Date:         Wed, 1 Mar 2000 06:12:26 EST
Reply-To:     PGall9898@AOL.COM
Sender:       "SAS(r) Discussion" <SAS-L@LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
From:         Philip Gallagher <PGall9898@AOL.COM>
Subject:      Re: MVS operating system
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"

Glenn Abrahamsen asked, in part,
"Does anyone have any good web links to "how to"  introductory
guides on the MVS operating system?"

I realize I am answering an unasked question when I refer you to
a (presumably still) hardcopy of an IBM manual, but I have had very
good results with

the IBM JCL Reference Manual

(almost certainly not exactly the right title, but my copy is locked
away in a rental storage shed some 900 miles away.)


I have always maintained that this is one of the few IBM manuals
fairly readily understood by ordinary human beings.  I do not propose
it as a substitute for any of the primers like that maintained by Joe
Kelley;  rather it is a useful adjunct when the primer just about but
not quite deals with your problem of the moment.  And, Heaven help
us, it IS authoritative!  And you may not have to buy one!  Look
around for programmers with gray beards (or female equivalents);
any one of them may still have a now unused copy on his or her
shelf.

And it really is surprisingly (for IBM manuals) readable by neophytes.

Phi Gallagher

A Caveat:
If you do get one of these manuals to go along with your primer, and
if you really do spend some time mastering the topic, don't let anyone
know!  You will rapidly get a reputation as the Guru, and you won't have
a free minute.