What’s new with ZOAU

To view APAR/PTF and related support information, see Fix list for IBM Z Open Automation Utilities.

The following updates are available for IBM Z Open Automation Utilities (ZOAU) version 1.4.x.


Version 1.4.0.0

ZOAU v1.4.0.0 (HAL5140) adds these capabilities and enhancements:

New utilities

  • vf
    • Lists active DASD volume status and space information.
  • zoau(7)
    • A new man page is added with descriptions of all the ZOAU commands. Use the command man zoau to view it.

Improvements

  • dcat, dhead, and dtail
    • NULL bytes and unprintable characters in the input dataset are converted to spaces before printing. Unprintable characters can be left unchanged if the -b argument is used.
  • dls and dinfo
    • The -s option now also includes the number of extents, the size of the first extent, and the secondary space of a dataset.
  • dls
    • Removed the deprecated dlshelper shell script from the bin directory, dls is now completely implemented in C.
    • Removed extraneous trailing periods from certain error messages. These made it more difficult to see the dataset name in the message text.
    • New -tVSAM filter to display VSAM clusters including their components.
    • Extended listings for VSAM components are now available when requested with the -tVSAM argument in combination with one of the following options:
    • -l to display the basic VSAM attributes.
    • New -i and -p options to display additional VSAM attributes.
    • New -S option to display the VSAM statistics.
  • pcon
    • New option -S allows reading the SYSLOG from different systems.
  • pjdd
    • New option -i allows reading and filtering SYSIN datasets.
    • Removed the deprecated dlshelper shell script from the bin directory. dls is fully implemented in C.
  • mls
    • The utility has been fully reimplemented in C, driving a substantial performance improvement.
    • mls no longer groups the aliases of a member by default. All members and aliases are listed in the order they are found in the partitioned dataset directory.
    • A new -g option groups the aliases by member. the aliases by member.
    • New -A option to print an alias or member indicator. Also displays the associated member name if the entry is an alias.
    • A new -e option to display the extended attributes of a member:
    • Last user that modified the member
    • Codeset
    • Modification time
    • New -j and -J options for JSON output.
    • New -S option to print the ISPF member statistics.
    • New -x option to display a header for the listing.
  • pjdd
    • New option -i allows reading and filtering SYSIN datasets.
  • The samples directory is reorganized, and new samples added.
  • zoautil.so
    • Increased shared library version to 0x00020102.

Python Library

  • datasets.Dataset
    • Added three new fields for the space attributes, which are also fetched by datasets.list_datasets():
    • allocated_extents displays the allocated extents for the dataset in the volume.
    • first_extent_size estimated size of the first extent of the dataset.
    • secondary_space estimated size of the secondary space for the dataset.
  • datasets.list_members()
    • The returned list separates member names and alias names into individual elements. In previous releases, each member name was followed by all of its aliases in a single string.
  • datasets.read() and datasets.write()
    • Both functions are rewritten to use the zoau_io extension module for better performance, reliability, and constraint relief.
    • datasets.write() is able to write strings much longer than 1024 bytes.
  • New module members
    • New class Member to represent a partitioned dataset member including the following metadata:
    • Alias information.
    • SMDE extended attributes.
    • ISPF member statistics.
    • New function fetch_members()
  • New module volumes
    • New class Volume
    • New function list_volumes() to leverage the new vf utility.
  • New module vsam
    • New classes VsamCluster and VsamComponent to represent a VSAM cluster including the following metadata:
    • VSAM cluster type
    • VSAM component attributes
    • VSAM component statistics
    • New function fetch_cluster()

Prior versions of ZOAU

The following updates are available for prior versions of IBM Z Open Automation Utilities (ZOAU).


Version 1.3.6.2

ZOAU v1.3.6.2 (PH68399) fixes the following problems:

Bug fixes

  • mvscmd and mvscmdauth
    • Fixed an error that allocated a z/OS UNIX path with a read-write access group when read-only access was requested with the statusgroup argument.
    • Fixed an argument parsing failure when you specify the statusgroup option in a dataset/file concatenation.

Version 1.3.6.1

ZOAU v1.3.6.1 (PH67837) fixes the following problem:

Bug fixes

  • dzip
    • An existing output file is not deleted when message BGYSC3911E is displayed.

Version 1.3.6.0

ZOAU v1.3.6.0 (PH65078) adds these capabilities and enhancements:

Improvements

  • dls
    • The utility can display non-detailed listings of dataset aliases when the -t ALIAS argument is provided.
  • dunzip
    • New -T argument to set the type of the temporary datasets.
    • New --keep-temporary-dataset argument to preserve interim untersed dataset after dzip exits.
    • Temporary datasets produced during dzip operation have extra allocated space released to reduce interim disk consumption.
    • Lazy dataset allocation reduces overall disk consumption.
  • dzip
    • The new -T argument to set the type of the output and temporary datasets.
    • The new --compress argument to enable ADRDSSU compression.
    • The new --keyword argument to specify arbitrary ADRDSSU command keywords.
    • The new --no-terse argument to disable AMATERSE compression.
    • The new --process-sys1 argument to enable dumping SYS1.* datasets.
    • Datasets produced during dzip operation have extra allocated space released to reduce disk consumption.
    • Lazy dataset allocation reduces overall disk consumption.
  • jcan
    • Documented environment variable CONCHAR that lets you modify the JES command prefix character.
  • jls
    • Jobs on hold have status "HOLD" until released or canceled.
    • Completion code (ccode) for jobs with status 'NOEXEC' now shows '?', instead of '0000'.
  • vtocls
    • The performance of the -u argument is significantly improved.

Bug fixes

  • dcp
    • An attempt to copy a sequential dataset that is in use by other jobs displays an error message but finishes with a successful return code. This is fixed to properly fail.
    • Fixes a bug that prevents a proper copy of generation datasets when the source GDG base name collides with the segments of a similarly named GDG.
  • dgrep
    • Adds new error message BGYSC1008E when a dataset is not found.
  • dmod and dsed
    • When the command string in the -e option contains double quotes it causes an error when JSON output is enabled, without affecting the operation of the commands. This is fixed.
  • mvscmd
    • New error message BGYSC5907E is displayed if the username for the current user ID cannot be determined,
    • The utility is unable to allocate a dataset concatenation when the unit suboption is specified for one or more of the datasets. This is fixed.
    • Fixes a crash when certain dataset error messages were printed.
  • zinfo
    • The iodf.iodesc field has an incorrect length and is truncated. It has been corrected to display the full description.
    • The sys_info.sysplex_name field is empty on certain systems. It is changed to obtain its data from ECVTSPLX to properly display the sysplex name.

Python Library

  • datasets.dzip()
    • Add new dataset_type argument that corresponds with dzip -T.
    • Add new compress and terse keyword arguments to modify dzip compression behavior.
  • datasets.exists()
    • VSAM datasets and aliases for non-VSAM datasets are supported.
  • gdgs.GenerationDataGroupView.delete()
    • Add new include_rolled_off parameter to delete inactive generations still cataloged and named after the GDG base.
  • jobs.read_output()
    • A nonexistent job ID argument raises a JobFetchException.
  • mvscmd.execute()
    • The tmphlq argument works correctly and no longer produces error message BGYSC0209E.
  • opercmd.execute()
    • Dollar signs ($) are escaped automatically in the command input string.
  • Python stubs
    • Python stubs include docstring content.

Version 1.3.5.1

ZOAU v1.3.5.1 (PH66203) fixes the following problems:

Bug fixes

  • zoautil_py.jobs.Job
    • The constructor for the Job class raises a ValueError exception when the value for cpu_time or srb_time is unknown (?). This is fixed by setting these fields to zero when the value is unknown.

Version 1.3.5.0

ZOAU v1.3.5.0 (PH64192) adds these capabilities and enhancements:

Improvements

  • dcp
    • Warning message BGYSC0507I is changed to the error message BGYSC0507E.
    • The following new error messages are introduced:
    • BGYSC0512E when a dataset does not exist.
    • BGYSC0513E when dcp cannot perform the copy operation from a source data set to a target data set.
    • BGYSC0514E when the target file could not be defined to the system.
    • BGYSC0515E when the specified source file could not be located.
  • decho
    • Improved the error message BGYSC0705E. This message is displayed when the user tries to decho a PDS or PDSE dataset without specifying the name of the target member.
  • dgrep
    • The utility works correctly on systems that use zopen awk.
  • drm
    • A new -n argument will not scratch non-VSAM datasets from the VTOC of the volume they reside on.
  • dtouch
    • The error messages are enhanced to include the descriptions of severe dynamic allocation errors.
  • dunzip
    • Added new argument --keyword to specify arbitrary ADRDSSU command keywords.
    • Added new argument --tolerate to ignore errors in obtaining exclusive access to target datasets.
  • jcan
    • New error message BGYSC3808E is added when the system is unable to determine the name of the current user ID.
    • jcan validates that the user has ALTER access to the RACF resource CANCEL in the JESJOBS class. If the validation fails, the job is not cancelled and the new error message BGYSC3806E is displayed. The -d argument displays new informational message BGYSC3803I with the validation details.
    • If the system is busy, jcan might be unable to get a list of the user's jobs. In that case, jcan displays error message BGYSC3807E and returns error code 8.
  • jls
    • The new fields cputimeand srbtime are available through the extended output (-l) and field selection (-o) arguments.
  • llwhence
    • If the user is not authorized to use the opercmd utility, llwhence displays error message BGYSC0819E. This message appears only if the -v argument is used.
  • mvscmd and mvscmdauth
    • Added a new raw suboption for data definitions which allows the creation of datasets without default attributes. This permits the MVS program that is called to set its own defaults when available.
    • The error messages are enhanced to include the descriptions of severe dynamic allocation errors.
  • pdc
    • Added the environment variables ISPF_HLQ and ISMF_HLQ to specify custom locations of the ISPF libraries.
  • pjdd
    • Added the new fields cputimeand srbtime when the step information is displayed by reading the EVENTLOG from a job.
  • vls
    • The output now includes VSAM alternate indexes and paths.

Bug fixes

  • dcat, dhead, dtail
    • Fixes an abend that occurs when processing JSON output that contains quotes and control characters.
  • jcan
    • Previously, when the job owner was not available, jcan returned the incorrect error message sysmtem busy. It now returns the new message BGYSC3809E.
  • pcon
    • Fixes a bug that caused the same system log to be printed for each node in a sysplex.
    • Fixes an error that prints the logs from 24 hours earlier than the specified time in the -s option.
    • SYSLOG jobs that have a status other than "AC" cause the process to hang indefinitely. The jobs are skipped to prevent the hang.
  • pjdd
    • Records that are read from the job datasets are now sanitized to replace null and unprintable characters with a space (' '). This means that fixed-length records contain spaces up to the logical record length.
    • Datasets that are generated by substeps are ignored and not printed when the wildcard step name or DD name filters are used.

Python Library

  • datasets.delete()
    • A new no_scratch argument can be used to preserve a non-VSAM dataset in the VTOC of the volume it resides on.
  • datasets.dunzip()
    • Adds new boolean argument tolerate that corresponds to the dunzip argument --tolerate
    • Adds new argument keywords that accepts a dictionary of ADRDSSU command keywords. This permits you to pass arguments that are not explicitly supported.
  • datasets.list_datasets()
    • Fixes a bug suppressing output when filtering the dataset list by volume.
  • jobs module
    • Job class has new attributes cpu_time and srb_time that correspond with cputime and srbtime from jls.
  • Job.wait()
    • The class method now supports a timeout limit through the optional max_loops parameter. This allows users to specify a maximum amount of time to wait for the job to complete before it times out.
  • lib/zoautil_py
    • The symbolic link has an incorrect user ID. It now matches the rest of the ZOAU installed files.
  • types.DatasetDefinition
    • Added a new RAW status argument that allows creating a dataset without the default values. This permits the MVS program that is called to set its own defaults.
  • ztypes module
    • The new class VolumeDefinition allows defining volume data definitions to use with the mvscmd module.

Version 1.3.4.1

ZOAU v1.3.4.1 (PH64461) fixes the following problems:

Bug fixes

  • dcat, dhead, dtail
    • Fixes an abend that occurs when processing JSON output that contains quotes and control characters.
  • pcon
    • Fixes a bug that caused the same system log to be printed for each node in a sysplex.
    • Fixes an error that printed the logs from 24 hours earlier than the specified time in the -s option.
    • SYSLOG jobs that have a status other than "AC" caused the process to hang indefinitely. The jobs are now skipped to prevent the hang.

Version 1.3.4.0

ZOAU v1.3.4.0 (PH61919) adds these capabilities and enhancements:

Improvements

  • apfadm
    • A new -i argument suppresses errors for duplicate add/delete dataset operations.
  • ddls
    • New field <byte count> shows the number of bytes after blank truncation in the dataset.
  • dls
    • The utility is now able to display non-detailed listings of VSAM datasets using the following arguments:
    • -t CLUSTER for VSAM clusters and their components.
    • -t AIX for alternate indexes and their components.
    • -t PATH for VSAM paths.
  • dtouch
    • A new -u option specifies the device unit.
  • dunzip
    • A number of new arguments support a subset of ADRDSSU RESTORE keywords.
    • Long arguments are added for each existing short argument.
    • A new --target-gds option restores non pre-allocated SMS-managed generation datasets with a specific status.
  • dwhence
    • Generation dataset relative names as arguments are now permitted.
    • New BGYSC2603I message is displayed when a dataset is ignored.
  • jls
    • New fields added:
    • executiontime shows the elapsed execution time for a job.
    • executionseconds shows the number of seconds the job executed for.
    • system shows the MVS system name where the job ran.
    • subsystem shows the same of the subsystem that executed the job.
    • onode shows the origin node.
    • xnode shows the execution node.
    • membname shows the execution JES member name.
  • mvscmd & mvscmdauth
    • Added new unit suboption for dataset allocations.
    • Added new old and unit suboptions for volume allocations.

Bug fixes

  • dmod
    • Regular expressions that used the global g flag did not replace all occurrences.
    • Regular expressions with curly braces did not function correctly.
  • dsed
    • Regular expressions that used the global g flag did not replace all occurrences.
  • dwhence and mvscmd
    • Fixed a problem that prevented proper deallocation of concatenated datasets.
  • jls
    • Fixed an issue that added an extra character to the jobtype field.
  • pcon
    • Fixed an allocation namespace collision that broke output for jobs with multiple DDs.
  • vls
    • vls now works correctly on systems that use zopen awk.
  • vtocls
    • Fixed the utility so it correctly lists the contents of the IPL volume instead of displaying the error message BGYSC4404E.
  • zoaversion
    • Fixed a bug that caused the health check argument (-c) to incorrectly calculate the free space for the temporary directory.

Python Library

  • Added support for IBM Open Enterprise SDK for Python 3.13.
  • datasets.compare(), mvscmd.execute(), and mvscmd.execute_authorized()
    • Added a new tmphlq keyword argument to alter the HLQ used for defining temporary datasets.
  • datasets.create()
    • Added new device_unit keyword argument to create a dataset on a specific device.
  • datasets.dunzip()
    • Added new target_gds keyword argument to specify the status in which a SMS-managed generation dataset should be restored.
    • Added a number of new arguments to support a subset of ADRDSSU RESTORE keywords.
  • datasets.find_member()
    • Added support for generation dataset relative names.
  • jobs.Job class
    • New attributes added to the class with support in jobs.fetch_multiple() and jobs.fetch_multiple_as_json():
    • execution_time: Elapsed execution time.
    • execution_seconds: Total elapsed execution time in seconds.
    • system: MVS execution system.
    • subsystem: Subsystem that executed the job.
    • origin_node: Origin node.
    • execution_node: Execution node.
    • member_name: Execution JES member name.
  • mvscmd module
    • Added a device_unit argument for dataset definitions.
  • zsystem.apf()
    • Added a new ignore argument that will ignore errors in the case of duplicate add or delete operations.

Bug fixes

  • mvscmd module
    • Fixed shell syntax errors caused by special characters in DD options that were not escaped correctly.

Version 1.3.3.2

Bug fixes

ZOAU 1.3.3.2 (PH63491) fixes the following problem:

  • dls
    • When listing the details of a multi-volume dataset, the utility only properly printed the line that contained the first volume. The remaining lines displayed the message BGYSC2006I. This has been fixed.

Python library

  • datasets.list_datasets()
    • Fixed a problem that prevented listing multi-volume datasets. A Dataset object is now returned for each utilized volume.

Version 1.3.3.1

ZOAU 1.3.3.1 (PH63490) fixes the following problem:

Bug fixes

  • vtocls
    • The utility was unable to list the contents of the IPL volume, the error message BGYSC4404E was displayed. This has been fixed.

Version 1.3.3.0

ZOAU v1.3.3.0 (PH60439) adds these capabilities and enhancements:

Improvements

  • a2e and e2a
    • File permissions are preserved after the file is re-encoded.
  • dls
    • A new -U option displays dataset sizes in "human-readable" format.
  • jls
    • The status field has new possible values for SCAN and EOM.
  • mrm
    • Multiple dataset member arguments can now be specified. This previously returned error message BGYSC1702E.
  • mvstmp
    • The error message output code now runs much faster.
  • pdc and vtocls
    • Updated -d argument to display debug data.
  • zoaversion
    • The ZOAU diagnostic report that is invoked by the -c argument now checks the temporary directory.

The following utilities now support JES3 environments:

  • jcan
  • jls
  • pcon
  • pproc
    • The default proclib name used in JES3 is "IATPLBST".

Bug fixes

  • a2e and e2a
    • The utility now calls /bin/iconv directly in order to avoid conflicts with other versions of iconv.
  • dcat, dhead, and dtail
    • Fixed error BGYSC1311E when printing large datasets in JSON format.
  • dmod and dsed
    • Fixed a bug that returned error BGYSC4909E or BGYSC4809E, and caused some records to be deleted from the target dataset.
  • drm
    • Attempting to delete datasets with a wildcard in the HLQ incorrectly generated message BGYSC1503E.
  • dtouch
    • Allocating a dataset larger than 2GB failed with error message BGYSC1402E due to an improper size calculation. This has been corrected.
    • dtouch now treats an allocation size of 1 KB to be 1024 bytes, 1 MB to be 1024 KB, and 1 GB to be 1024 MB.
    • Specifying a dataset name without any periods no longer causes an infinite loop.
  • zoautil.so
    • If the directory containing the zoautil.so shared library was not in the LIBPATH, the code that searched for it did not properly build the library path.

Python library

  • datasets module
    • dzip() and dunzip() have a new tmphlq keyword argument to alter the HLQ used for defining temporary datasets.
  • zoau_io module
    • Added support to open a dataset in write, append, or update mode.
    • RecordIO
    • New write() method for writing a bytes object to a record stream.
    • RecordIO_TextWrapper
    • New write() method for encoding and writing a string to a record stream.
    • zopen and RecordIO
    • New keyword arguments to define the attributes of a new dataset: blskize, lrecl, recfm, and space.

Bug fixes

  • datasets.tmp_name()
    • When the high_level_qualifier argument contained a dollar sign ($), an incorrect name would be returned. The function now returns a correct name.
  • zsystem.find_parmlib() and zsystem.find_proclib()
    • Member names containing a dollar sign ($) are now handled correctly.
  • zsystem.apf()
    • If the dsname argument contained a dollar sign ($), an error would occur during the APF operation. The function now handles dollar signs correctly.

Version 1.3.2.2

ZOAU 1.3.2.2 (PH63169) fixes the following problem:

Improvements

  • mvscmd
    • Added new old and unit suboptions for volume allocations.

Bug fixes

  • vtocls
    • The utility was unable to list the contents of the IPL volume, the error message BGYSC4404E was displayed. This has been fixed.

Version 1.3.2.1

Bug fixes

ZOAU 1.3.2.1 (PH62335) fixes the following problem:

  • dcp
    • dcp failed when a PDS or PDSE target dataset was already in use by another job that opened the dataset in a shared disposition. This has been fixed.

Version 1.3.2.0

Improvements

ZOAU v1.3.2.0 (PH60438) adds these capabilities and enhancements:

JSON output support

  • pcon

Generation dataset (GDS) relative name support

  • dcat
  • decho
  • dhead
  • dmv
  • dtail

Other improvements

  • a2e and e2a
    • Multiple files can be converted with one command.
    • New error messages and improved error checking.
    • New warning message when converting an untagged file.
    • New -q argument to suppress message output.
    • Fewer temporary files are created.
  • dls
    • The utility has been reimplemented in C, leveraging the catalog search interface.
    • Listings now follow the catalog order.
    • A new -H option displays a header for extended listings.
  • dls and dinfo
    • The -T option is now available to display the dataset type.
  • dmv
    • dmv is now capable of renaming generation data groups.
  • dunzip
    • The new -N argument restores datasets to their original HLQ from when they were archived.
    • Code is cleaned and reworked for minor performance optimizations.
  • dzip
    • Message BGYSC3910I is added to -v output.
    • Code is cleaned and reworked for minor performance optimizations.
  • jls
    • The new field "job type" is now available with options -l and -o.
  • opercmd
    • The EMCS console used by opercmd is now deleted after being deactivated. This prevents unused system consoles from consuming system resources.
    • If two instances of opercmd are run at the same time by the same user, the command would fail and message BGYSC0822E would be printed. This has been changed to retry the command with varying console names until a console can be activated.
  • pcon
    • You can now use the -t argument to specify a number of minutes of log data to print.
    • When called with no arguments, the default behavior is to print 10 minutes of data. This is identical to the -r argument.
  • pjdd
    • Control characters are now escaped in JSON output.
  • zoaversion
    • Added the zoauversion symlink for consistent naming.
    • The -j argument is now available for JSON output.

Bug fixes

  • ddls and pjdd
    • A bug that threw error BGYSC5403E when running on JES3 systems is fixed.
  • dtouch
    • The dtouch message ID prefix was changed to BGYSC63 fix a collision with other message IDs.
  • dzip
    • If a dataset is in use and cannot be serialized, new message BGYSC3908I is printed.
    • If an error is detected during dzip operation and the -f argument is specified to ignore errors, new message BGYSC3909I is printed.
    • Previously, a shell syntax error occurred if the call to ADRDSSU failed. This is fixed.
  • jcan
    • Previously, the return code from jcan was not properly set if a user is not permitted to cancel a job. An error code is now returned when a SAF error message is raised.
  • mrm
    • A bug that prevented a deletion when a member name contains a dollar symbol is fixed.
  • mvscmd
    • Some messages are updated to print "ZOAU" instead of "ZOA Utilities".

Python library

  • The new attribute job_type is added to the Job class, and support for it added to jobs.fetch_multiple() and jobs.fetch_multiple_as_json().

  • The zsystem.list_data_classes() function is now available to retrieves a list of SMS data classes on the system.

  • The optional argument keep_original_hlq is now available for use with datasets.dunzip() to preserve the original HLQ of the archived datasets.

  • The following functions support generation dataset relative names:

    • datasets.read()
    • datasets.read_as_bytes()
    • datasets.read_head()

Version 1.3.1.2

Bug fixes

ZOAU 1.3.1.2 (PH62335) fixes the following problem:

  • jcan
    • If a user is not authorized to submit console commands and attempts to use jcan, an abend may occur. This has been fixed.

Version 1.3.1.1

Bug fixes

ZOAU 1.3.1.1 (PH60717) fixes the following problem:

  • dcp, dgrep, mls, and mrm
    • A negative generation dataset relative name was resolving into an incorrect absolute name when the generation data group contained gaps between generations. This has been fixed.

Version 1.3.1.0

Improvements

ZOAU v1.3.1.0 (PH59399) adds these capabilities and enhancements:

JSON output support

JSON output support is now available for the following commands:

  • dgrep
  • dtouch
  • dwhence
  • mvscmd
  • mvscmdauth

Generation dataset (GDS) relative name support

Generation dataset support is now available for the following commands:

  • dgrep
  • dmod
  • drm
  • dsed
  • dtouch
  • jsub
  • mls
  • mmv
  • mrm

Other improvements

  • dcp
    • The efficiency of dcp is improved.
  • dmod and dsed
    • Documentation is now available for the -r option.
  • dls
    • Use the new -t option to filter by dataset type, and the new complementary -F option to print the type identifier for each dataset.
    • You can now list generation data groups and generation datasets.
  • drm
    • drm now deletes generation data groups as well as VSAM, non-VSAM, and generation datasets. The new -F option is required to delete non-empty GDGs.
  • dtouch
    • The number of tracks allocated for primary and secondary space is now rounded up to fix a bug that allocated less space than specified by -s or -e.
    • You can now create generation data groups by specifying the option -tGDG. New options -E, -L, -P, -S, -X, and -Y are available to define GDG attributes.
  • jls
    • Additional job states are documented.
  • mvscmdmsg
    • A reimplementation of mvscmdmsg in C provides significant performance improvement when printing messages. This is especially noticeable for cases like opercmd -d or mvscmd -d.
  • zoautil.so
    • The "OWNER" field in the product registration SMF89 record is now properly filled in.

Python library

  • Documentation is now available for the datasets.lineinfile() optional argument backref.
  • A new datasets.search_dictionary() method is available that utilizes the JSON output from dgrep.
  • The new gdgs module provides an interface to z/OS Generation Data Groups.
  • Generation dataset relative names are now supported in the following functions:
    • datasets.blockinfile()
    • datasets.create()
    • datasets.delete()
    • datasets.delete_members()
    • datasets.find_replace()
    • datasets.list_members()
    • datasets.move_member()
    • jobs.submit()

Bug fixes

ZOAU v1.3.1.0 fixes the following problems:

  • dcp
    • If a PDS member was deleted without removing its aliases, a subsequent call to dcp displayed an error message. This has been fixed.
  • ddls
    • A bug is fixed that caused incorrect return codes 2, 3, and 4 instead of 8, 5, and 6.
  • decho
    • Appending data to a full dataset appeared to be successful even though some data was not written. To fix this, decho now returns RC=8 and displays error message BGYSC0706E.
  • dls
    • A message has been removed that appeared if dls was invoked with the -al options to browse a dataset with no members.
  • mls
    • In certain cases, the last member in a PDSE was not printed. This is fixed.
  • pcon
    • The algorithm used to calculate "recent" vs. "specific" times for the log start time has been fixed. A time provided with the -s argument should produce similar results to one of the -dlmrwy arguments.
    • New diagnostic messages are available when using the -v option.

Python library

  • datasets.create() now raises a DatasetCreateException if the dtouch utility gives a non-zero return code.
  • datasets.read_as_bytes() can now read a PDS member without quoting the dataset argument.
  • datasets.list_members() now raises a ZOAUException if the mls utility gives a non-zero return code.
  • opercmd.execute() now raises a ZOAUException if the opercmd utility gives a non-zero return code.

Version 1.3.0.4

Bug fixes

ZOAU 1.3.0.4 ZOAU (PH59810) fixes the following problem:

Python Library

  • datasets.list_vsam_datasets
    • An exception was thrown if no datasets matching the provided pattern were found. This has been changed to return an empty list.

Version 1.3.0.3

Bug fixes

ZOAU 1.3.0.3 (PH59330) fixes the following problem:

Python Library

  • zoau_io.zopen
    • Passing an unsupported encoding page to the zopen() factory function caused an abend. This has been fixed to throw an exception.

Version 1.3.0.2

Bug fixes

ZOAU 1.3.0.2 (PH59329) fixes the following problem:

  • opercmd
    • On some systems, issuing an operator command could result in abend SD22 R=00000020. This has been fixed.

Version 1.3.0.1

Bug fixes

ZOAU v1.3.0.1 (PH59328) fixes the following problem:

  • pcon
    • An off-by-one error occurred if the -s argument was applied to January or February of a leap year. This has been fixed.

Version 1.3.0.0

IBM Z Open Automation Utilities release 1.3 is a major release with significant enhancements and changes, including new support for generation datasets (GDS) and JSON output, improved binary read capabilities, and compatibility with IBM Open Enterprise SDK for Python 3.12.

If you use a previous version of ZOAU, be sure to review Release planning for essential migration guidance.


Key Improvements

GDG dataset support. Generation datasets (GDSs) within generation data groups (GDGs) are common dataset types on z/OS. GDG dataset support streamlines interactions involving GDSs and reduces the need for pre- or post-processing outside of ZOAU. The same operations are fully supported in Python. GDG dataset support is available through the dcp, mvscmd, and mvscmdauth shell commands, and the Python API datasets.copy() function.


JSON output support. JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) is a popular open standard for data interchange between computer applications and computer systems. You can now use many popular commands to provide JSON output for your workflows, which can help make automation tasks easier and enable you to build more complex solutions. Included is an enhanced metadata feedback mechanism that you can use to evaluate return codes and other runtime information directly in the JSON output provided by ZOAU. JSON output capability is available for the utilities apfadm, dcat, ddls, dhead, dinfo, dls, dtail, jls, opercmd, pjdd, dmod, dsed, and zinfo, and the relevant Python API calls associated with these utilities.


Improved binary read capabilities. ZOAU utilities open and interpret datasets as text strings. With the binary read option, all dataset utilities and APIs involved in processing datasets can now handle non-printable NULL characters properly, including those present in legacy datasets. This capability is available through the dcat, dhead, and dtail utilities, and through the Python language pack datasets.read_as_bytes function.


IBM Open Enterprise SDK for Python 3.12 compatibility. IBM Z Open Automation Utilities 1.3 tests for compatibility with IBM Open Enterprise SDK for Python 3.12 and provides support for a wide range of Python workloads via the ZOAU Python API. To make installation easier, the Python language pack in ZOAU ships with a pip wheel. Once installed, you can use the Python capabilities in ZOAU through IBM Open Enterprise SDK for Python in your custom Python applications or automation projects, including those that leverage Red Hat® Ansible® Certified Content for IBM Z using Red Hat Ansible.


Stabilizations, deprecations, and withdrawals

Z Open Automation Utilities 1.3 streamlines support for ZOAU Python language pack operations and introduces changes to Python methods. To help you identify potential Python incompatibilities and migrate from prior versions of ZOAU, see Release planning.




Detailed change list for ZOAU v1.3

This is a new major release with significant changes and enhancements.

Improvements

ZOAU v1.3.0.0 adds these capabilities and enhancements:

  • New JSON output support using the z/OS JSON Parser and a new schema for the following utilities:
    • dcat
    • ddls
    • dhead
    • dinfo
    • dls
    • dtail
    • jls
    • opercmd
    • pjdd
  • The existing JSON output for the following utilities has been updated to use the new schema:
    • apfadm
    • dmod
    • dsed
    • zinfo
  • dcat and dhead
    • Added -b argument for "binary read" support.
    • Added -l argument for suppressing newlines between dataset records.
  • dcp
    • Added support to reference a generation dataset by its relative name.
    • Added support to copy a generation data group (GDG) and all its active generations to a new GDG.
  • dsed
    • The need to escape curly braces in regular expressions is eliminated.
  • mvstmp
    • A new -c argument is added to check whether the current user can write to a temporary dataset.
    • The current user ID is now the default HLQ for a temporary dataset name.
    • The provided HLQ will be validated to ensure it conforms to dataset naming requirements.
  • mvscmd and mvscmdauth
    • Added support for associating a generation dataset (GDS) with a DD name. It is now possible to reference the latest, a previous, or new generation by using a GDS relative name.
  • opercmd
    • Unprintable characters are converted to spaces. Certain operator commands contain non-text or control characters in their output. This would cause the Python wrapper API opercmd.execute() to throw an exception.
    • The units of the -T TIMEOUT argument have been changed to hundredths of a second (0.01). This allows for more granularity in setting the desired timeout.
  • zoautil.so
    • The shared library version number has been increased to 0x00020101.

Python library

This release of the ZOAU introduces significant changes to the Python APIs. Programs that use these APIs may need modifications in order to function correctly.

  • Multiple function parameters are renamed to comply with Python style and security guidelines.
  • datasets.copy
    • Added support to reference a generation dataset by its relative name.
    • Added support to copy a generation data group (GDG) and all its active generations to a new GDG.
  • mvscmd.execute and mvscmd.execute_authorized
    • Dataset definitions now support references to generation datasets by using their relative names.
  • Exception Rework
    • New exception schema for ZOAU related exceptions.
    • All ZOAU Exceptions' content is now consistent, including a ZOAUResponse Object within them.
    • Previously silent errors now throw detailed exceptions.
    • Mislabeled ZOAU exceptions returned to Python's built-in exceptions (Ex. TypeError).
  • Reworked Job object
    • Object relocated to jobs.py.
    • Object attributes names now comply to Python style guides.
    • Improved __str__ and __repr__ methods.
    • Extended fields are no longer loaded by default, improving performance.
    • New jobs.fetch_extended_fields() function to fetch extended fields for existing jobs.
    • Purged boolean attribute added to control the Job's workflows.
    • Type checking now enabled to ensure consistency.
    • Unknown fields are now stored as None
  • jobs.submit() redesigned to improve usability.
  • New jobs.submit_return_job_id() function for batch job submission or special behaviors.
  • jobs.cancel() redesigned to improve usability.
  • New standalone jobs.purge() function.
  • Purged jobs no longer can be refreshed, cancelled, or purged.
    • Attempting to do so is handled correctly and will not break workflows.
  • Improved jobs.fetch() replaces jobs.get()
  • Improved jobs.fetch_multiple() replaces jobs.listing().
  • New jobs.fetch_multiple_as_json() function with enhanced fetch control.
  • New jobs.exists() function.
  • Reworked Dataset object
    • Object relocated to datasets.py.
    • Object attribute names now comply to Python style guidelines.
    • Improved __str__ and __repr__ methods.
    • Type checking now enabled to ensure consistency.
    • Unknown fields are now stored as None.
  • Improved datasets.list_datasets() replaces old datasets.listing()
  • datasets.dzip() & datasets.dunzip() replace datasets.zip() & datasets.unzip().
  • New datasets.list_dataset_names() lists only dataset names as strings.
    • This is now the only function that supports listing migrated datasets.
  • datasets.get_hlq() replaces datasets.hlq()
  • Removed volumes.py module and relocated its content to datasets.py
    • datasets.list_vsam_datasets() replaces volumes.list_vsam_datasets()
    • datasets.list_datasets_by_volume() replaces volumes.list_datasets_by_volume()
  • Internal functions now are building on JSON responses from the core ZOAU libraries.
  • Multiple new internal utility functions.

Stabilizations, deprecations, and withdrawals

ZOAU v1.3.0.0 removes the following scripts from the bin directory. These were deprecated in the previous release, and are now removed from the product.

  • ddlshelper.old
  • jcanhelper.old
  • jlshelper.old
  • jsubhelper.old
  • opercmdhelper.old
  • pconhelper.old
  • pjddhelper.old

Bug fixes

ZOAU v1.3.0.0 fixes the following problems:

  • apfadm
    • When a volume does not have a VVDS, new error message BGYSC4720E will be displayed.
  • dls
    • Alias information was not shown when the user passed -a as the only parameter on the command line.
    • The utility no longer generates temporary datasets.
  • dlsraw
    • The error message BGYSC1205E was incorrectly formatted.
  • dsed
    • In debug mode -d, the boolean JSON property "changed" was returning 0 or 1. It now returns false or true, respectively.
  • vls
    • Incomplete cluster information was shown when a dataset was in use. This has been changed to display message BGYSC4304E.

Python library

  • zsystem.read_console()
    • Fixed an issue that ignored the given 'options' argument and always returned the last 10 minutes of the log.



Version 1.2.x

Version 1.2.5.11

Bug fixes

ZOAU 1.2.5.11 fixes the following problem:

  • vtocls
    • Listing the contents of the IPL volume displays the error message BGYSC4404E. This is fixed.

Version 1.2.5.10

Bug fixes

ZOAU 1.2.5.10 fixes the following problem:

  • dcp
    • dcp failed when a PDS or PDSE target dataset was already in use by another job that opened the dataset in a shared disposition. This has been fixed.


Version 1.2.5.9

Bug fixes

ZOAU 1.2.5.9 fixes the following problem:

  • jcan
    • If a user is not authorized to submit console commands and attempts to use jcan, an abend may occur. This has been fixed.

Version 1.2.5.8

Improvements

  • dcp
    • The efficiency of dcp has been improved.

Bug fixes

  • dcp
    • Trying to copy a load module with aliases into an existing PDSE two times fails when the second copy attempt is the same load module. This has been fixed.

Version 1.2.5.7

Bug fixes

ZOAU 1.2.5.7 fixes the following problem:

Python Library

  • datasets.list_vsam_datasets
    • An empty list is now returned if no datasets matching the provided pattern are found. This function previously threw an exception.

Version 1.2.5.6

Bug fixes

ZOAU 1.2.5.6 fixes the following problem:

  • core.so

    • Unprintable characters in the response buffer from a ZOAU utility are now converted to a space character. This prevents a UnicodeDecodeError exception from being thrown when the response buffer is converted to a Python string.

Version 1.2.5.5

Bug fixes

ZOAU 1.2.5.5 fixes the following problem:

  • pcon

    • The algorithm that calculates recent and specific log start times is fixed. A time provided with the -s argument now produces results similar to those produced by the -dlmrwy arguments.

    • More diagnostic messages are now available when you use the -v option.


Version 1.2.5.4

Bug fixes

ZOAU 1.2.5.4 fixes the following problem:

  • opercmd
    • On some systems, issuing an operator command could result in abend SD22 R=00000020. This has been fixed.

Version 1.2.5.3

Bug fixes

ZOAU 1.2.5.3 fixes the following problems:

  • pcon
    • An off-by-one error occured if the -s argument was applied to January or February of a leap year. This has been fixed.

Version 1.2.5.2

The fix available in ZOAU v1.2.5.2 applies to the 1.2.x version. It will be available for ZOAU v1.3 in a future update.

Bug fixes

ZOAU v1.2.5.2 fixes the following problem:

Python Library

  • zoau_io.zopen
    • Passing an unsupported encoding page to the zopen() factory function caused an abend. This has been fixed to throw an exception.

Version 1.2.5.1

Improvements

  • Added support for IBM Open Enterprise Python version 3.12.
    • A new wheel file has been added to easily install support for the latest Python runtime.

Version 1.2.5.0

New commands

ZOAU v1.2.5.0 adds the following new utilities:

  • a2e and e2a
    • Convert files in-place between EBCDIC and ASCII. Reads and sets file tags during the conversion.
  • pdc
    • Print a list of the active data classes.
  • smsraw
    • Drive an SMS service through batch TSO.

ZOAU v1.2.5.0 adds these capabilities and enhancements:

Improvements

  • opercmd
    • New -w argument added to toggle behavior when waiting for command response output. Specifying this argument causes opercmd to wait the entire timeout period before returning.
    • The default timeout value has been changed to 1 second. This is the maximum amount of time that opercmd will wait before returning, regardless if it received any command response.
  • zoautil.so
    • Improved temporary file creation and cleanup.
  • zoaversion
    • A new -c argument has been added to print a diagnostic report about the ZOAU installation. This is intended for use by IBM service personnel.
    • The release "codename" is printed as part of the command output.

Python library

  • core.so
    • The Python language pack correctly performs a version check before loading the ZOAU shared library. If there is a version mismatch, an exception will be raised.
  • datasets.copy
    • Add new alias and executable arguments to allow for copying of dataset aliases.
    • Fixed an issue that caused a dataset name containing a dollar sign to be unintentionally expanded as a shell variable.
  • datasets.create
    • Creation of VSAM datasets is now properly validated.
  • datasets.list_members
    • Add new alias argument to toggle display of dataset member aliases.
  • types.DatasetDefinition
    • Fixed an argument error that caused message BGYSC0224E.
  • zsystem.read_console
    • Fixed an issue that caused incorrect output when using debug=True.

Bug fixes

ZOAU v1.2.5.0 fixes the following problems:

  • Many utilities did not properly support the -d option to enable debug output. This has been fixed.
  • ddls
    • The debug output is now correctly printed to standard error. This will allow using debug=True in jobs.list_dds().
  • decho
    • Fixed an issue that caused several "libdio error" messages to display.
  • dinfo
    • Fixed issues that produced unprintable characters in the output values and memory faults in certain cases.
  • dls
    • dls -s now shows the proper size of datasets larger than 4GB.
    • A memory overlay issue that caused corrupted output has been fixed.
  • dmod
    • Fixed a memory corruption issue.
    • Added validation checks when writing out the modified dataset.
    • New error message BGYSC4819E is produced when dmod is unable to find a z/OS UNIX file.
  • dzip
    • Fixed return codes produced when the compression step fails. dzip previously returned RC=8 in all failure cases. It will now pass through return codes from called programs.
  • jcan
    • Two new error messages BGYSC3804E and BGYSC3805E were added to jcan. The first is triggered if jcan detects a security manager error, and the second if jcan detects a memory error.
  • jsub
    • It is now possible to submit a job from a dataset that has a hyphen in the name.
  • mvscmd
    • Fixed a bug that triggered a shell syntax error when verbose output was enabled and a PDS member was used as a DD.
  • pjdd
    • Fixed an issue that displayed error message BGYSC3703E even on success.

Version 1.2.4.5

Bug fixes

ZOAU 1.2.4.5 fixes the following problem:

Python Library

  • zoau_io.zopen
    • Fixed an issue that was causing an abend when calling the zopen factory function multiple times.

Version 1.2.4.4

Bug fixes

ZOAU v1.2.4.4 fixes the following problem:

  • drm
    • Fixed an intermittent problem where message BGYSC1505E was produced and the specified datasets were not deleted.

Version 1.2.4.3

Bug fixes


ZOAU v1.2.4.3 fixes the following problems:

  • jls

    • Adjusted the -o and -l options to make -o have priority. Only the fields specified by the -o options will be honored, even if the -l option is also specified.

  • ddls

    • Fixed an issue that printed a single line with no details for jobs that were invalid or inaccessible to JES.

Version 1.2.4.2

Bug fixes

  • mvscmd
    • Fixed a bug that triggered a shell syntax error when verbose output was enabled and a PDS member was used as a DD.
    • Fixed a bug that didn't allow certain programs to receive input from stdin while using the documented syntax.

Version 1.2.4.1

Changes

ZOAU v1.2.4.1 changes the following behavior:

  • opercmd
    • The default wait time for a command response has been reduced. This can improve the performance of scripts that make repeated calls to opercmd.

Python library

  • opercmd.execute
    • The default value of the timeout parameter has been changed to 0. This means that the API will accept whatever the minimum timeout value is from the opercmd utility.

Version 1.2.4

Improvements

ZOAU v1.2.4 adds these capabilities and enhancements:

  • dcp
    • A new -f argument is added to force the copy operation, which can be used to override a shared lock on the destination dataset.
    • NOTE: If a dataset member has aliases, and is not a program object, copying that member to a dataset that is in use will result in the aliases not being preserved in the target dataset. When this scenario occurs an error message will be produced along with a non-zero return code.
    • A new -i argument is added to preserve the aliases of text-based members.
  • ddls
    • New -i flag to list SYSIN DDs, like INPUT ON in SDSF.
    • New error messages BGYSC3405E and BGYSC3406E are produced if a job is in a phase when DDs cannot be queried.
  • decho
    • Updates to the man page describe how to write a message starting with a dash.
  • dls
    • Automatically translates the dollar symbol to the pound sterling symbol when the locale is set to En_GB.IBM-285.
  • dtail
    • A new -b argument is added to view "binary" files. This allows for viewing of data that contains NULL or terminal control characters.
    • A new -l argument is added that suppresses newlines between dataset records.
  • hlq
    • The -d argument is now properly supported.
  • jls
    • New field <pgmname> in -l output shows the program name from the job's last completed step.
    • New option -o enables field selection and ordering.
  • mls
    • Automatically translates the dollar symbol to the pound sterling symbol when the locale is set to En_GB.IBM-285.
  • mvscmd
    • Hyphens are now supported in dataset names.
  • pcon
    • The -s argument is documented to support seconds in the timestamp.
    • Syntax help is displayed when pcon is invoked with no arguments.
  • pjdd
    • Now supports reading the contents of SYSIN DDs.
    • Special parsing of the EVENTLOG DD to show step information.
    • Error messages are now produced if a job is in a phase when DDs cannot be queried.
  • samples/binary_read.c
    • A new sample program that shows how to use the new binary read capability for reading datasets.
  • samples/zoau_sample.c
    • A new sample program is available that shows how to utilize the ZOAU shared library.
  • zoautil.so
    • The ZOAU shared library version has been updated to support binary streams.
    • An additional argument has been added to the function vector table to for a new options structure. This is used to modify the behavior of the shared library during a function call.
    • The zoau_response structure has been extended to handle binary streams.
  • The man page titles are updated to say "ZOAU" instead of "ZOA Utilities".

Python library

  • datasets.copy
    • The new boolean parameter force is added to force the copy.
    • NOTE: If a dataset member has aliases, and is not a program object, copying that member to a dataset that is in use will result in the aliases not being preserved in the target dataset. When this scenario occurs an exception will be raised, along with an error message and a non-zero return code.
  • datasets.listing
    • A new volume option has been added, this enables filtering by volume name.
  • jobs.list_dds
    • New sysin optional parameter that invokes ddls -i.
    • New DDQueryException based on job phases.
  • Job class
    • New attribute program_name.
  • volumes.list_vsam_datasets
    • A new migrated option has been added to optionally display VSAM datasets that have been migrated.
  • Python Samples
    • Python samples are now available within the samples directory.
    • A new multi-process asynchronous mvscmd sample is included.
  • Stub files
    • The ZOAU install now has a zoautil_py-stubs directory that contains *.pyi stub files for the python utilities. This allows you to import them into your IDE for enhanced language support.
  • ZOAU IO module
    • Addition of a new zoau_io module that provides IO interfaces to z/OS sequential and partitioned datasets.
    • The module currently supports reading operations over a dataset opened in a record stream model.
    • A new RecordIO class is defined, instances of this class represent a record stream in binary mode. This class provides a readrecord() method that returns a bytes object containing the data from the next record available in the stream.
    • A new RecordIO_TextWrapper class provides a decoding/encoding layer over a RecordIO object to output readable text strings.
    • The module provides a zopen() factory function that creates an instance of the previously mentioned classes depending on an optional encoding parameter.
    • All the classes in the module support the iterator protocol to read the stream in a record-by-record approach. These classes also suport the context manager protocol to automatically open and close a stream using the with operator.

Bug fixes

  • datasets.lineinfile
    • Fixed issue where the lineinfile() function was duplicating lines when the instruction was to replace them.
  • datasets.write
    • A string starting with a hyphen (-) character can now be written to a dataset.
  • dgrep
    • The -d argument is now properly supported.
    • The man page mentioned a -m argument that was never implemented. This has been removed.
  • dls
    • Fixed an issue that caused dinfo to return blank dataset names.
    • New error BGYSC2010E for failed memory allocation in dinfo.
  • jls
    • Fixed an issue that showed incorrect creation date under z/OS 2.3.
  • jsub
    • Submitting JCL from a file without a trailing newline now works correctly.
  • opercmd
    • It now waits the exact amount of time specified in the TIMEOUT argument while collecting messages. This allows it to collect more complete message responses from commands that produce multiple single line messages.
  • vls
    • The man page now documents the new -m argument, for displaying migrated VSAM datasets.
  • zoautil.so
    • Running a command when your LIBPATH points to a backlevel version of the ZOAU shared library no longer causes an abend.
    • The ZOAU version reported in SMF records now matches the build version.

Version 1.2.3.2

Bug fixes

ZOAU v1.2.3.2 fixes the following problem:

  • jdc
    • Julian dates with years between 2000-2009 are now handled properly.
    • The man page has been updated to mention the new input formats yyyy.ddd, yy.ddd, yyyyddd, and yyddd.

Version 1.2.3.1

Bug fixes

ZOAU v1.2.3.1 fixes the following problem:

  • zoautil.so
    • Temporary files are properly cleaned up when the shared library is invoked from an ASCII mode caller.

Version 1.2.3

Improvements

ZOAU v1.2.3 adds these capabilities and enhancements:

  • dmod
    • A new -j argument is added to produce JSON output.
  • dtouch
    • The -r argument now accepts record format F for creating fixed unblocked datasets.
  • jls
    • New -l option to show additional fields.
    • Verbose output shows a list header.
  • jdc
    • Supported input formats now include yyyy.ddd, yy.ddd, yyyyddd, and yyddd.
    • Now supports -? for syntax help.
    • New error message for invalid input length.
  • zoaversion
    • The APAR number is now displayed as part of the program output.

Python library

  • Python wheel packages now provide easier installation and eliminate the need for a C compiler to be available during installation.
  • Memory leaks are fixed in the Python extension module.
  • datasets.blockinfile()
    • Added a new as_json argument to display output in JSON format.
  • datasets.create()
    • Added support for record_format to accept a type of F (fixed unblocked).
  • datasets.read_head()
    • This new function displays the head content of a non-VSAM dataset.
  • types.py.Job
    • New attributes are added to support the new jls -l option.
    • The rc attribute type is changed to str.

Bug fixes

ZOAU v1.2.3 fixes the following problems:

  • dcp
    • The -I and -d arguments are now properly supported.
  • dls
    • Fixes the error message that is displayed when a partitioned dataset member is deleted but aliases that point to it remain.
  • dtouch
    • An example in the man page is fixed.
    • New message BGYSC1429E indicates an unknown dynParm type.
  • dzip
    • Message BGYSC3907I now prints correctly when AMATERSE fails with RC=0B37.
  • jls
    • Listing the caller's jobs is now working properly when executing jls '*'.
  • jsub
    • An attempt to submit invalid JCL now properly terminates with an error.
  • mls
    • Fixes the error message that is displayed when a partitioned dataset member is deleted but aliases that point to it remain.
  • mvscmdmsg
    • Messages from the various utilities are properly displayed if the shell environment variable LANG is not set.

Version 1.2.2.1

Python library

  • The ZOAU Python libraries now support IBM Enterprise Python 3.11 with the IBM C/C++ for Open Enterprise Languages compiler.

Version 1.2.2

New commands

ZOAU version 1.2.2 adds the commands dcat and dhead.

  • dcat displays the contents of a dataset to a z/OS UNIX terminal.
  • dhead displays a specified number of lines from a dataset to a z/OS UNIX terminal.

Improvements

ZOAU v1.2.2 adds these capabilities and enhancements:

  • dgrep
    • A new -c option to count the number of matching lines.
  • dls
    • A new -V option to specify a volume for browsing.
    • A new -a option to list the dataset members and member aliases.
  • mls
    • A new -H option to see or hide PDS member aliases.
  • mrm
    • A new -f option to delete PDS members that are in use.
  • parmwhence
    • Improves error message handling with incorrect member name input.

Python library

  • datasets.blockinfile()
    • Special shell characters are now properly escaped.
  • datasets.delete_members()
    • A new force argument is available to force the deletion of a dataset member that is in use.
  • datasets.listing()
    • A new name_only boolean argument is available to limit the returned object so that it only contains the names of matching datasets. This can improve performance if there are a large amount of matches. The detailed argument is removed because it is identical to the default behavior.
  • datasets.search()
    • A new count_lines argument is available to display the number of lines matched in the dataset.
  • ZOAUResponse.from_dict()
    • This is now a class method instead of a static method to improve code readability and Python conformance.

Bug fixes

ZOAU v1.2.2 includes the following fixes:

  • dls
    • Static system symbols used for indirect volume serial support are resolved.
  • jsub
    • Now displays an error message when the user tries to submit a directory, PDS, or PSDE.
  • mmv
    • An error is fixed that prevented renaming when a volume couldn't be mounted.
  • mvscmdauth
    • A message truncation issue when using the -d argument is fixed.
  • opercmd
    • The EMCS console created by opercmd now has MASTER authority. This allows opercmd to reply to WTOR messages issued by a different console.
    • Truncation of console command output is prevented in certain circumstances.
    • Error message text is improved.

Version 1.2.1.1

Bug fixes

ZOAU v1.2.1.1 fixes the following problems:

  • configure.py
    • The script is properly tagged with ISO8859-1 encoding and has the execute bit set. It also supports an optional argument to a different Python installation.

Version 1.2.1

New commands

Use the new zinfo command to view z/OS system information from the z/OS UNIX terminal in human-readable or JSON formats. Learn more at zinfo.

Important notices

  • The utilities opercmd and jcan now require authorization before use. Users must obtain READ access to the MVS.MCSOPER.ZOAU facility in the OPERCMDS class. Running these commands without authorization results in an error message. Learn more at Installing and configuring ZOAU.
  • This version of ZOAU has been rebased on IBM Enterprise Python version 3.9. To use the Python language bindings with ZOAU, you must have version Python 3.9 or 3.10 installed.
  • The ZOAU license agreement is now located in the LICENSES directory.

Improvements

ZOAU v1.2.1 adds these capabilities and enhancements:

  • decho
    • Displays a new error message if passed a quoted dataset name.
  • opercmd
    • Supports user-defined command timeout.
    • Allows user to influence console name to avoid console conflicts.

Bug fixes

ZOAU v1.2.1 fixes the following problems:

Core utilities

  • dgrep
    • Searching a dataset for strings that contain single quotes (') now works correctly.
  • dls
    • A new error message is displayed for RC=12 condition.
    • Datasets with hyphens in the name are properly displayed.
  • dmod
    • Various constraints limiting input marker sizes are relaxed.
  • dtail
    • A file handle leak is fixed.
  • dwhence
    • A memory leak is fixed.
  • jls
    • Batch jobs that do not yet have an owner now display correctly.
  • mls
    • If the running user does not have a TSO user ID, the output now displays correctly.
  • pproc
    • The -a argument is now correctly honored.
    • Now strips trailing parenthesis from dataset name.
  • opercmd
    • Now displays reply-ID and allows user response when a WTOR message is issued to the console.
    • Output header is now properly aligned regardless of system name length.
    • Julian date in header now displays correctly when the day in the year is less than 100.
  • zoautil.so
    • Memory leaks are fixed and string building code is improved.

Multiple utilities

  • Temporary HLQ prefix now gracefully handles the case when getlogin() returns NULL.
  • Help arguments for shell commands are more consistent.
  • Running commands without setting ZOAU LIBPATH first no longer results in 0C4 or 0C6 abends.

Python library

  • datasets.exists()
    • Is rewritten to reduce CPU consumption.
  • core.so
    • A rare abend is fixed.

Version 1.2.0

Important notices

Authorization required for jcan and opercmd

Starting with ZOAU v1.2.0.2, specific authorization is required to use jcan and opercmd. To learn more, see Installing and configuring ZOAU.

Full reimplementation in C of ddls, jcan, jls, jsub, pjdd, opercmd, and pcon

The utilities ddls, jcan, jls, jsub, pjdd, opercmd, and pcon are fully re-implemented in C, which brings new benefits:

  • Significantly improves performance.
  • Removes dependency on SDSF by interacting directly with the subsystem.
  • Adds new features:
    • DSID (dataset ID) to ddls and pjdd.
    • Providing JCL content from stdin or a UNIX System Services file to jsub.

Note: Some reimplemented utilities introduce options that are not compatible with previous versions. To learn more about these new options, run the utility with -h, or refer to Shell commands reference.

Protecting ZOAU for new APF authorized components

ZOAU v1.2.0 installs seven new programs with extended attributes enabled into the zoautil bin directory. These enabled attributes allow the programs to function as if loaded from an APF authorized library. To ensure use by authorized persons only, ZOAU utilities should be protected with adequate file-based permissions. To learn more, see Installing and configuring ZOAU.

Return codes are standardized across utilities

ZOAU now features standardized return codes across utilities. To learn more about new or changed return codes, see Return codes.

Java API is removed

The ZOAU Java API, which was deprecated in v1.1.0, has been removed.

Improvements

ZOAU v1.2.0 adds these capabilities and enhancements:

  • dcp - Copy from a partitioned dataset (PDS) to another PDS, or to a PDS target that does not yet exist. Learn more.
  • dsed, dmod, and decho - Write to a dataset in shared mode (DISP=SHR).
  • dtouch - Create datasets in FBS or VBS format.
  • dunzip - Use the IMPORT option (-I) for cross-system unarchiving .
  • Enhanced argument parsing, code quality, debug/tracing info, and message printing.
  • Bug fixes and other improvements.