Applications

You can use the SuperC program for many applications other than comparing two source data sets. This topic lists some specific applications for general users, writers and editors, and programmers and systems administrators.

General users can:

Compare two data sets that have been reformatted. Reformatted data sets contain such differences as indentation level changes, spaces inserted or deleted, or lines that have been reformatted and moved to other parts of the data set.
SuperC detects and classifies reformatted lines as special changes. You can list these lines in the output, along with the normal insert/delete changes, or eliminate them from the listing. Reducing the number of flagged lines may help you focus on real, rather than cosmetic, changes.
Determine whether two PDSs, or a concatenation of PDSs, have corresponding like-named members.
Members absent from one data set but present in the other are listed, as is all change activity between like-named members. The comparison can show changes caused by creating or deleting PDS members.

Writers and editors can:

Detect word changes within documents.
SuperC finds word differences even if the words have moved to different lines.
Verify that only designated areas are changed.
SuperC comparison results show all areas affected. Changes made to restricted areas may be invalid. Therefore, unintended changes can be detected so that a complete document need not be checked for errors again.
Create a utility that automatically inserts SCRIPT revision codes.
You could write a program that uses Word compare to find where words in the new data set are different, makes a copy of the new data set, and then inserts SCRIPT revision codes (.RC) before and after the changed words. This utility could eliminate the need to insert SCRIPT revision codes manually.

Programmers and systems administrators can:

Generate management reports that show the quantity and type of changes in program source code.
SuperC can count the changed and unchanged lines of code in an application program. Therefore, comparison results could be used to summarize the changes between different versions of a program.
Retain a record of change activity.
Listing data sets can be collected and retained as a permanent record of the changes made before a new program is released. Source code differences can help detect regressions or validate the appropriateness of any code modifications.
Rewrite a listing data set, including additional headers or change delimiters.
Some SuperC listings may need to be rewritten before you accept the results. For example, some installations may require security classifications. Others may require a listing created using the WIDE process option to have box delimiters surrounding changed sections.
Compare data sets across nonconnected systems.
SuperC can generate a 32-bit hash sum per data set or member using the File compare type. Data sets compared on a nonconnected processor, using SuperC, should have the same hash sums if they are identical. A File comparison of any data set to determine a hash sum can be done by specifying the same data set as both new and old.
Develop additional uses for update data sets.
SuperC produces general results with generalized reports. However, your installation may have additional requirements. There are many specialized update formats that you can use to produce listings that match these requirements. Normal SuperC listings may not fit this type of application, but the update data sets are more structured and should be easier to use as data input. See Update files for explanations and examples of the update data sets.