Archive for 2007

Gen Collecting

A reader of this blog is an avid collector of old Gen installation media, specifically MVS. he is also interested in other Gen-related media – books, videos etc.

He kindly photographed his collection for inclusion on the Gen History in Pictures page.

If there is anyone out there who has spare media that he can have for his collection, please make contact initially though the Contact page of gentalk.biz, or email him directly (see this post)

 It’s interesting to see the development of Gen over the years, and it’ll also allow people to relive the past times!

Transaction Enabler functionality

I know that this is a little bit specialised, but those people that use TE in a Unix or Windows environment will know that there are some bits of functionality that can be done via the command switches (-p, -m etc etc) and some stuff that can only be done with aefc (such as locking load modules in memory).

I think that ALL functionality should be available from the command line.

For example, preloading load modules into memory is something that is sometimes done at the start of an online day to improve performance, as is locking load modules in memory, to stop them being paged out.

In a Unix environment, this could be done by adding new command line switches, or reading from a file (yes – I know that it can be done by an aefc script, but that seems a little clunky, using two tools to accomplish what should be done by one).

Maybe this will change in a future release of the product, maybe to a GUI configuration tool – bearing in mind, the estate to which I am attached is on Gen 7.0 (moving to 7.6 soon)…..

Maybe this is food for thought……

New Resources to try!

Try the new Gentalk Forums -based at forums.gentalk.biz (or click the link on the menu bar)  like all thing on the Gentalk site, I try these things out for a while, and if they take off, then I keep them, otherwise, I take them down.

The forums are not designed to compete with EDGE forums, but are form Gen people to comment on whatever they want – these forums are just like Gentalk.biz – independant, non-biased toward or away from the tool, just trying to present an honest, straightforward view of it, for better or for worse !

Also, the Gentalk Shop is up at shop.gentalk.biz (or click the link at the menu bar)- this site is funded by me, and as such, I thought I’d start selling Gentalk mugs and T-Shirts and so on – not to make any profit, but to fund the site, and keep it going and enhance and develop it as the readership requires.

Lastly, should anyone want to link to Gentalk (many thanks to the ARIKAN Productivity Group, , Jumar Solutions and Response Systems for doing this!) there is a button which can be used on your own websites:

Simply download it, and link to http://gentalk.biz !!! Thanks!

If we build it, they will come – IBMs AIX 6.1

Since IBM has now released AIX 6.1, they state “binary compatibility” with prior versions of their OS. Presumably this means that Gen applications will run un-recompiled from AIX 5.3 and earlier releases. They state that applications will run on 6.1 IF they don’t use any of the “non portable programming techniques” that are detailed in this document.

I wonder if any of the code generated by the Gen generators contains examples of coding like these. If not, then all users of Gen can upgrade to 6.1… or can they ?

Has CA issued a statement of support for Gen applications running under 6.1 ?

Not that I know of – but to be fair, it is a little early, since the GE of AIX 6.1 was quite recently.

WILL CA support Gen apps running under 6.1 soon ?

Hopefully, but if not, then those customers that use AIX as a strategic OS will have to wait a little to upgrade

Actually that’s not quite the way the quote reads in the 1989 movie “Field of Dreams,” or in the W.P. Kinsella novel, “Shoeless Joe,” on which the movie was based. In its original form it was, “If you build it, he will come.”

Basically, if enough people go out and upgrade to AIX 6.1, then CA should follow suit and support it. Hopefully, they will……..soon !

Gentalk Interview #1 with ARIKAN Productivity Group

The first of many Gentalk interviews is with Mustafa Arikan of the ARIKAN Productvity Group.

Part 1

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Part 2

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Mustafa kindly gave his time to explain what APG is, what they do, and about their vision for Model Based Development and their tooling to vastly enhance Gen’s capabilities.

Listen and enjoy !!
or
Download the interview here (Part 1) , (downloaded times),
and here (Part 2), (downloaded times) ,to listen later and share with others.

(These files are quite large, so be patient. If you have problems downloading them, please let me know using the Contact Page)

Visit their site