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How to Send Us MONWRITE Data

The best way for you to send us MONWRITE data is to package it into a VMARC archive file and then use FTP to push the archive file to our receiving server testcase.boulder.ibm.com.

The general outline is this:

  1. Use the VMARC file archiver to package the MONWRITE file(s) into a single archive file.
  2. If your network configuration requires it, move the archive file from your z/VM system to some machine of yours that can reach the Internet.
  3. Use FTP to upload the archive file to testcase.boulder.ibm.com.

More detail is below.

Step 1. Use VMARC to Package the MONWRITE Data

Introduction

On CMS, use the VMARC file compression and packaging tool to compress and package the MONWRITE files into a single VMARC archive file. VMARC is a file compression utility that crams a bunch of CMS files into one single CMS file, data-compressed. This is similar to the idea behind ".zip" files in the PC world.

I recommend you package your data with VMARC even if you are sending us only one MONWRITE file. MONWRITE data compresses very well (6x to 12x), so your FTP operation won't take so long. Also, using VMARC to package the file helps protect it against corruption.

Sometime in the past, you might have used COPYFILE ( PACK to package CMS files for transmission across the Internet. Do not do so with MONWRITE data:

  • Do not COPYFILE ( PACK the individual MONWRITE files before packaging them with VMARC.
  • Do not COPYFILE ( PACK the VMARC archive file after you build it.

If you don't have the VMARC tool, you can get it from our download page.

Syntax

The syntax for your VMARC command(s) would be this:

VMARC PACK infn inft infm outfn outft outfm ( options

where:

  • infn inft infm is your input file, e.g, D052107 T083242 A
  • outfn outft outfm is the archive file you are building, e.g., MONDATA VMARC A
  • options are the options for the command:
    • Use ( REPLACE for the first file. This creates the archive.
    • Use ( APPEND for the rest of the files. This appends to the archive.

Example

Here's an example of how to put three MONWRITE files into one VMARC archive file. Notice for the first command, we use REPLACE to create a new archive. For the next two commands, we use APPEND to append to the archive we created.

VMARC PACK D052208 T172321 A MONDATA VMARC A ( REPLACE VMARC PACK D052108 T144352 A MONDATA VMARC A ( APPEND VMARC PACK D042607 T101238 A MONDATA VMARC A ( APPEND

The result of this is file MONDATA VMARC A, which contains the three MONWRITE files, data-compressed.

Step 2. Position Your Archive File for FTP

If your z/VM system is not itself on the Internet, you will need to move your archive file from your z/VM system to a machine from which you can then FTP it to IBM. For example, let's assume you have to move the archive file from z/VM to your laptop.

Use your company's file transfer scheme (PComm, FTP, whatever) to move the archive file from z/VM to your laptop. Use binary transfer mode whenever you move the file. If you move the file with translation, such as EBCDIC-to-ASCII translation, the file becomes unusable and IBM cannot recover it.

Do not use any of the VM-ish FTP options, such as SITE FIXREC, LOCSITE FIXREC, or QUOTE SITE FIXREC, when moving the VMARC archive file. Just FTP the file in binary.

Step 3. Use FTP to Push Your Archive File to IBM

Use FTP to push the archive file to our receiving server testcase.boulder.ibm.com.

  • Log in as anonymous.
  • Use your e-mail address as your password.
  • Put your file into the directory /toibm/vm/.
  • Use binary transfer mode.
  • Name the file according to your PMR number, for example, pm12345.mondata.vmarc or some such.

For more information about using testcase, visit the testcase page.

Make sure you agree with the IBM license agreement before sending us data.

If you are using the z/VM FTP client, do not use any of the VM-ish FTP options, such as SITE FIXREC, LOCSITE FIXREC, or QUOTE SITE FIXREC, when moving the VMARC archive file. Just FTP it in binary.

Here is an example. What you type is marked up like this.

C>ftp
ftp> open testcase.boulder.ibm.com
Connected to testcase.boulder.ibm.com.
220-IBM's internal systems must only be used for conducting IBM's
220-business or for purposes authorized by IBM management.
220-
User (testcase.boulder.ibm.com:(none)): anonymous
331 Password required for anonymous.
Password: type your e-mail address here -- it won't show
230 Virtual user anonymous logged in.
ftp> cd /toibm/vm/
250 CWD command successful.
ftp> binary
200 Type set to I.
ftp> put mondata.vmarc pm45018a.mondata.vmarc
200 PORT command successful.
150 Opening BINARY mode data connection for pm45018a.mondata.vmarc.
226 Transfer complete.
ftp: 3363120 bytes sent in 69.96 Seconds 48.07 Kbytes/sec.
ftp: quit
221 Goodbye.

Here's a picture of a sample console log. Click on the image to see it full-size.

Sample console log.