IBM Mainframe Forum

I am new to Mainframe and not clear how it works. I just got access to mainframe insurance application called Cogen and to access that I have to login to a region/application.

Can anyone please help me to understand what region/application means in Mainframe?

Regards,
Pankaj

After talking to couple of guys here, I reckon I got the right answer of my question.

Region or application in mainframe is like an environment in windows e.g. Development, Testing, Production environment etc...which means a copy of software is installed on a number of systems and each system is referred by region. To access software in a specific region, I have to login to that particular region.

Please do advise me if there is anything wrong in my understanding as stated above.


Thanks
Pankaj

Hello Pankaj and welcome to the forums,

To access software in a specific region, I have to login to that particular region.

Basically, yes. On the mainframe, many (most) applications run in a CICS, TSO, IMS, etc "region". A region is an area (address space) on the mainframe. There are usually multiple regions on a mainframe and most often a region supports more than one application.

On the mainframe, an application is usually a set of code and data that support some business function or process (accounting, manufacturing, order entry/distribution, etc.).

Region or application in mainframe is like an environment in windows e.g. Development, Testing, Production environment etc...

These environments exist on the mainframe as well, but the administration is quite different than Win-based administration.

Dick, Thanks for your reply.

Based on my knowledge and Information you provided, I have come to following conclusions. Please shed some more lights on my understanding\conclusion.

1. We use Terminal Emulator to connect to Mainframe region and Remote Desktop Connection to connect to remote
Windows machine. Terminal Emulator and Remote Desktop Connection are used for same task but for different
plateforms, Mainframe & Windows
2. In windows, we can install one or more operating systems on one Computer. We have to login to one Operating system to
-> Install new aplication
-> Use any existing applications, which are installed on that computer using logged in Operating system.

In Mainframe, we call one operating system one region. To install new application or use existing application, we have to
login to Region first as we do in window's system.


Thanks in advance.

Regards,
Pankaj

Hello Pankaj,

We use Terminal Emulator to connect to Mainframe region and Remote Desktop Connection to connect to remote Windows machine.

A terminal emulator may be used to connect to a mainframe. One is often used to connect to unix systems as well. While the Windows support people often use remote desktop to connect to a user's machine, it is not usually the connection for developers and business users.

In Mainframe, we call one operating system one region.

No, this is not true. One operatng system is one operating system. Many mainframes run multiple (different) operating systems as well as multiple "copies" of the same operating system. A given executing copy of an operating system usualy has multiple regions executing at the same time. In fact i cannot remember the last time i supported a mainframe that only ran one region within a given copy of the operating system, except in very special test cases.

While it is often comfortable to relate some new concept to something with which we already familiar, i encourage you to treat the mainframe and a Win-based environment as "nothing in common". From my possibly overly simple perspective - both have a keyboard and a monitor, are connected to some network, and require some kind of id/password for initial signon (unless they are public systems that require no id). Beyond that there is very little in common with the 2 operating environments.

To return to your original post - you probably connect via VTAM to some CICS region to run your insurance transactions (application). If you want to know the specifics of how your terminal is connect to the applicaton, you need to talk with your system support or network people. The exact workings are site-dependent and your support are best qualified to explain.