June 17, 2009

Life after Wylbur: Web Tools that Can Help

Are you concerned about carrying out common Titan z/OS tasks after Wylbur retires on December 31?

Take advantage of tools available right from your browser that can make life easier. Just go to http://titan.nih.gov to access the main SILK (Secure Internet LinKed) web technologies page. With these web tools, you can submit batch jobs, view or print data sets, delete data sets, display or purge jobs, fetch output, schedule batch jobs, cancel your TSO session, and more – all by using a web interface.

Here are some of the facilities that are available.

TSO commands

Starting at http://titan.nih.gov, select "TSO Commands" (under Mainframe) and enter your Titan userid and password. Now, you will be able to submit a number of useful TSO commands, such as exec, submit, status, cancel batch, cancel TSO session, delete, and uncatlg. Choose the command you want from the drop down menu and enter the job name or the data set name. The TSO command web page (http://titan.nih.gov/tsocmd) includes several examples to help you get started.

Titan Job Scheduler for scheduling recurring work

The Titan Job Scheduler allows users to schedule recurring work to run automatically. This web-based facility gives you complete control over setting up, displaying, and modifying your batch job entries. You can schedule a job to be submitted once or on a continuing basis.

To use the Job Scheduler, go to: http://titan.nih.gov/job/scheduler.

Simply provide the name of your Job Control language (JCL) data set and when you want it run—that is, on a specific date, every day, every weekday, once a week, once a month, or the first or last workday of every month. After that, your job will run automatically on the date and time you requested with no further action on your part.

Note: the data set must have the record format FB (fixed-length records, blocked) with LRECL=80. It cannot be stored in Wylbur edit format. Refer to the Titan News article “Converting Data Sets from WYLBUR’s Edit Format to Another Format.”

Job Scheduler lets you see what jobs you have scheduled and allows you to change the JCL in your data sets at any time, without affecting the schedule. Each time a job is submitted through Job Scheduler, an entry appears in a log. To view the log, use the Display Submission Log button from the Job Scheduler website.

Other utilities

Select “Utilities” from http://titan.nih.gov, to view additional Titan z/OS tools.

Display or Purge Jobs

Choose Display or Purge Jobs to locate your current batch jobs and fetch the output or purge the job. You can access this tool directly by going to: https://titan.nih.gov/util/dispjoq.

Web Listoff for printing

Using SILK's Web Listoff facility, you can print Titan data sets through the web. Any non-VSAM data set—except those in WYLBUR edit format—can be listed offline. Since all data set access is controlled by RACF, you can only print the data sets that your userid has authority to read.

To print a data set through the web, go to: http://titan.nih.gov/listoff

Enter your userid and password in the browser security window. When the form appears, specify the data set name and the following options for listing offline:

•	box number
•	title
•	remote printer number or name (VPS printer)
•	number of copies
•	hold (optional)
•	form (optional)
•	character set (optional)

Once you submit the form, the screen will display the number of the batch job that will actually create the listing. You can pick up your listing at the specified output box or at an NIHnet-connected printer through the VPS printing service.

Web Submit

For batch jobs that do not have to be run on a regular schedule, use Web Submit at: http://silk.nih.gov/submit.

When the web form appears, enter the name of the mainframe data set to be submitted as a batch job and specify the appropriate options. Note: the data set must have the record format FB (fixed-length records, blocked) with LRECL=80. It cannot be stored in Wylbur edit format. Refer to the Titan News article “Converting Data Sets from WYLBUR’s Edit Format to Another Format.”

The userid specified in the browser security window must have RACF authority of “read” or above for that data set.

View/Download Utilities for public or private data sets

These utilities display mainframe data sets ending in .txt, .dsncc, .gif, .jpg, and other (nonspecific) data set names. They also download data sets that end in .exe .doc .xls or .zip.

View or download mainframe public data sets

Anyone with a browser and an Internet connection can view or download a Titan data set. The owner of the data set must first define the data set in RACF with “UACC=READ.”

Go to: http://titan.nih.gov/silkad/pubutil and enter the name of the data set, including the userid, in the data set field.

View or download mainframe private data sets

To view or download these data sets, you need a Titan userid and password in addition to the browser and Internet connection. The userid will be checked for RACF authority to read the data set. It is the data set owner's responsibility to establish and maintain appropriate RACF control of web accessible mainframe data sets. RACF controls access to the stored data.

Go to: http://titan.nih.gov/silkad/privutil and enter the name of the data set, including the userid, in the data set field.

Need additional help?

Visit the Wylbur Retirement web page for a list of additional resources to help you prepare for the Wylbur retirement on December 31, 2009. For additional assistance, contact the NIH Help Desk at http://ithelpdesk.nih.gov/support or 301-496-4357, 301-496-8294 (TTY), or toll free at 866-319-4357.

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