Re: Learning SEU, Source members, etc for the non I programmer?

I came from a S/36. Someone tried to verbally explain source members to
me and failed miserably. I just couldn't grasp it that way. You just
have to go in on faith and use them. I can try translating the concept
from SQL for you. Source members are "partitions" in a table. Each
source member is it's own partition in the table. When you compile a
source member you give it the name of the partition in the table. Programs
are often named the same as the partition but they can be different. The
various compiler commands default the name of the program to the name of
the member (or partition).
Even this translation may not help as most SQL developers do not care
about the name of an individual partition in a partitioned table as SQL
selects the data from the right one anyway.

One of the basic concepts is the command structure. It's verb/noun or
verb/adjective/noun. Think of the verb WORK, abbreviated WRK. Now think
of the adjective spool as in "spool file". It is abbreviated SPL. File
is abbreviated F. Thus "Work with Spool Files" becomes WRKSPLF. At the
command line you can type WRK* and press enter and it will list all the
WRK commands. At the command line you can type in
GO CMDSPLF and it will list all the spool file commands. GO CMDSPL will
list commands you will probably never use in your life.
GO CMDTCP will list tcp commands.

Don't get too fixated on this for commands you expect on other platforms.
Biggest example are the TCP commands. Personally I'll use the PING
command because it's multiplatform and when I work with support people
they can relate. Someone fixated on typical IBM command structure will
use the VFYTCPCNN command. I have never used that, ever. They have the
same options.
Some may be spelled differently, for example IBM i says TRACEROUTE. Other
platforms do not. You could use TRCTCPRTE; again, I never have.

5250 green screen has nice command prompting. For example, type PING and
instead of enter hit F4.



Rob Berendt