Open System Command and Retrieval

(OSCAR)

Brief Description of Jol

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It is a user friendly command language that reads English-like commands and executes them - increasing operating speed, accuracy and flexibility in the process. Significant personnel savings are possible at Training, Programming, Operating and End-User levels. Enhanced hardware and software capabilities are accompanied by substantial overall cost and productivity gains.

In essence, data sets and programs are declared as in other high level languages. Then instructions such as RUN, COPY, SORT etc. refer to the declared variables. Programmers using languages like COBOL and PL/I feel at home with Jol, as it is similar to languages they already use.

Jol coexists with JCL and interfaces with contemporary development techniques, such as top down design, step level refinements, structured coding, and prototyping. Jol's many features focus on the End User, Programming Maintenance and Development, Production (i.e operations, scheduling), and Management Control.

Jol operates interactively through a terminal, or may be run in "background" mode while users do other work. It can be considered a complementary system to IBM's JCL, CLISTS and ISPF. Alternatively, it combines the power of all these three languages into one easy to use, structured, and user extendable language (with its powerful Macro facility).

Jol had its genesis in response to demands by "SHARE" and other major computer organisations for a language allowing installations to use the same commands on different computers and differing operating systems. Over the last decade, Jol has been developed, enhanced and debugged while being used on-line by more than twenty major public and private organisations.

It has evolved into a stable, and most reliable computer command language, ready for world marketing and application. Jol is unique in its ability to meet and overcome the crying criticism that the lag in Command language developments, relative to hardware and operating systems, has cost corporations billions of dollars each year.

Jol Version 5.2, like its previous releases is extremely User Friendly Language that complements IBM's and Fujitsu's JCL, CLISTs and SPF. Jol also combines the power of these languages into one simple and powerful language that is easy to use and easy to learn by all D.P. Staff.

Jol now comes with many new and even more powerful features offering total flexibility and power in running a Data Center almost entirely with one Language.

Jol is a truly Universal Language that can run on most IBM and Fujitsu Mainframe and Personal style computers.

Main New Features

1. Jol now contains a full Scheduling System for scheduling both Jol or JCL jobs on certain days and under certain conditions. Job Networking is fully supported by Jol's own network methods, and therefore works equally well in JES2 or JES3 environments.

   Early versions of Jol created highly optimised and correct JCL which was then submitted to the Background for execution by the Operating System. Thus Jol was frequently seen as merely a JCL generator, when even then, it was far far more. This new Version of Jol make it beyond comparison with languages like JCL.

   Jol Version 5.2 now uses Dynamic Allocation instead of creating JCL. This offers numerous advantages to the User:-

   • Jobs can run in Background or under TSO with no changes to the Command Language.
   • Jol can now be used for online systems, such as IMS, CICS.
   • Jol now has even more control over the executing job, which allows better error condition handling.

   Jol now has instructions to allow the user to READ, WRITE and ALLOCATE new or old Data Sets, a facility similar to the READFILE and PUTFILE commands in TSO/TSS.

   These instructions allow the User to examine all files in the system and generate JCL that is dependent upon the data held in files. Files may also be copied or read, and records may be summed within the file, and reports generated, depending upon the data within the files.

   Jol's improved restart job capabilities automatically reset generation data sets.

   Major performance improvements have been made to Jol.

   Advantages of Jol

   Jol offers many advantages to an organization, and these are detailed in Jol's comprehensive "Concepts and Facilities" and "Answers to Questions" Manuals.

   Briefly, Jol:

   • Vastly reduces time lost due to job Re-Runs caused by JCL errors.
   • Cuts the amount of time spent writing Job Control Language code ("JCL") by about 50%, and yet takes 80% less time to train staff in its use.
   • Allows management greater control of the computer and can provide a potential audit tool.
   • Allows arithmetic operations to be performed on Symbolic variables. These can be saved, restored and passed from job to job thus providing a powerful communications ability.
   • Allows a computer installation to build customised MACRO instructions to automatically generate/edit jobstreams.
   • Frees highly specialised computer people to perform more productive and cost effective work.
   • Conversion to MVS systems from others can be achieved for a fraction of the normal time and cost. Jol is supplied with convertors, hence the conversion costs are minimal. The following convertors are currently available:

• MVS JCL to Jol

• DOS/VSE JCL to Jol

• X8 JCL to Jol

  Many corporations claim they save hundreds of thousands of dollars per year. For example, George Oroz of ATAC Computers says "The best piece of software I have come across in my 15 years in EDP". Other Users' comments are equally flattering.

  Jol is like gold in your hands.

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