CPExpert Product Update 97-2

This release (1) provides support for OS/390 Version 2 Release 4 (V2R4), (2) provides support for CICS/Transaction Server for OS/390, (3) updates the WLM Component to expand the analysis of Goal Mode problems or potential problems, (4) updates the MVS Component to analyze coupling facility problems with a CA-MICS performance data base, (5) provides documentation on CD-ROM, and (6) corrects errors that have been reported.

• OS/390 Version 2 Release 4. OS/390 V2R4 was made Generally Available (GA) by IBM at the end of September. Since Computer Management Sciences is a Partner in Development with IBM, I normally can provide support for new releases of MVS within 30 days of GA of the new IBM release.
  • All CPExpert components have been updated to provide support for OS/390 Version 2 Release 4.

  • All CPExpert documentation has been updated with references to applicable OS/390 Version 2 Release 4 documents from IBM.

    Recall that all references in CPExpert documentation refer to IBM documents contained in IBM BookManager format. I will be happy to provide a cross-reference to hard-copy of IBM documents if any user does not have access to IBM documents in BookManager format.

• CICS/Transaction Server for OS/390. The CPExpert CICS Component has been updated to provide support for CICS/Transaction Server for OS/390 (CICS/TS) Release 1.1 (also known as CICS Version 5.1). Additionally, the CICS Component User Manual has been updated with specific references to IBM documents for CICS/TS.

  I expect that the analysis done by the CICS Component will be expanded significantly as performance problems with CICS/TS are experienced by the user community.

• Expand analysis of Goal Mode. The WLM Component of CPExpert has been enhanced with additional analysis of Goal Mode problems or potential problems. The enhancements include suggestions made by users of the WLM Component, and include additional analysis available because of increased SMF data provided with OS/390 Version 2 Release 4.

• Update the MVS Component. The coupling facility analysis code in the MVS Component has been updated to support analysis of a CA-MICS performance data base. When the coupling facility analysis code originally was engineered, I did not have data from a CA-MICS performance data base to analyze; only data in a MXG performance data base was available. Consequently, I could not implement the analysis for a CA-MICS performance data base, and the coupling facility analysis code worked only if you had MXG installed.

  I would like to say "Thank you" to Bryant Osborn (NationsBank, VA) for providing me with CA-MICS data so I could implement the coupling facility analysis for a CA-MICS performance data base.

• Provide documentation on CD-ROM. Beginning with this release of CPExpert, I am issuing CPExpert User Manuals on a CD-ROM, rather than the 3-ring binders previously used.

  The CPExpert documentation currently is over 2,000 pages, and grows larger with each new release of CPExpert. This documentation is updated twice a year and many pages in the user manuals get updated to reflect the latest version of MVS or CICS - particularly with regard to the page or section references related to CPExpert findings. Since IBM plans to issue new releases of OS/390 approximately every six months, and since CPExpert will be updated to reflect the new OS/390 features, the CPExpert document updating process would be increasingly burdensome for you.

  The CPExpert documentation is accessible via Adobe Acrobat Reader, and the CD-ROM contains a free copy of Adobe Acrobat Reader. The Adobe Acrobat Reader should be installed on your PC under Windows 3.1, Windows 95, Windows for Workgroups, or Windows NT. Installation of the Reader will require about 6 megs of space on your hard drive.

  There are many advantages to issuing documentation via Adobe Acrobat. As examples:

  • Your CPExpert documentation will be up-to-date with the latest release of CPExpert (and thus up-to-date with the latest release of OS/390 and CICS).

  • The CPExpert manuals can be searched via the Search Facility of Adobe Acrobat Reader, so you can easily find a particular topic.

  • Adobe Acrobat Reader allows you to print selected pages from the documents. Thus, you can easily print selected portions of the documentation should you wish hard-copy.

  There is no additional charge for the CD-ROM versions of CPExpert documentation. If any user does not have the capability to access documentation on CD-ROM (or simply prefers to have hard-copy documentation), please give me a call.

  I would like to acknowledge Van Xydis (US Patent & Trademark Office) for providing encouragement and guidance in converting the CPExpert documentation to Adobe Acrobat. Thanks for your help, Van!

• Correct errors that have been reported. I've added a new member titled SOURCE(GENERR71) which contains a listing of the errors that were discovered in CPExpert code for Release 7.1, and an acknowledgment of the user who found the error.

  I really appreciate calls from users reporting problems or simply asking questions. As I said in the original delivery letter for CPExpert, if errors occur with your installation, please don't waste your time trying to solve the error. Just give me a call and I will quickly fix the problem!

• Create a new PDS titled "prefix.CPEXPERT.V72.SOURCE".

• Create a new PDS titled "prefix.CPEXPERT.V72.USOURCE".

• Install CPExpert into the "prefix.CPEXPERT.V72.SOURCE" using the normal installation procedures described in the CPExpert Installation Guide.

• Copy your old USOURCE members into "prefix.CPEXPERT.V72.USOURCE". This step should be done so you do not have to recreate all of your unique parameters. There are no changes to the variables in USOURCE members, unless you are exercising new options provided with this code.

• If you elected to receive updates to CPExpert on diskette, the software is distributed on the CD-ROM that contains the CPExpert user documentation. I have created a BAT file for you so that you can easily upload the new software. This file is titled "UPLOAD.BAT" and will be located in the SOFTWARE directory of the CD-ROM. The BAT file was created per your instructions (i.e., using SEND, etc.).

Thanks

I would like to say "Thank you" to the following individuals. These folks have discovered errors, proposed new features, or suggested documentation changes since the last Update Bulletin:

• Jill Billings (First Data Corp., CO)
• Glen Bowman (Wakefern Food Corporation, NJ)
• Dave Callahan (Caterpillar, IL)
• Dave Cogar (DYNCORP, Washington, DC)
• V. Lee Conyers (US Department of Transportation, DC)
• David Ehresman (University of Louisville, KY)
• Peter van Gils (ABN AMRO Bank N.V., Netherlands)
• Mike Jacques (Branch Bank & Trust, NC)
• Gerd Krohm (Westdeutsche Landesbank, Germany)
• Barry Merrill (Merrill Consultants, Dallas, TX)
• Bryant Osborn (NationsBank, VA)
• Tim Vanderhoek (Investment Company, Irving, TX)
• Don Williams (VF-Inoformation Technology Services, NC)
• Van Xydis (US Patent & Trademark Office, DC)

I particularly appreciate the support provided by users who sent me data to analyze! While IBM provides data to me (as a part of the Partners in Development program), it is invaluable for me to have data from the user community. CPExpert analysis gets better mostly by users providing data that I can analyze, identify performance problems, devise solutions, and develop code to automate the process in CPExpert.

Please call, fax, or send me a note on the Internet if you have suggestions, you want new features, or you would like to see more or different reporting done by CPExpert.

Don Deese
October 1997