy the 2nd
parm
>  and just change what had to be .  Seemed like a simple enough idea.
>  *    We do have AS/SET but being "new" to BPCS, knowing what program to
>  look for is different.  I just have a hard time getting used to "no source"
>  to look at when I have a question.  One thing I did not do was to attend
the
>  BPCS technical training.  There are times when I think it would be
>  beneficial to do that now that I've been exposed to BPCS and the "strange"
>  way that it works.  Sometimes I wonder if the people that wrote the code
>  ever had a programming job in the real world of business.

I don't think that the BPCS technical training would have helped you much in
this instance.  Besides, they're focusing technical training on the as-yet
unavailable ODW, which means beans for AS/Set users.  This was not so
difficult under V5, when SSA still shipped the ADK-generated RPG source.
Under V6, they've tried to save media money by no longer shipping the RPG.  If
you have AS/Set installed and configured properly, as well as the BPCS ADK
source, you can generate the RPG yourself an application set at a time using
the GENPGM command provided with ADK.  We had to do this about nine months ago
for Y2K purposes -- on a 320 4-way AS/400 with SMP installed, it took about 24
hours for all base code and all BMR's we had installed at the time.  We had a
problem with GENPGM in that it wanted to put the RPG in ASSETGPL/QRPGSRC for
often confusing reasons, but copying it to the proper library was no problem
so we didn't investigate further.

>  *    I am interested in what the small front end program to call SYS664
>  looks like.  What may be the best thing for me is to get the CL generated
>  and take a look at what is really running.  Would also be nice to know what
>  is in the 2 - 256 character parms being passed.  Some is pretty easy to
>  figure out but the packed zeros in the 2nd parm in the first two bytes -
who
>  knows and do I really care?

All we did was clone applicable portions of the BPCSMENU program, for which
you _MUST_ have source.  BPCSMENU source is generated as part of the
installation process in order to point to the proper library for user-modified
objects.

>  It is time to quit this note.  I have been working on this for 3 hours.  
>  
>  One thing I should also say is that we have been live for four months as of
>  tonight and have yet to produce financial statements.  That is where my
>  "major" emphasis has been the last three months.  Every day we get closer.
>  From the consultants that we have help us, I think we are teaching them
what
>  client/server is all about.  They know about mixed mode but come up unsure
>  about things in client/server.  Not real sure we made the right choice.

Sorry for the delay after all your effort.  It's been a busy week (quarter?)
for me.  I would warn _everyone_ about consultants claiming V6 experience.  My
personal exposure at three sites has shown that:

A.  Even SSA sends you people that don't know what they're doing (at $1,600
US/day), although these have _FANTASTIC_ contacts at headquarters and can get
answers fast.
B.  Most "independent" firms, while having V6 experience, probably don't have
it with the modules _YOU_ want to install.
C.  Qualified AS/Set people are few and far between.  AS/Set people that
_also_ have BPCS experience with AS/Set are even _harder_ to come by.  Those
AS/Set people with BPCS experience that also know SQL are a rare commodity,
indeed.

Personally, I came to BPCS knowing AS/Set, manufacturing, and APICS concepts
(after installing several other ERP packages).  Unfortunately, BPCS doesn't
_USE_ AS/Set the way the AS/Set tutorial teaches it.  I learned SQL with the
V5+ versions of BPCS, as SQL was "verbotten" in native AS/400 programming due
to the performance issues associated with it.  I've worked with V6 for nearly
two years, and have exposure to only the INV, MRP, MPS, FOR, CAP, CST, and SFC
modules.  I have V6 experience in ORD only to the point that I wrote
interfaces and green-screen applications to properly populate fields in the
various "E" files for planning purposes.  I feel that I have so much to learn,
yet, I am an _extremely_ experienced V6 BPCS professional compared to most
selling services in that arena today.  CEF was supposed to return SSA to
prominence in financial accounting systems, but all the sites with which I'm
familiar still use either home-grown or third-party (Infinium, Lawson,
PeopleSoft) financial applications for accounting.

When I left "traditional" employment in 1994, I was one of about 200 people in
the _world_ that knew both AS/Set _and_ BPCS.  Do the math -- even at a "pie
in the sky" growth rate of 50%/year, that still leaves a little over 1K people
that know both AS/Set and BPCS.  Reduce that by the low estimate that SSA
employs 15% of those people, and there are only 860 available for independent
consulting.  Reduce that figure again by the low estimate that 15% of the
remainder work for SSA affiliates, and that leaves a little over 730 people
that know both BPCS and AS/Set available for hire.  Take another low estimate
of 20% of the remainder being employed by independent consulting firms, and
you're left with less than 600 independent consultants knowing both AS/Set and
BPCS.  Now, take the oft-quoted figure that only 5% of the people on earth can
program at all, and of those, only 2% can do it well, assuming that all
585.225 of our remainder _can_ program, that means that there are only about
12 _good_ independents available for you to choose from.

I don't like statistics, although these opened _MY_ eyes when I looked at
them, as I've never run the numbers before.  Might explain why I've seen so
many people come and go during my current tenure.  The original figure of 200
is solid, so there must either be a greater than 50% growth rate/year, or
smaller percentages employed by SSA, its affiliates, and independent
consulting firms.  Still, you're going to be hard pressed to find people with
both BPCS and AS/Set experience.  You're also going to be hard pressed to
_KEEP_ people that you've trained in these skills.

>  Again, thanks fore your response to my original question.

No problemo...

>  Dennis Munro
>  Badger Mining Corporation
>  (920) 361-2388       
>  dmunro@badgerminingcorp.com <mailto:dmunro@badgerminingcorp.com> 

HTH,

Dean Asmussen
Enterprise Systems Consulting, Inc.
Fuquay-Varina, NC  USA
E-Mail:  DAsmussen@aol.com

"A man's got to know his limitations." -- "Dirty Harry" Calahan

+---
| This is the BPCS Users Mailing List!
| To submit a new message, send your mail to BPCS-L@midrange.com.
| To subscribe to this list send email to BPCS-L-SUB@midrange.com.
| To unsubscribe from this list send email to BPCS-L-UNSUB@midrange.com.
| Questions should be directed to the list owner: dasmussen@aol.com
+---