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Expand Input Components

By Joseph Walther
Introduction Many programming languages support the use of language snippets. These can be coded once and copied or included anywhere using a simple reference to the snippet name. For example, COBOL programs may reference COBOL snippets found in copybooks, using a COPY statement Assembler programs can reference macros JCL can reference PROC members C programs may reference Headers Endevor processors may reference Include members Using the name given to a snippet, it can be shared by many programs, as needed. Each language has one or more statements that indicate a snippet reference. For example, within a COBOL ...
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Integrating XCOM for z/OS with Python

By Austin Willoughby
You use XCOM load module XCOMJOB to schedule or execute transfers with XCOM for z/OS, v12.0. You can integrate invoking XCOMJOB into your workflows to complete transfers as part of your workflow. If you're interested in invoking XCOM for z/OS using Python on z/OS, you can use the example in this blog to help you get started. This blog example uses a PuTTY connection to the z/OS shell in the USS environment and the following Python version to run the example script. $ python --version Python 3.9.16 The script invokes the IBM z/OS Open Automation Utilities (zoautil_py) to simplify some of the system operations needed to setup required datasets before ...
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My Summer 2023 Internship Experience at Broadcom Learning, Growing, and Contributing

By Anitha Kona
During the summer, I started on an incredible journey of learning and growing into the professional world as an intern. Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Anitha Kona, and as a computer graduate student, I have always looked forward to using my theoretical knowledge in a practical setting. I am excited to share my incredible experience as a summer intern at Broadcom. Over the past few months, I had the privilege of diving into the world of computer technology, working with industry experts, learning more about the IT industry, and immersing myself in day-to-day operations. This post highlights my journey, the project I worked on, and the valuable ...
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Summer at Broadcom: More good times

By Brian Vo
Hello folks, My name is Brian, and I was fortunate enough to be able to intern at Broadcom this past summer as a software engineering intern. This will have been my second summer with Broadcom, and it was better than the last. I mostly worked on efforts to modernize access and usability of mainframe systems these past summers. Last summer I was working on an internal software development kit to be used by our product developers as they build out products. This summer I wanted to get closer to the product and my lovely managers allowed me to do just that! So for this past summer I worked on a workload automation project, developing and building ...
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My Transformative Journey: Leveraging Generative AI for Software Development

By Ajay Jayanth
My Transformative Journey: Leveraging Generative AI for Software Development Over the course of this summer, I embarked on a transformative journey as an Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning Engineering Contractor at Broadcom, working within the Mainframe Software Division (MSD). This invaluable experience provided me with a wealth of knowledge in various technical areas, insights into the inner workings of the company, a broader perspective on the industry, and a deeper understanding of the career path I am wholeheartedly pursuing. As a young aspiring engineer, the experience of being part of a connected and welcoming environment not only nurtured ...
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Discovering Generative AI's role in Mainframe Industry

By Namyata Cheduri
What could the mainframe industry possibly do with Generative AI? With this question, I began my journey into the world of mainframe modernization. Almost 2 months into my Summer Internship 2023 at Broadcom, the answer revealed itself – the possibilities are nothing short of extraordinary. As a matter of fact, they are no different from any other industry that incorporates Generative AI with a goal to create and own value for the business. From revolutionizing creative content to streamlining business processes, Generative AI has found its way into virtually every function. Treading on this path, I contributed to two projects centered around code generation. ...
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Performance Monitoring: How It Works and Why to Do It

By Elliot Agnew
Much like one would use Task Manager to see what program is consuming resources on a personal computer, mainframes also require a tool that monitors its performance. However, unlike personal computers, it is a business critical use case. If something happens to them, then critical business operations will be disrupted. This post will explain the essentials of performance monitoring, the data that supports it, and why it matters from the perspective of an intern whose experience is the first exposure to the world of mainframe. Performance monitoring of mainframes is an important topic for keeping business operations running. SMF and the Data that ...
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My Datacom MSD Internship Experience

By Shan Baig
About My Summer Project I landed an internship with the Broadcom Datacom team. The project that I worked on was to update the Automated Regression Test System that the development team uses. I focused on the requirements for SQL_Team and sought to make this space more consistent with the other areas. We accomplished this by converting the existing Java based tool to use an internal Python tool that simplifies the process of automating mainframe testing. In addition to this, we would also revamp some of the functions in the way that testing would work to make it more efficient, easier to configure and allow for multiple people to run regressions at the same ...
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Data Consolidation: Handling Data Storage at Scale for Multiple Use Cases

By Troy Curtsinger
Data at scale quickly becomes difficult to store or query efficiently. Hundreds of thousands of events are expected to come in every minute, which necessitates a Datastore which can handle the billions of rows of data. For our problem, we are trying to support two separate use cases, both of which are meant to work with similar data. One needs to see the historical record of values for a given column on a very consistent basis, while the other needs to fire off multiple queries in succession, each using multiple where clauses, group bys, and generally “slicing and dicing” the data. During my internship at Broadcom, my objective ...
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Developing an Automated System Test Suite for NetMaster's Web Portal

By Sai Anuhya Kondubhatla
During the summer, I had an amazing opportunity to intern at Broadcom, Pittsburgh office. Before I dive into my internship experience, let me briefly introduce myself. I am currently pursuing a master's degree in Computer Science at the University of Texas, Dallas. My passion lies in developing software that enhances people's lives and contributes to improving the Internet for everyone. My internship kicked off with an onboarding process, after which I joined the Harbour Masters team. I had discussions with my mentor regarding the tasks we aimed to accomplish during the internship and the prioritization of objectives. Our primary focus was addressing the ...
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Using a Live z/OS Terminal Emulator for QA Test Automation

By Daisy Kopycienski
QA test automation can be tedious and frustrating to troubleshoot, but utilizing debugging tools can expedite the process and provide you with a meaningful starting point to solve issues with your scripts. There are pros and cons to various methods of debugging related to QA test automation. In this scenario, I was using PTG2 (PragueTestingGears2) — a framework written in python that simplifies the process of automating mainframe testing — to write a large set of test case scripts designed to validate signon/signoff processes performed by the ACF2™ CICS interface transaction: ACFM. These cases are all online, panel processes to ensure that ACF2™ CICS handles ...
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Mainframe for Generation Z

By Joseph Egan
Dear Generation Z, Mainframes are old technology! Even the tech nerds of Gen Z might not know what a mainframe is, or they might think mainframes became irrelevant a long time ago. Well, Gen Z, if anyone tells you that mainframe is dead, you can tell them “that’s cap!” Banks still process millions of transactions on mainframes, airlines still schedule thousands of flights on mainframes, and governments still store critical data on mainframes, even in 2023. “So what?” I can hear you saying. “Sure, the global finance system, along with lots of governments and big businesses rely on mainframes, but what does that have to do with us?” Well, Gen Z, our venerable ...
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Mainframe Welcomes Gen Z

By Amy Mueller
As the #1 Integrated Software Vendor (ISV) for mainframe, Broadcom continues to invest substantially. Broadcom’s investment spans software, hardware and building the next generation of technical leaders. You are likely already aware that we run the Vitality Program where we hire and train new talent, and deploy the team members at customer sites. We offer an all access pass to online education for Broadcom Mainframe customers and instructor led training to make it easy to grow skills. We also engage with universities to consult and teach (e.g. Tennessee State University) on their curriculum. We proudly educate students on the ...
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Package Automation - what are you waiting for?

By Joseph Walther
Introduction Some things are so easily seen as part of a routine, that even the family dog can recognize them. You might see ready and eager eyes looking at you and suggesting “What are you waiting for”? Similar identifiable routines exist for Endevor packages. For example, when a package is approved, the next thing that must happen to the package is its execution. If a package is approved and is ready to run but does not immediately execute, one might ask “What are you waiting for”? Is it really necessary to wait for a manual step or a scheduled sweep? One might consider the time spent waiting as an unnecessary delay. For some Endevor sites, a ...
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Enabling Restart Support for IDMS Applications with Smart/RESTART

By Aysen Svoboda
Smart/RESTART, with its z/OS Resource Recovery Services (RRS) integration, now offers basic support for IDMS applications that run on an RRS-enabled IDMS Central Version (CV). This blog post aims to explain how to make IDMS applications restart-enabled by leveraging Smart/RESTART. While DB2 is still required for synchronization control, the IDMS application itself doesn't need any DB2 references or coding. The DB2 repository access is implicit and driven through RRS API calls for commits or rollbacks. IDMS-Only Scenario: To restart-enable an IDMS application, it must be designed around the concept of a Unit of Work (UOW) where the database objects ...
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ACM Builds Without Generates

By Joseph Walther
Introduction Some Endevor sites have existed for years without the full benefit of the Automated Configuration Manager (ACM). Perhaps time constraints or other pressing demands, years or decades ago, led to shortcuts that rendered an incomplete ACM. This blog will help such sites quickly and safely build their Automated Configuration data to gain back features that had been lost to them, including: Using the ACM Query Facility to quickly perform "where-used" or “impact analysis” queries against ACM component data. Identifying a complete list of application components for scoring, using tools such as SonarQube. Using the AutoGen functionality ...
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Improving XCOM Data Transport transfers with TLSv1.3

By Austin Willoughby
Improving XCOM Data Transport transfers with TLSv1.3 You can use a network service proxy to incorporate improved TLS features into your XCOM Data Transport transfers. This blog will show an example of using XCOM Data Transport between z/OS and Linux (RHEL 8.6) to create transfers that are secured between the systems using TLSv1.3. While the example focuses on Linux transfers, the same concepts may be applied to other environments (e.g. Windows) where you have a TLSv1.3 capable network service proxy. Sending data to z/OS Your XCOM Data Transport z/OS started task will be the server in this first scenario, listening for suitable remote connections. ...
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Advanced Authentication Mainframe (AAM) with ACF2

By Jasdeep Singh
Advanced Authentication Mainframe (AAM) with ACF2 My first blog about Demystifying ACF2 provided an overview of ACF2. Moving forward, I am going to select different aspects of ACF2 based on the customer interest. In this blog, I focus on Advanced Authentication Mainframe (AAM) . AAM takes security to the next level by verifying the identity of users who seek access to z/OS to prevent data breaches and to address compliance requirements. ACF2 version 16.0 supports AAM. It is available to all ACF2 licensed customers at no additional cost. The following Multi Factor Authentication (MFA) capabilities are available for z/OS application logon processing for ...
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Demystifying ACF2

By Jasdeep Singh
“The best way to learn is to teach” – Latin quote As a new member of ACF2 support team who joined Broadcom around eight months ago, I am following this well-known quote daily. I am learning about the ACF2 world, the most common areas where problems occur and how to troubleshoot as I strengthen myself in my role. We all know the robust nature of the mainframe and that mission-critical applications rely on it. Protecting these resources and data is a key focal point for all businesses using mainframes. We have all read the security breach news and we see the acceleration and innovations in threats today, right? That’s where the external security products ...
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