In how many ways we can create a PS file in Mainframes? - cobol

How many ways we can create A PS file using jcl.strong text

z/OS supports a couple of different data set organizations, short DSORGs. Data set organizations are
Physical Sequential, DSORG=PS
Partitioned Organized, DSORG=PO. There are two subtypes: PDS and PDS/E
Direct Access, DSORG=DA
Virtual Storage Access Method (the name is irritating, it is a DISK data set), DSORG=VS. There are a couple of subtypes.
The creation of a new data set is called allocation. Allocation is finally performed by calling internal system services. That means, you can code an assembler of C program to offer the allocation of a new data set. Therefore, the number of ways is unlimited.
However, the following ways are offered by z/OS, so you don't need to write a program on your own.
1. JCL
You can allocate a new PS, PO, or DA data set with JCL keywords on a DD statement. The main indicator that you want to allocate a new data set is DISP=(NEW,...). (Any other DISP= option allocates an existing data set.) The keyword DSORG= determines the type of data set. If it is omitted, the keyword SPACE= determines whether a PS or a PDS is allocated. If SPACE=specifies primary, secondary, and directory space amounts, a PDS is allocated, else a PS.
With limitations, you can also allocate a new VSAM data set with JCL keywords.
2. TSO/E
You can use the TSO/E ALLOC command to do (almost) the same as with JCL DD statement keywords (see above). Again, the keyword DISP(NEW,...) is used to allocate a new data set.
3. ISPF
You can use ISPF panels in a TSO/E session to allocate a new data sets.
4. Program IDCAMS
You can run program IDCAMS in a batch job to allocate a new data set. This is the preferred method to allocate VSAM data sets.
Other
There are possibilites, depending on the tools that are available at your installation.
Note that members of PDS, and PDS/E data sets are *not allocated. Once a PDS, or PDS/E has been allocated, members can be created. But we do not say "allocate a member". A new allocation is tied to reserving some disk space for he data set. Members make use of that space.
There is more behind allocation; too much to write it all down here.

Related

In CICS where is the data in the Linkage Section of COBOL stored?

In CICS on z/OS I have some questions:
What data are stored on main storage? Auxiliary storage?
Where does data in DFHCOMMAREA under linkage section exists? Is it on main storage?
If I pass DFHCOMMAREA from one program to another, will that create extra copies of the data? (pass by-value or by-reference)
There's quite some confusion here concerning the different storage types. From a COBOL perspective you won't ever be worrying about main storage or auxiliary storage. Your COBOL-data lives in an address space made up of virtual storage which in turn is backed by main or auxiliary storage as the system sees fit.
While your program will automatically allocate memory for items defined in WORKING STORAGE or LOCAL STORAGE sections, it will not do so for anything defined in the LINKAGE SECTION. For a LINKAGE SECTION item to be usable, two things are required:
Some memory must be allocated
The LINKAGE SECTION item must be associated with the address of that memory region.
These two things can happen in different ways:
For items appearing in the USING of your PROCEDURE DIVISION the memory is provided by the calling program (or some other program up the callstack) and the compiler associates the item with the respective adresses passed in the parameter list provided by the caller. In the case of DFHCOMMAREA of a top-level CICS-program the calling program that allocates the memory is CICS itself.
You can "remap" memory from your e.g. WORKING STORAGE to a LINKAGE SECTION item by using SET ADDRESS OF
With more recent compilers you can also use ALLOCATE to dynamically request memory from your program and when used with a LINKAGE SECTION item it will also automatically associate the item with the memory
As for your last question: passing parameters BY REFERENCE from one program to another will not create extra copies of that data. Passing BY VALUE or BY CONTENT will duplicate the data.

boost lockfree spsc_queue cache memory access

I need to be extremely concerned with speed/latency in my current multi-threaded project.
Cache access is something I'm trying to understand better. And I'm not clear on how lock-free queues (such as the boost::lockfree::spsc_queue) access/use memory on a cache level.
I've seen queues used where the pointer of a large object that needs to be operated on by the consumer core is pushed into the queue.
If the consumer core pops an element from the queue, I presume that means the element (a pointer in this case) is already loaded into the consumer core's L2 and L1 cache. But to access the element, does it not need to access the pointer itself by finding and loading the element either from either the L3 cache or across the interconnect (if the other thread is on a different cpu socket)? If so, would it maybe be better to simply send a copy of the object that could be disposed of by the consumer?
Thank you.
C++ principally a pay-for-what-you-need eco-system.
Any regular queue will let you choose the storage semantics (by value or by reference).
However, this time you ordered something special: you ordered a lock free queue.
In order to be lock free, it must be able to perform all the observable modifying operations as atomic operations. This naturally restricts the types that can be used in these operations directly.
You might doubt whether it's even possible to have a value-type that exceeds the system's native register size (say, int64_t).
Good question.
Enter Ringbuffers
Indeed, any node based container would just require pointer swaps for all modifying operations, which is trivially made atomic on all modern architectures.
But does anything that involves copying multiple distinct memory areas, in non-atomic sequence, really pose an unsolvable problem?
No. Imagine a flat array of POD data items. Now, if you treat the array as a circular buffer, one would just have to maintain the index of the buffer front and end positions atomically. The container could, at leisure update in internal 'dirty front index' while it copies ahead of the external front. (The copy can use relaxed memory ordering). Only as soon as the whole copy is known to have completed, the external front index is updated. This update needs to be in acq_rel/cst memory order[1].
As long as the container is able to guard the invariant that the front never fully wraps around and reaches back, this is a sweet deal. I think this idea was popularized in the Disruptor Library (of LMAX fame). You get mechanical resonance from
linear memory access patterns while reading/writing
even better if you can make the record size aligned with (a multiple) physical cache lines
all the data is local unless the POD contains raw references outside that record
How Does Boost's spsc_queue Actually Do This?
Yes, spqc_queue stores the raw element values in a contiguous aligned block of memory: (e.g. from compile_time_sized_ringbuffer which underlies spsc_queue with statically supplied maximum capacity:)
typedef typename boost::aligned_storage<max_size * sizeof(T),
boost::alignment_of<T>::value
>::type storage_type;
storage_type storage_;
T * data()
{
return static_cast<T*>(storage_.address());
}
(The element type T need not even be POD, but it needs to be both default-constructible and copyable).
Yes, the read and write pointers are atomic integral values. Note that the boost devs have taken care to apply enough padding to avoid False Sharing on the cache line for the reading/writing indices: (from ringbuffer_base):
static const int padding_size = BOOST_LOCKFREE_CACHELINE_BYTES - sizeof(size_t);
atomic<size_t> write_index_;
char padding1[padding_size]; /* force read_index and write_index to different cache lines */
atomic<size_t> read_index_;
In fact, as you can see, there are only the "internal" index on either read or write side. This is possible because there's only one writing thread and also only one reading thread, which means that there could only be more space at the end of write operation than anticipated.
Several other optimizations are present:
branch prediction hints for platforms that support it (unlikely())
it's possible to push/pop a range of elements at once. This should improve throughput in case you need to siphon from one buffer/ringbuffer into another, especially if the raw element size is not equal to (a whole multiple of) a cacheline
use of std::unitialized_copy where possible
The calling of trivial constructors/destructors will be optimized out at instantiation time
the unitialized_copy will be optimized into memcpy on all major standard library implementations (meaning that e.g. SSE instructions will be employed if your architecture supports it)
All in all, we see a best-in-class possible idea for a ringbuffer
What To Use
Boost has given you all the options. You can elect to make your element type a pointer to your message type. However, as you already raised in your question, this level of indirection reduces locality of reference and might not be optimal.
On the other hand, storing the complete message type in the element type could become expensive if copying is expensive. At the very least try to make the element type fit nicely into a cache line (typically 64 bytes on Intel).
So in practice you might consider storing frequently used data right there in the value, and referencing the less-of-used data using a pointer (the cost of the pointer will be low unless it's traversed).
If you need that "attachment" model, consider using a custom allocator for the referred-to data so you can achieve memory access patterns there too.
Let your profiler guide you.
[1] I suppose say for spsc acq_rel should work, but I'm a bit rusty on the details. As a rule, I make it a point not to write lock-free code myself. I recommend anyone else to follow my example :)

mnesia memory allocation

i was testing the application by inserting some 1000 users and each user having 1000 contacts in a database table under mnesia and during insertion at some part the error i got is as follows:
Crash dump was written to: erl_crash.dump
binary_alloc: Cannot allocate 422879872 bytes of memory (of type "binary").
Aborted
i started the erl emulator with erl +MBas af (B-binary allocator af- a fit) and tried again but the error was same,
note:: i am using erlang r12b version and the system ram is 8gb on ubuntu 10.04
so may i know how to solve it?
the records definitions are:
%% database
-record(database,{dbid,guid,data}).
%% changelog
-record(changelog,{dbid,timestamp,changelist,type}).
here data is a vcard(contact info) , dbid and type is "contacts", guid is an integer automatically generated by the server
the database record contains all the vcard data of all users.if there are 1000 users and each user having 1000 contacts then we will have 10^6 records.
the changelog record will contain what are the changes done on the database table at that timestamp
the code for creation of tables are::
mnesia:create_table(database, [{type,bag}, {attributes,Record_of_database},
{record_name,database},
{index,guid},
{disc_copies,[node()]}])
mnesia:create_table(changelog, [{type,set}, {attributes,Record_of_changelog},
{record_name,changelog},
{index,timestamp},
{disc_copies,[node()]}])
the insertion of records on table is:
commit_data(DataList = [#database{dbid=DbID}|_]) ->
io:format("commit data called~n"),
[mnesia:dirty_write(database,{database,DbId,Guid,Key})|| {database,DbId,Guid,X}<-DataList].
write_changelist(Username,Dbname,Timestamp,ChangeList) ->
Type="contacts",
mnesia:dirty_write(changelog,{changelog,DbID,Timestamp,ChangeList,Type}).
I suppose that the list DataList is huge and should not be sent at once from a remote node. It should be sent in small pieces. The client can send one by one item from the DataList generated at the client. Also, because this problem occurs during insertion, i think that we should parallelise the list comprehension. We could have a parallel map where for each item in the list, the insertion is done in a separate process. Then, i also think that something is still wrong with the list comprehension. Variable Key is unbound and variable X is unused. Otherwise, probably the entire methodology needs a change. Lets see what others think. Thanks
This error normally occurs when there is no memory to allocate for binary heap by ERTS memory allocator called binary_alloc. Check the current binary heap size using erlang:system_info() or erlang:memory() or erlang:memory(binary) commands. If the binary heap size is huge then run erlang:garbage_collect() to free all non-referenced binary objects in binary heap. This will free the memory ..
In case you use long strings (it is just list in erlang) for vcard or somewehre else, they consumes much memory.
If this is the case, you change them to binary to suppress memory usage (use list_to_binary before insert to mnesia).
This may be not helpfull, because I don't know about your data structure (type, length and so on)...

Why is a process's address space divided into four segments (text, data, stack and heap)?

Why does a process's address space have to divide into four segments (text, data, stack and heap)? What is the advandatage? is it possible to have only one whole big segment?
There are multiple reasons for splitting programs into parts in memory.
One of them is that instruction and data memories can be architecturally distinct and discontiguous, that is, read and written from/to using different instructions and circuitry inside and outside of the CPU, forming two different address spaces (i.e. reading code from address 0 and reading data from address 0 will typically return two different values, from different memories).
Another is reliability/security. You rarely want the program's code and constant data to change. Most of the time when that happens, it happens because something is wrong (either in the program itself or in its inputs, which may be maliciously constructed). You want to prevent that from happening and know if there are any attempts. Likewise you don't want the data areas that can change to be executable. If they are and there are security bugs in the program, the program can be easily forced to do something harmful when malicious code makes it into the program data areas as data and triggers those security bugs (e.g. buffer overflows).
Yet another is storage... In many programs a number of data areas aren't initialized at all or are initialized to one common predefined value (often 0). Memory has to be reserved for these data areas when the program is loaded and is about to start, but these areas don't need to be stored on the disk, because there's no meaningful data there.
On some systems you may have everything in one place (section/segment/etc). One notable example here is MSDOS, where .COM-style programs have no structure other than that they have to be less than about 64KB in size and the first executable instruction must appear at the very beginning of file and assume that its location corresponds to IP=0x100 (where IP is the instruction pointer register). How code and data are placed and interleaved in a .COM program is unimportant and up to the programmer.
There are other architectural artifacts such as x86 segments. Again, MSDOS is a good example of an OS that deals with them. .EXE-style programs in it may have multiple segments in them that correspond directly to the x86 CPU segments, to the real-mode addressing scheme, in which memory is viewed through 64KB-long "windows" known as segments. The position of these windows/segments is relative to the value of the CPU's segment registers. By altering the segment register values you can move the "windows". In order to access more than 64KB one needs to use different segment register values and that often implies having multiple segments in the .EXE (can be not just one segment for code and one for data, but also multiple segments for either of them).
At least the text and data segments are separated to prevent malicious code that's stored inside a variable from being run.
Instructions (compiled code) are stored in the text segment, while the contents of your variables are stored in a data segment, the latter of which never gets executed, only read from and written to.
A little more info here.
Isn't this distinction just a big, hacky workaround for patching security into the von-Neumann architecture where data and instructions share the same memory?

How does a program look in memory?

How is a program (e.g. C or C++) arranged in computer memory? I kind of know a little about segments, variables etc, but basically I have no solid understanding of the entire structure.
Since the in-memory structure may differ, let's assume a C++ console application on Windows.
Some pointers to what I'm after specifically:
Outline of a function, and how is it called?
Each function has a stack frame, what does that contain and how is it arranged in memory?
Function arguments and return values
Global and local variables?
const static variables?
Thread local storage..
Links to tutorial-like material and such is welcome, but please no reference-style material assuming knowledge of assembler etc.
Might this be what you are looking for:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portable_Executable
The PE file format is the binary file structure of windows binaries (.exe, .dll etc). Basically, they are mapped into memory like that. More details are described here with an explanation how you yourself can take a look at the binary representation of loaded dlls in memory:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/cc301805.aspx
Edit:
Now I understand that you want to learn how source code relates to the binary code in the PE file. That's a huge field.
First, you have to understand the basics about computer architecture which will involve learning the general basics of assembly code. Any "Introduction to Computer Architecture" college course will do. Literature includes e.g. "John L. Hennessy and David A. Patterson. Computer Architecture: A Quantitative Approach" or "Andrew Tanenbaum, Structured Computer Organization".
After reading this, you should understand what a stack is and its difference to the heap. What the stack-pointer and the base pointer are and what the return address is, how many registers there are etc.
Once you've understood this, it is relatively easy to put the pieces together:
A C++ object contains code and data, i.e., member variables. A class
class SimpleClass {
int m_nInteger;
double m_fDouble;
double SomeFunction() { return m_nInteger + m_fDouble; }
}
will be 4 + 8 consecutives bytes in memory. What happens when you do:
SimpleClass c1;
c1.m_nInteger = 1;
c1.m_fDouble = 5.0;
c1.SomeFunction();
First, object c1 is created on the stack, i.e., the stack pointer esp is decreased by 12 bytes to make room. Then constant "1" is written to memory address esp-12 and constant "5.0" is written to esp-8.
Then we call a function that means two things.
The computer has to load the part of the binary PE file into memory that contains function SomeFunction(). SomeFunction will only be in memory once, no matter how many instances of SimpleClass you create.
The computer has to execute function SomeFunction(). That means several things:
Calling the function also implies passing all parameters, often this is done on the stack. SomeFunction has one (!) parameter, the this pointer, i.e., the pointer to the memory address on the stack where we have just written the values "1" and "5.0"
Save the current program state, i.e., the current instruction address which is the code address that will be executed if SomeFunction returns. Calling a function means pushing the return address on the stack and setting the instruction pointer (register eip) to the address of the function SomeFunction.
Inside function SomeFunction, the old stack is saved by storing the old base pointer (ebp) on the stack (push ebp) and making the stack pointer the new base pointer (mov ebp, esp).
The actual binary code of SomeFunction is executed which will call the machine instruction that converts m_nInteger to a double and adds it to m_fDouble. m_nInteger and m_fDouble are found on the stack, at ebp - x bytes.
The result of the addition is stored in a register and the function returns. That means the stack is discarded which means the stack pointer is set back to the base pointer. The base pointer is set back (next value on the stack) and then the instruction pointer is set to the return address (again next value on the stack). Now we're back in the original state but in some register lurks the result of the SomeFunction().
I suggest, you build yourself such a simple example and step through the disassembly. In debug build the code will be easy to understand and Visual Studio displays variable names in the disassembly view. See what the registers esp, ebp and eip do, where in memory your object is allocated, where the code is etc.
What a huge question!
First you want to learn about virtual memory. Without that, nothing else will make sense. In short, C/C++ pointers are not physical memory addresses. Pointers are virtual addresses. There's a special CPU feature (the MMU, memory management unit) that transparently maps them to physical memory. Only the operating system is allowed to configure the MMU.
This provides safety (there is no C/C++ pointer value you can possibly make that points into another process's virtual address space, unless that process is intentionally sharing memory with you) and lets the OS do some really magical things that we now take for granted (like transparently swap some of a process's memory to disk, then transparently load it back when the process tries to use it).
A process's address space (a.k.a. virtual address space, a.k.a. addressable memory) contains:
a huge region of memory that's reserved for the Windows kernel, which the process isn't allowed to touch;
regions of virtual memory that are "unmapped", i.e. nothing is loaded there, there's no physical memory assigned to those addresses, and the process will crash if it tries to access them;
parts the various modules (EXE and DLL files) that have been loaded (each of these contains machine code, string constants, and other data); and
whatever other memory the process has allocated from the system.
Now typically a process lets the C Runtime Library or the Win32 libraries do most of the super-low-level memory management, which includes setting up:
a stack (for each thread), where local variables and function arguments and return values are stored; and
a heap, where memory is allocated if the process calls malloc or does new X.
For more about the stack is structured, read about calling conventions. For more about how the heap is structured, read about malloc implementations. In general the stack really is a stack, a last-in-first-out data structure, containing arguments, local variables, and the occasional temporary result, and not much more. Since it is easy for a program to write straight past the end of the stack (the common C/C++ bug after which this site is named), the system libraries typically make sure that there is an unmapped page adjacent to the stack. This makes the process crash instantly when such a bug happens, so it's much easier to debug (and the process is killed before it can do any more damage).
The heap is not really a heap in the data structure sense. It's a data structure maintained by the CRT or Win32 library that takes pages of memory from the operating system and parcels them out whenever the process requests small pieces of memory via malloc and friends. (Note that the OS does not micromanage this; a process can to a large extent manage its address space however it wants, if it doesn't like the way the CRT does it.)
A process can also request pages directly from the operating system, using an API like VirtualAlloc or MapViewOfFile.
There's more, but I'd better stop!
For understanding stack frame structure you can refer to
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Call_stack
It gives you information about structure of call stack, how locals , globals , return address is stored on call stack
Another good illustration
http://www.cs.uleth.ca/~holzmann/C/system/memorylayout.pdf
It might not be the most accurate information, but MS Press provides some sample chapters of of the book Inside Microsoft® Windows® 2000, Third Edition, containing information about processes and their creation along with images of some important data structures.
I also stumbled upon this PDF that summarizes some of the above information in an nice chart.
But all the provided information is more from the OS point of view and not to much detailed about the application aspects.
Actually - you won't get far in this matter with at least a little bit of knowledge in Assembler. I'd recoomend a reversing (tutorial) site, e.g. OpenRCE.org.

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