IBM Mainframe Forum

Hello everyone. I have a question that I don’t really know how to ask. Forgive me.

Mike Wolowicz writing from the Fish and Wildlife Branch with the Province of B.C.

I’ve been working with an IBM mainframe for the past 15 years to manage our hunter registry, limited entry hunting draw (this is a lottery that hunters can enter in order to win a chance at harvesting an animal) and hunter survey (each year we survey ~150K hunters in order to estimate harvest and effort within a hunting season).

We’ve been slowly migrating processes off the mainframe and recently built a system that replaces the last system (the hunter survey software) outside of the mainframe.

I normally transfer datasets off the mainframe through FileZilla and access code and datasets through wc3270. I’ve never received formal training on the mainframe and basically learned just enough to run the processes to get the job done. I know very little.

Now that we’re not using the mainframe any longer, we’d like to copy all the code and datasets off.

I don’t know how to do this. As I said above; when I need to copy a dataset or JCL file off the mainframe, I use FileZilla. But I have to know where that dataset or code file actually resides. I can’t simply navigate to the root folder and copy everything within a folder. I know files aren’t stored in ‘folders’ (I think it’s libraries?), but I’m looking for a way to copy all of our files and code off of the mainframe in a manner that analogous to navigating to the root on a windows machine and copying all of the folders containing all of the data off, to be stored on a windows system. All in one foul swoop.

Is this possible?

When I open wc3270, I see this information. It looks useful in describing the system.

System : A1AA
Terminal : XTSA3869
Model : 3279-2A

Thanks for your help.

When you say 'all' do you mean 'all' as in everything including system software and all applications or 'all' as to the data and code that you, yourself, are responsible for?

Good question.

We don't need system software. We work within REC.HS. or REC.LEH or REC.HT, etc. We need everything within REC.

I do not know of any easy way to do this. One thing to do is to ensure that all packed decimal fields are translated to zoned decimal before transfer.

You can get a list of all datasets starting REC by going to ISPF option 3.4 and entering that in the relevant field (and leave the Volume blank). This list can be saved using the SAVE primary command. Use F1 to get help.