Rexx on z/OS: The Modern Mainframe Automation Handbook: Practical Scripting for TSO, ISPF, JCL, and z/OS UNIX

Stop Fighting the Mainframe. Make It Work for You.
How many times have you found yourself doing the same, repetitive TSO tasks? How much time do you waste checking job status in SDSF? What if you could write a single script that could build JCL, submit it, wait for it to finish, and then display a "Success" or "Failure" message on a custom-built ISPF panel?
This handbook provides the answer: Rexx.
Rexx on z/OS is a practical, project-based guide that teaches you the most valuable automation skill on the platform. Forget dry, academic theory ; this book is built on a "learn by doing" approach that starts with your first script and ends with you building a complete, interactive ISPF application.
This book cuts through the complexity of the mainframe (TSO, JCL, ISPF, and z/OS UNIX) and shows you how to "glue" them all together with the simple, powerful Rexx language.
In this book, you will learn to:
Master the Fundamentals: Understand the "everything is a string" philosophy and learn to deconstruct any data with the powerful PARSE instruction.
Automate TSO & JES: Write scripts that issue TSO commands, trap their output, and check the RC . Learn to submit JCL and monitor job status, waiting for the MAXCC .
Control All Your Data: Read and write MVS datasets (PS/PDS) with EXECIO and, for the first time, read and write z/OS UNIX (zFS) files using shell commands.
Build Professional UIs: Stop writing command-line tools. Learn to design, DISPLAY, and manage interactive ISPF panels, validating user input like a pro .
Write Bulletproof Code: Use the TRACE command to find bugs in seconds and SIGNAL to build robust error-handling routines that never crash.
Build a Complete Tool: The capstone project guides you, step-by-step, in building a real "Job Status Monitor" application, combining all the skills you've learned .
Whether you are a new systems programmer, a COBOL developer looking to modernize, or an operations analyst tired of repetitive tasks, this book is the key to unlocking true automation.
Become the automation expert your team relies on.