ROPES
Frequently Asked Questions (Last Update: 2011/06/13)
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1. Is ROPES
CPU sensitive?
2. What do I need to do to run
ROPES on more than one processor?
3. What do I do if I change processors?
4. Is ROPES compatible with...
5. How do I correct overprinting
and/or line wrapping in my output?
6. Do I need to change any CICS
parameters to use the ROPES JES printer support?
7. How can I have the Queue Reorganization
process run once every day in a 24x7 shop?
8. Why do I get question marks
in my output?
9. Why won't my COBOL applications
using ROPES compile after we changed our COBOL level?
10. Why won't the logical not
character (X'5F') print in my reports?
11. How do I specify the output
destination for ROPES JES printers?
12. Are applications compiled
with older releases of the copy books, compatible with new levels
of ROPES?
13. How can we print to TCP/IP
printers through ROPES?
14. Can I restore one damaged
ROPES file?
15. Does the ROPES.LOADLIB need
to be in the LINKLIST?
16. Why does the RORL transaction
not show all the assigned reports?
17. Can I use the old ROPES
SVC with Version 6.0?
18.You gave us a fix to retrieve
unheld output. Is it still available?
19. Why won't a printer that
is ready and idle, and has a report with data, start without a
start command?
20. The link edit produces level
4 messages about AMODE RMODE incompatibilities. Does this matter?
21. Is the MVS ENQ used by the
Alternate Facility a SYSTEM or SYSTEMS type?
22. Do you have to have the CICS Sockets PLT startup
program EZACIC20 in the PLT startup or execute an EZA* Sockets
startup transaction for the ROPES/Email facility to work?
23.
How do I configure my TCP/IP printer for use with the ROPES LPR
method?
24.
How do I configure my TCP/IP printer for use with the ROPES Direct Socket printing
method?
25. Is ROPES IPv6 capable?
26. Is ROPES compatible with Extended Address Volumes (EAV)?
1. Is ROPES CPU sensitive?
Yes. Your product contains the information indicating the authorized
CPUs, and the expiration date of your authorization. The abend
RCPU indicates a problem with the CPU authorizations on your system.
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2.
What do I need to do to run ROPES on more than one processor?
You need to license the new processor and get a new authorization
string from us. Then, you add a new string with the ROIA transaction.
You can have up to 10 CPU authorizations in one copy of the product.
Remember that the authorization code applies to all LPARs and
all engines in a processor complex.
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3.
What do I do if I change processors?
You need to let us know of the change. If the size of your system
is changing, there may be an upgrade fee. When it is resolved,
you will get a new authorization string from us. Then, you replace
the old CPU with the new CPU using the ROIA transaction or the
batch utility in the RUNASEC source library member.
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4. Is ROPES compatible with...
ROPES is compatible with all MVS, OS/390 and z/OS releases from
MVS 5.2.2 up to and including z/OS 1.9. Since ROPES uses well-established
system and VSAM APIs it will be compatible with all future releases
of zOS as well.
ROPES is also compatible with all releases of CICS from 2.1.2
through CICS/TS 3.2. Since ROPES uses well-established CICS APIs
it will be compatible with all future releases of CICS.
ROPES will also be compatible with any new hardware that is supported
by the standard access methods.
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5. How do I correct overprinting and/or
line wrapping in my output?
Unexpected overprinting is generally a result of having the LFATEOT
parameter to (Y)es for a printer that does not automatically add
a Line Feed At The End Of a Transmission. ROPES assumes that the
device has done the line feed and then reduces the number of leading
NL (New Line) characters in the next transmission by 1. This results
in an overprint. The LFATEOT parameter is found in the RO$Dxxxx
module for the printer, on the TYPE=CONTROLS macro.
Line wrapping generally occurs when the LFATMPP setting is not
correct for the printer. If Line Feed At The Maximum Print Position
is set to (N)o, then ROPES acts as if the printer will automatically
add a line feed at the end of a line which contains data in the
printer's MPP. The ROPES action in this case is to suppress the
NL character that would lead the next line, and the line is printed
at the end of the prior line, which then is either truncated by
the printer or wrapped to the next line. The LFATMPP parameter
is found in the RO$Dxxxx module for the printer, on the TYPE=CONTROLS
macro.
A third, but less common cause results from the action of some
data stream compression products, which interfere with ROPES'
ability to detect the above conditions. Please exclude ROPES printers
from data stream compression utility processing.
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6. Do I need to change any CICS parameters
to use the ROPES JES printer support?
ROPES JES printer support requires that the SPOOL= parameter be
set to YES.
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7. How can I have the Queue Reorganization
process run once every day in a 24x7 shop?
You want to use the Reorganization Scheduler. This transaction
will schedule the R#OR task directly using interval control start
with the parameters in the system control record. To run the scheduler,
add a start-up PLT entry for program ROPESCHD and be sure that
the R#SC transaction is defined.
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8. Why do I get question marks in my
output?
The question marks are a result of "unprintable" data
being stored in the report. ROPES uses a Translate table to prepare
the data being sent to your printer, and the table replaces all
characters that are not considered to be printable with a question
mark. For example, the null (X'00') character will be replaced.
The translate table is provided in source form (module RO$T) and
you may change it to meet your own needs.
The translation of data is controlled in several ways. You can
turn it off globally by changing the value of the Translate Data
option of the Special Printer Options panel in the ROMT transaction.
You can disable translation or change the translate table being
used at the report level (in the RO$Fxxxx module) or at the device
level (in the RO$Dxxxx module). You can create translation tables
by "cloning" source library members RO$T or RO$TCAPS
as required for your local conditions.
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9. Why won't my COBOL applications using
ROPES compile after we changed our COBOL level?
The ROPES copy books for COBOL are pre-processed in advance before
they are COPYied into your program. The code generated by the
preprocessor is both CICS level and COBOL level dependent.
Whenever you change either the CICS level or the COBOL level,
you may need to reprocess the COBOL source library members to
be compatible with that new level. We have provided a job stream
in the ROPES COBOL source library named OBOOKSIN. You must edit
this member to specify the CICS Translator program and options
(i.e., COBOL2, COBOL3, etc.) and run the job to update the copy
books. If you are going to be running multiple levels of the code,
you may need to replicate the ROPES COBOL library for each CICS
and COBOL combination.
It is OK to get RC=4 on the COBOL OBOOKS in steps. This is normal
since these are not complete programs but code fragments. The
translator will give a warning if it does not see the Procedure
Division.
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10. Why won't the logical not character
print in my reports?
ROPES uses this character for special purposes internally. If
you are not using the special features for which this ROPES escape
character is defined (IPDS Bar Code Printing), then you can change
the escape character. Change the value on the Special Printer
Options panel of the ROMT transaction. You can specify X'00' to
disable escape code checking.
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11. How do I specify the output destination for ROPES JES printers?
You must specify the OUTDESCR parameter in the RJTB table entry.
These parameters are the same as the TSO values, so you would
specify DEST(xxxxx) as required. Don't confuse NODE with DEST.
The NODE should be * and the OUTDESCR should specify the DEST(xxxxx)
value to have the data routed properly.
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12. Are applications compiled with older
releases of the copy books, compatible with new levels of ROPES?
Yes, all copy books are upward compatible.
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13.
How can we print to TCP/IP printers through ROPES?
You have several choices.
If you are using a facility or product such as Network Print Facility
or IP Printways, you can continue to define your ROPES printers
to CICS as VTAM terminals, define their LUs to the printing product,
and let the VTAM capture point for the product intercept the output
and deliver the output to the IP attached printer or server. Note
that this is not valid for printers defined to ROPES as IPDS.
You can use the ROPES TCP/IP Printing facility. You define your
IP printers to ROPES by setting the printer's Device Block Suffix
to use a ROPES Device Block configured for IP printing (DEVTYPE=LPRP),
and by creating the necessary entries in the ROLI transaction.
ROPES will then print to the printer using the LPR/LPD protocol, or, with DEVTYPE=SOKT, ROPES will print directly to the socket on the port specified on the ROLI panel for the printer.
You can also send your ROPES reports via e-mail, either as a text,
PDF or HTML attachment.
Check the White Papers section for full documentation on this
facility.
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14. Can I restore one damaged ROPES
file?
The ROPERIB, ROPEPCR, ROPEQBR and ROPERPI clusters contain information
that is related and linked. You should always restore these clusters
as a set. If you do not, then there are potential problems if
the information in the clusters is not "in synch" with
the other files.
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15. Does the ROPES.LOADLIB need to be in the LINKLIST?
No.
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16. Why does the RORL transaction not
show all the assigned reports?
Empty reports are not shown if the ROMT Browse and Display options
panel specifies "N" in the Display Empty Reports option.
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17. Can I use the old ROPES SVC with Version 14.0?
Yes. The SVC has not changed. Remember that the source code for
the SVC is provided in source library member ROPESVC so your auditor
and security officer can inspect the code.
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18.You gave us a fix to retrieve unheld
output. Is it still available?
Use the HELDOUT=NO parameter on the ROPEXCT macro.
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19. Why won't a printer that is ready
and idle, and has a report with data, start without a start command?
Check out the RORS display. If it shows no printer assignment,
the ROPERPI cluster it is out of synch. You need to regenerate
the ROPERPI cluster. Use the batch utility invoked by the RUNRPIB
job stream.
By the way, if you want to get a list of report to printer assignments,
run the utility with output to a work (not the real) ROPERPI file.
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20. The link edits produces level 4
messages about AMODE RMODE incompatibilities. Does this matter?
No. Ignore these errors. This may happen occasionally during installation
or PTF application but will not affect the final result. If you
report them to us we will fix them.
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21. Is the MVS ENQ used by the Alternate
Facility a SYSTEM or SYSTEMS type?
SYSTEMS type is used.
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22.
Do you have to have the CICS Sockets PLT startup program EZACIC20
in the PLT startup or execute an EZA* Sockets startup transaction
for the ROPES/Email or TCP/IP Printing (LRP/LPD) facility to work?
Yes. According to the IBM documentation, the CICS Sockets interface
must be initialized before it can listen for any Sockets requests.
Therefor, CICS Sockets should be initialized during CICS startup
via the EZACIC20 PLT program. It can also be initialized using
the IBM supplied transaction. To verify that CICS Sockets has
been initialized you can search for message "EZY1224YI"
which states "CICS/SOCKETS INITIALIZATION SUCCESSFUL".
If this message appeared in your CICS log messages, then CICS
Sockets was started.
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23.
How do I configure my TCP/IP printer for use with the ROPES LPR
method?
You use the ROLI transaction to add the printer to the list, either
with the report name DEFAULT or with a specific report name. Then
you configure the LPR options for the printer/report combination
as needed.
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24.
How do I configure my TCP/IP printer for use with the ROPES Direct Socket printing
method?
You use the ROLI transaction to add the printer to the list, either
with the report name DEFAULT or with a specific report name. Then
you configure the LPR options for the printer/report combination
as needed. Specify the port the printer listens on, usually 9100, and define the printer to ROPES with the DEVTYPE=SOKT option in the ROPES Device Characteristics Block (DCB).
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25. Is ROPES IPv6 capable?
Yes. Starting in ROPES V17 you can communicate with IPv4 and IPv6 endpoints. The ROLI panel has been updated to allow you to specifiy the IPv6 addresses and the V17 Upgrade job includes a conversion of your old ROLI entries to the new format.
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26. Is ROPES compatible with Extended Address Volumes (EAV)?
Yes. ROPES has been tested on EAV in z/OS V1.10. The VSAM data sets can be allocated on an EAV. The availability for EAV support for other types of data sets will depend on the support being available in z/OS. ROPES support for EAV use for non-VSAM data sets will automatically become available when you upgrade your z/OS version..
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