FAQ: Frequently-asked questions about PL/I
++ robin
====================================
(Q1) What is PL/I?
PL/I is a general-purpose programming language, which
is used for solving problems in a variety of fields
such as commerce, science (including mathematics,
physics, chemistry), engineering (incl. civil, electrical,
aeronautics), medicine and so on. It can be used for
system programming, and the facilitites are such that
it is rarely if ever necessary to resort to machine-language
or high-level language programming to solve problems.
It has more power than Pascal, Fortran 90, BASIC, and C,
and has comparable (but better) facilities than Ada.
The language has good documenting and self-documenting
facilities; programs are easy to read and to understand.
It bears some resemblance to Fortran and BASIC.
The language is suitable for beginners, as well as for
anyone wanting to become a professional.
(Q2) On what systems is it available?
PL/I is available on at least the following systems:
* IBM PC and compatibles (80x86).
* IBM PL/I for OS/2: is available in 3 versions:
Personal Edition }
Professional Edition } Details at the bottom of this posting
Toolkit. }
---available from IBM
* Liant Open PL/I, for 80x86 & Pentium running UNIX SVR3 and SVR4
---available from Liant Software Corporation
959 Concord Street
Framingham, MA 01701-4613
Tel. (508) 872-8700 Fax (508) 626-2221
(their PL/I generally is available on Unix-based systems)
* IBM AS/400
--- available from IBM
* IBM mainframes
--- available from IBM
* HP 9000 HP-UX
---available from Liant Software Corporation (address sbove)
* SPARC SunOS 4.x, Solaris 2.x
---available from Liant
* IBM RS/6000 AIX
---available from Liant Software Corporation;
---also available from IBM as PL/I Set for AIX.
* Data General AViiON with DG-UX
---available from Liant.
* Digital Equipment Corp. on Open VMS and Alpha AXP systems
---available from Digital Equipment Corporation.
* Stratus Computer, Inc.
---available on all systems except AX/R-S
(Q3) What do the compilers provide?
All compilers provide enhanced versions of the ANSI standard (the IBM
AS/400 PL/I compiler adheres to SAA rules).
In the case of IBM PL/I for OS/2 and PL/I for AIX, a number of
new language features is provided and include:
(a) list processing in which the pointers (handles) are
bound to the structures with which they are linked;
(b) ordinals;
(c) user-defined types;
(d) Unsigned integer type;
(e) New DO loop options that cause the loop to
terminate without overrunning the limit (specifically
for ordinals and unsigned integers);
(f) A much-enhanced macro-processor.
(this is not an exhaustive list)
There are also 97 new built-in functions, including
extra-special DATE/TIME functions, string-handling
functions, housekeeping functions (e.g.,
where-am-I-called-from?), and ordinal functions
(including a function to supply the name of an ordinal!).
General details are appended to this posting.
(Q4) What textbooks are available?
Some of the best include:
R.A. Barnes, "PL/I for Programmers", North-Holland, 1979.
J.K. Hughes, "PL/I Structured Programming", 3rd Ed., Wiley, 1986.
G.F. Groner, "PL/I Programming in Technological Applications",
Books on Demand, Ann Arbor, MI, 1971.
M.E. Anderson, "PL/I for Programmers", Prentice-Hall, 1973.
D.R. Stoutemyer, "PL/I Programming for Engineering & Science",
Prentice-Hall, 1971.
New book:
R. Vowels, "Introduction to PL/I, Algorithms, and
Structured Programming", Aug. 1995,
ISBN 0-9596384-7-4
The following are good PL/I reference manuals. (They also
highlight the additions that the OS/2 version provides
compared with the mainframe version; thus you can use
it as a reference on either system.)
IBM, "PL/I for OS/2: Language Reference", 1994 edition
IBM, "PL/I for OS/2: Built-in Functions", 1994 edition
(Q5) Is there a newsletter?
"The PL/I Connection" is published by Team PL/I.
To request a free subscription, send email to:
tea...@vnet.ibm.com
Recent copies are accessible at:
http://www.torolab.ibm.com/ap/pli/plinews.html
(Q6) Is there a home page?
There are four of interest:
http://www.torolab.ibm.com/ap/pli/plihome.html
http://www.liant.com
(then click on the LPI button)
http://www.dec.com/home.html
(then select OpenVMS ..., or you may find the direct
link quicker ->
ftp://ftp.digital.com/pub/Digital/info/SPD/25-30-21.txt
http://www.yahoo.com/Computers_and_Internet/Languages/
Or if you prefer, you can start on http://www.yahoo.com/ and take
it from there. When the Languages display comes up, go beneath the
main list, where you'll find PL/I. Click on that, and then you can
go to different sites.
If you know of any other home pages, please advise the author.
(Q7) Where can I find discussion groups?
* Join PL1-L@PACEVM on the internet.
To subscribe, send a note to PL...@PACEVM.DAC.PACE.EDU
In the body of the note, enter:
SUB PL1-L yourname
To post a comment, send it to PL1-L@PACEVM
(or to PL...@PACEVM.DAC.PACE.EDU )
* On Compuserve, enter: go os2df1
Then go to subsection 6: "Rexx and other languages".
* A new newsgroup for PL/I is likely to be set up soon,
following the passing on 3 Jan. 1996 of voting for the newsgroup
"comp.lang.pl1" (350 votes for, 18 votes against).
Until the newsgroup is set up, watch comp.lang.misc for
announcements and discussions on PL/I.
================================================================
Details about IBM PL/I for OS/2:
-------------------------------
Date: Wed, 10 Aug 1994 22:01:00 PDT
From: Paige Vinall 8-543-2106 <vin...@VNET.IBM.COM>
Subject: Re: Summary of IBM announcement 294-408
X-To: "(language) PL1 discussions"
<PL1-L%UIUCVMD...@vm42.cso.uiuc.edu>
Introducing Three New Products for Today's Programmer
-----------------------------------------------------
PL/I is well known as a powerful, proven language that was designed
with the programmer in mind.
Today's programmer is developing complex client/server applications.
Today's programmer is expected to be more productive; to write more
code in less time and to write better quality applications in the
most cost effective environment.
IBM introduces three new members of the PL/I Family that have been
designed with today's programmer in mind: PL/I for OS/2 Professional
Edition, PL/I for OS/2 Personal Edition and the PL/I for OS/2 Toolkit.
Get Client-Server Right with PL/I
---------------------------------
If your company has a large inventory of PL/I applications, you are
probably looking for a way to take advantage of new technologies while
leveraging the investments you have already made. Are you wondering
if there's a way to reduce your mainframe overhead and program more
productively, without compromising the power and flexibility that made
PL/I an excellent investment over the years?
PL/I for OS/2 Professional Edition and the PL/I for OS/2 Toolkit can
relieve your mainframe by letting you move your applications to a
powerful development environment on the PC. The PL/I for OS/2
products provide a visual PM front-end for developing VSAM, DB2,
CICS, and IMS Client Server/2 applications.
Continue to use your PL/I expertise while optimizing for the creation
of database and transaction-driven applications that will execute on a
mainframe, as client/server applications, or on a stand-alone PC.
Benefit from the Ease of Use and Performance of OS/2
----------------------------------------------------
OS/2 has many powerful features that makes it an attractive environment
for PL/I development. Here are just a few:
- Ease of use through an object-oriented iconic "drag and drop"
interface which makes OS/2 easy to learn and use
- Performance that is predictable and consistent
- True multithreading that lets you use multiple programs
simultaneously
- 32-bit addressability means you can tap the potential of today's
advanced microprocessing technology
With these features, OS/2 can raise your computing capability to a whole
new level by allowing you to work quickly, easily, and intuitively.
PL/I takes advantage of these innovative features in OS/2. The PL/I
for OS/2 products include header files that let you develop OS/2
Presentation Manager applications; a visual tool that generates PL/I
code as you 'paint' Presentation Manager applications, and PL/I supports
OS/2's multi-threading capability to further improve performance.
Together, PL/I and OS/2 provide you with a powerful, reliable
application development solution that increases your choices and
multiplies your opportunity to get bigger and better benefits from
your PL/I code and from your system.
Access DB2 with PL/I for OS/2
-----------------------------
If you depend on data stored in a DB2 database across multiple platforms,
you probably want to access it from your PL/I applications, whether they
are running on MVS or OS/2.
PL/I for OS/2 Professional Edition includes a preprocessor that supports
DB2/2 and lets you embed SQL statements in your PL/I programs. If you
have a distributed database connected by DDCS/2, you can access data
stored in other DB2 products, from PL/I applications on OS/2.
You can now access DB2 data on multiple platforms from PL/I products on
multiple platforms. PL/I's database solution lets you build new
client/server applications or extend the life of your existing mainframe
PL/I applications.
Develop CICS Applications in a Client/Server Environment
--------------------------------------------------------
CICS is the transaction management solution of choice for many
businesses. If your company uses CICS for online transaction
processing, you can take advantage of the client/server support
provided by both CICS OS/2 and PL/I for OS/2 Professional Edition.
PL/I for OS/2 Professional Edition includes a CICS preprocessor that
lets you develop CICS applications on OS/2. CICS OS/2 and PL/I
for OS/2 Professional Edition provide powerful facilities
for improving your productivity in the development and debugging
of new applications. PL/I for OS/2 is a valuable tool for
development of CICS applications for running on CICS/VSE and
CICS/ESA systems.
The transaction management solution provided by CICS OS/2 and PL/I for
OS/2 Professional Edition lets you build new client/server applications
or extend the life of existing mainframe applications.
Use PL/I to Develop IMS Client Server/2 Applications
----------------------------------------------------
If you have IMS data or transactions on a mainframe, you can now
access them from applications written in a more productive
environment.
Using PL/I for OS/2 Professional Edition and IMS Client Server/2, you
can develop client/server applications that call IMS data or invoke
IMS transactions that are running on a mainframe. By combining these
two products, you can access your mainframe IMS data and transactions
from a more flexible environment, while preserving data integrity.
Developing and maintaining applications that access mainframe IMS
can be very easy with PL/I. You can develop graphics-based
applications with PL/I for OS/2 Professional Edition. This simplifies
the process by letting programmers paint an application, therefore
automating the application development process. Did you have any
idea IMS applications could be this easy to write?
Tailor PL/I for Your Organization
---------------------------------
PL/I is a powerful language that affords programmers a lot of
flexibility. You can, for example, alter the severity of compiler
messages or suppress them completely. When debugging your
program, you can get a listing of diagnostic messages that identify
errors in the source program. Your program listing can also
include an attribute and cross reference table which tells you not
only in which lines a variable is referenced, but also in which
lines it is altered.
Improve Your Productivity with PL/I for OS/2 and WorkFrame/2
------------------------------------------------------------
PL/I for OS/2 provides a cost effective visual desktop development and
test environment. PL/I for OS/2 with WorkFrame/2, a GUI project
manager, makes application development simpler and more straight-
forward. Using PL/I for OS/2 and Workframe/2 you can, for example,
set compiler and other options and link them to a specific program or
project for repeated use. Using WorkFrame/2, you can also identify
and locate error messages and edit your source code without ever
leaving your work session.
Clean Up Your PL/I Applications with a Graphical Facility
---------------------------------------------------------
With PL/I for OS/2's powerful GUI debug facility, you can set change,
entry, or statement breakpoints. Other debugging features
include the ability to trap conditions and monitor changes
in variables during execution of your program.
Benefit from New PL/I Language Features
---------------------------------------
The following is a list of some new language enhancements in the
PL/I for OS/2 products:
-- Strongly typed enumerations, typed structures and unions,
and user-defined types make it easier for you to identify
potential problems at compile time.
-- PL/I's various storage classes--including automatic,
static, controlled, defined, and based--increase the
flexibility of the language.
-- A choice of linkages and parameter-passing mechanisms
lets you call C, C++, REXX, and Fortran applications from
within your PL/I applications.
-- The new PACKAGE statement allows you to group
related declarations and procedures that share name
scope.
-- A state-of-the-art macro facility is now available in
PL/I for OS/2.
-- With restricted expressions and named constants, you can
create parameters in your source code so that when
one item changes, all related items automatically
adjust.
Mainframe Compatibility
-----------------------
PL/I for OS/2 Professional Edition supports
EBCDIC character data and hexadecimal float data. It
also provides SAA language level checking and other
features that improve compatibility with mainframe PL/I.
Choose the PL/I That's Right for You
------------------------------------
PL/I for OS/2 comes in two varieties...a Personal
Edition and a Professional Edition. Both editions
include a full 32-bit compiler, run-time and graphical
debugging facility.
PL/I for OS/2 Personal Edition was designed for small
software development companies, consultants and students.
The Personal Edition supports new PL/I application
development on stand-alone PCs or small LANs.
PL/I for OS/2 Professional Edition includes all the
features of the Personal Edition, additional function that
enhances its compatibility with the mainframe compiler,
preprocessor support for DB2/2 and CICS OS/2, and support
for IMS CS/2. PL/I for OS/2 Professional Edition was
designed for programmers who develop or maintain mainframe
PL/I applications and are looking for a reliable client/server
solution.
The PL/I for OS/2 Toolkit consists of additional tools,
including a graphical prototyping tool and a code generator
that can help you develop graphical user interfaces. The
PL/I for OS/2 Toolkit can help you streamline the programming
process, to offer a complete development environment for PL/I
for OS/2 PM applications. It can be used as both a prototyping
tool and a code generator to develop user interfaces.
Installation Information
------------------------
PL/I for OS/2 is available on 3/5" diskettes and includes an
automated installation program. Generated object programs
run under IBM OS/2 Version 2.0 (or later).
IBM WorkFrame/2 Version 2.1 is included with the PL/I for OS/2
package and requires OS/2 Version 2.1 if you choose to install
it.
Order PL/I for OS/2 Today
-------------------------
To order PL/I for OS/2, contact an IBM representative. Or, from
the following countries, please call the corresponding number:
Austria 0222 21145 2500
France 05 03 03 03
Italy 167 018001
Netherlands 030 384040
Switzerland 01 436 62 33
United Kingdom 0705 564414
United States 1-800-IBM-CALL
Please ask for part number 10H7848 (Professional Edition) or
10H7819 (Personal Edition).
The Toolkit (part number 1322966) is a feature of either the
PL/I for OS/2 Personal Edition or PL/I for OS/2 Professional
Edition.
From anywhere, at anytime, you can send your questions to the
PL/I development team. Our fax number is 1 408-463-4820.
**************************
Features of PL/I for OS/2 Personal Edition
==========================================
List Price: [New price $229 as at 20/7/95][Was $299 (US)] including IBM Service
-- Implementation of the PL/I
language
-- WorkFrame/2 support
-- PL/I Interactive Test Facility
(PLTEST)
-- Interlanguage communication
-- Macro facility
-- PM Programming
Features of PL/I for OS/2 Professional Edition
==============================================
List Price: [New price $949 as at 20/7/95] [was $1250 (US)] including IBM Service
-- All features of PL/I for OS/2
Personal Edition
-- Support for EBCDIC character
and hexadecimal float data
-- SAA language level checking
-- Support for DB2/2, including
an SQL preprocessor
-- Support for CICS OS/2, including
a CICS preprocessor
-- Support for IMS Client Server/2
Features of PL/I for OS/2 Toolkit
=================================
List Price: $155 (US) including IBM Service [New price as at 20/7/95]
-- Visual PL/I, a tool to build PM applications
-- A programming aid designed to help you convert C header
files to PL/I header files
-- OS/2 Developers Toolkit 2.1
*****************************************************************
CICS, CICS OS/2, DB2, DB2/2, IBM, IMS Client Server/2, IMS CS/2,
OS/2, Presentation Manager, and SAA are trademarks of the
International Business Machines Corporation.
*****************************************************************
Paige Vinall
Path: goanna.cs.rmit.oz.au!munnari.oz.au!news.Hawaii.Edu!ames!agate!howland.reston.ans.net!swiss.ans.net!solaris.cc.vt.edu!uunet!juniper.almaden.ibm.com!VNET.IBM.COM
From: vin...@VNET.IBM.COM (Paige Vinall)
Message-ID: <19940914....@almaden.ibm.com>
Date: Wed, 14 Sep 94 07:32:09 PDT
Newsgroups: comp.lang.c
Subject: Re: PL/I's leave (Was: Re: Goto Pro's and Con's)
Organization: PL/I Development, IBM
Disclaimer: This posting represents the poster's views, not those of IBM
News-Software: UReply 3.1
References: <188572876...@otsrvr.ortel.org>
Lines: 32
In <188572876...@otsrvr.ortel.org> Paul Long writes:
>Well, you certainly speak from a position of authority, but I could swear
>that, about 15 years ago, leave was extended to accept the number of levels
>to leave. I think I even remember using it. Could there have been two
>extensions: first to the number of levels, then to a label?
>
I don't think so. At least not IBM's implementations. It could be
that another company allows a numeric expression on a leave statement.
It would make maintenance a pain when a new loop was inserted.
Maybe BASIC allows this?
>BTW, at one time I really liked PL/I. I used it in college quite a bit and
>did my first consulting work with it. Are you just maintaining it for legacy
>systems, or is there still life left in the old bird? And when is
>Object-PL/I comng out. :-)
>
We promoting it for both legacy systems and new work. IBM is using it
for our own development. We delivered PL/I for OS/2 and are now
working on PL/I for AIX/UNIX. We are also looking at OO PL/I but
I don't think that is as important as getting on other platforms.
If you have ideas or suggestions, you might want to subscribe to
the PL/I bitnet mailing list. It is PL...@uiucvmd.bitnet. To
subscribe, send a note to list...@uiucvmd.bitnet. In the
body of the note, enter:
SUB PL1-L yourname
To post a comment, send it to PL...@uiucvmd.bitnet.
Paige Vinall - PL/I Development Manager, IBM
Internet: vin...@vnet.ibm.com, Phone: (408) 463-2106
____________________________________________________________
Path: goanna.cs.rmit.edu.au!aggedor.rmit.EDU.AU!harbinger.cc.monash.edu.au!simtel!news.sprintlink.net!psgrain!fizban.solace.mh.se!vampire.xinit.se!newsfeed.tip.net!news.decus.se!decus.se!banckpm
From: ban...@decus.se (Per Magnus Banck, Electoral Information Service, Sweden)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.misc
Subject: Re: PL/I Compiler Vendors wanted
Date: 21 Jul 95 12:24:22 MET
Organization: Decus Sverige (Sweden)
Lines: 54
Distribution: world
Message-ID: <1995Jul2...@decus.se>
NNTP-Posting-Host: ns.decus.se
Charles Stump (cst...@levtech.com, 3ugqro$5...@news1.digex.net) wrote:
> I am looking for contact information for PL/I compiler vendors. Anyone
> have any names and/or phone numbers?
As I do not know what Your specific need is, here are a quick list:
* IBM (e-mail: teampli @ vnet.ibm.com )
It looks as they made big efforts in the new version for OS/2.
I can't say more for the moment, have not OS2 loaded yet.
Standalone version for some $ 200 [dont know exact amount].
Fullblown version with DB2 and CICS, mainframe access and the lot
for around $1000+.
*** Digital ( http://www.dec.com/home.html )
Their PL/1 compiler on OpenVMS for VAX is very good. I have used
since around 1982 in writing many system programming tools.
And it generally saved me all the trouble of assembly language.
It is also available for RISC Ultrix (and OpenVMS for Alpha I belive).
IMHO, they make much to little advertisment about this jewel.
*** Liant ( email: dickp @ lpi.liant.com )
Versions for various versions of UNIX. Mature (version 5).
Also claims to have versions for NT and MSDOS (anyone tried?).
Seems somewhat expensive to starters but very able tool for
doing migration with.
*** Others
Data General had a compiler back in the early 80'ies. Lost track.
Data Research hade a compiler for CP/M.
Rumours is that Prime also had a compiler for Prime/OS.
There is a mailing list for PL/1 at LISTSERV @ vmd.cso.uiuc.edu
IBM have also lauched a newsletter called the PL/I Connection.
You call use the address above.
Please, keep in touch.
=========================================================================
Per Magnus Banck Email: ban...@decus.se
Electoral Information Service Phone: +46 8 274543
Box 3082, S-17103 Solna, Sweden Fax: +46 8 6861700 (attn: Banck)
=========================================================================
Markus Loew
The group missed to celebrate it's 25th anniversary. CONGRATULATIONS ROBIN !!!
This is my reply to the groups first conversation AKA topic.
The day after. here's already the groups third conversation with it's two replies:
https://groups.google.com/u/1/g/comp.lang.pl1/c/sfwyVgV_Sk4
Have fun
Markus Loew
Robert Prins
> Le jeudi 11 janvier 1996 à 09:00:00 UTC+1, ++ robin a écrit :
>
> https://groups.google.com/u/1/g/comp.lang.pl1/c/sfwyVgV_Sk4
an account (free) on Eternal September.
There are
- the PL1-L listserver,
- the Usenet comp.lang.pl1 group
- Markus' [pl1f-and-mvs38j] group on groups.io
How many more do we need?
And the FAQ was probably last updated when the Usenet newsgroup was created,
Vowels doesn't care one flying fluck about it, it's been posted with completely
out-of-date information for at least a decade. One of the most blatant examples:
> The following are good PL/I reference manuals. (The
> you can use these manuals as references on either mainframe or
> PC system.)
>
> IBM, PL/I for OS/2: Language Reference, 1994 edition
abandonware sites) on an OS that no longer exists in the real world...
Sheesh...
How, and sorry this deserves this kind of strong language, fucking hard is it to
check a FAQ at least once a year, and update it where required?
Also, this "FAQ" takes self-promotion to levels rarely seen...
Robert
--
Robert AH Prins
robert(a)prino(d)org
The hitchhiking grandfather - https://prino.neocities.org/indez.html
Some REXX code for use on z/OS - https://prino.neocities.org/zOS/zOS-Tools.html
Markus Loew
Do not see it in such a severe , or purist manner, please: The base of the
PL/I(F) and MVS 3.8j group, at the moment when it was created at YAHOO,
I think it's about 6 or 7 years ago, is retro computing. Today we are open
to all forms, versions, and brands of PL/I. BTW The old manuals have been
scanned and are available in Bitsavers archives, most of them supported
by universities.
I have updated the "recommended reading" list, following your recommendations.
A lot of our members do not have access to mainframes. The Hercules
emulator available to public, combined with software given by IBM to
public domain, allow to get some look and feel, what mainframers work
is like.
You could play an important role in our group, by making availableavailable
your valuable knowledge and longtime experience in a form of topics
giving the ingredients for more up to date PL/I usage. Compared to this
Google group, the PL/I(F) and MVS 3.8j group has members interested in
learning, and experimenting. The Google group's members are mostly old
men, as I am, retired. This can be seen by the decreasing number of
posts and conversations. Let us leave the ivory tower :-)
One of this groups member liked to end his posts with the quotation
"My opinions may have changed, but not the fact that I am right."
-- Ashleigh Brilliant
Best regards
Markus Loew
Robin Vowels
> On 2021-08-16 04:20, Markus Loew wrote:
> > Le jeudi 11 janvier 1996 à 09:00:00 UTC+1, ++ robin a écrit :
> > The day after. here's already the groups third conversation with it's two replies:
> >
> > https://groups.google.com/u/1/g/comp.lang.pl1/c/sfwyVgV_Sk4
> an account (free) on Eternal September.
googlegroups is free.
> There are
> - the PL1-L listserver,
> - the Usenet comp.lang.pl1 group
> - Markus' [pl1f-and-mvs38j] group on groups.io
>
> How many more do we need?
>
> > The following are good PL/I reference manuals. (The
> > new facilities of PL/I for OS/2 are highlighted. Therefore
> > you can use these manuals as references on either mainframe or
> > PC system.)
> >
> > IBM, PL/I for OS/2: Language Reference, 1994 edition
> > IBM, PL/I for OS/2: Built-in Functions, 1994 edition
> 27 year old manuals for a compiler that's no longer available (not even on
> abandonware sites) on an OS that no longer exists in the real world...
You have missed the point.
These manuals are good references to the language.
If something absolutely modern is required, manuals are available from IBM.
Older manuals, if required, are available on bitsavers.
.
Any number of copies of OS/2 are available on EBAY.
Peter Flass is developing IronSpring PL/I for use on it.
Peter Flass
> On Monday, August 16, 2021 at 7:22:57 PM UTC+10, Robert Prins wrote:
>> On 2021-08-16 04:20, Markus Loew wrote:
>>> Le jeudi 11 janvier 1996 à 09:00:00 UTC+1, ++ robin a écrit :
>>> The day after. here's already the groups third conversation with it's two replies:
>>>
>>> https://groups.google.com/u/1/g/comp.lang.pl1/c/sfwyVgV_Sk4
> .
>> Don't use Google Groups, use a real newsreader that can access Usenet, and get
>> an account (free) on Eternal September.
> .
> googlegroups is free.
> .
>> There are
>> - the PL1-L listserver,
>> - the Usenet comp.lang.pl1 group
>> - Markus' [pl1f-and-mvs38j] group on groups.io
>>
>> How many more do we need?
>>
>> One of the most blatant examples:
>>> The following are good PL/I reference manuals. (The
>>> new facilities of PL/I for OS/2 are highlighted. Therefore
>>> you can use these manuals as references on either mainframe or
>>> PC system.)
>>>
>>> IBM, PL/I for OS/2: Language Reference, 1994 edition
>>> IBM, PL/I for OS/2: Built-in Functions, 1994 edition
>> 27 year old manuals for a compiler that's no longer available (not even on
>> abandonware sites) on an OS that no longer exists in the real world...
> .
> You have missed the point.
> These manuals are good references to the language.
> If something absolutely modern is required, manuals are available from IBM.
> Older manuals, if required, are available on bitsavers.
> .
> Any number of copies of OS/2 are available on EBAY.
> Peter Flass is developing IronSpring PL/I for use on it.
>
Pete
Robin Vowels
> Robin Vowels <robin....@gmail.com> wrote:
> > On Monday, August 16, 2021 at 7:22:57 PM UTC+10, Robert Prins wrote:
> >> On 2021-08-16 04:20, Markus Loew wrote:
> >>> Le jeudi 11 janvier 1996 à 09:00:00 UTC+1, ++ robin a écrit :
> >>> The day after. here's already the groups third conversation with it's two replies:
> >>>
> >>> https://groups.google.com/u/1/g/comp.lang.pl1/c/sfwyVgV_Sk4
> > .
> >> Don't use Google Groups, use a real newsreader that can access Usenet, and get
> >> an account (free) on Eternal September.
> > .
> > googlegroups is free.
.
> So is Eternal September
.
Robin Vowels
> FREQUENTLY-ASKED QUESTIONS & ANSWERS
> ====================================
(Q1) What is PL/I?
is used for solving problems in a variety of fields
such as commerce, science (including mathematics,
aeronautics), medicine, and so on. It can be used for
it is rarely if ever necessary to resort to machine-language
.
PL/I can be used for commercial data processing, numerical methods,
text processing, list processing, system programming,
real-time system programming, and picture file processing,
to mention a few specific applications.
.
PL/I has outstanding facilities for commercial and business use.
.
It has more power than Pascal, Fortran 95, BASIC, C, and
COBOL, and has comparable facilities to Ada.
The main areas where PL/I is superior include interrupt
handling, the built-in debugging aids, the macro
processor facilities, string-handling, and input-output
(see below for a link to a summary).
.
facilities; programs are easy to read and to understand.
It bears some resemblance to Fortran and BASIC.
anyone wanting to become a professional.
.
There's a summary of what you'll find in PL/I at:
.
http://members.dodo.com.au/~robin51/pliwhat.htm
.
* Iron Spring PL/I runs on Linux and OS/2. Free download at
http://www.iron-spring.com
.
1 July 2019: PL/I beta version 0.9.10b released.
This release contains bugfixes and performance enhancements.
See the readme file for your system for a listing.
.
Iron Spring PL/I version 9.9.9a released 14 December 2016:
.
Iron Spring Software released compiler and library version 0.9.9a.
This is primarily a maintenance release that contains fixes for a number of
reported problems. See the readme files for a complete listing of major
changes, at http://www.iron-spring.com
.
21 May, 2009: PL/I beta version 0.8a released.
.
This version adds list-directed input, the DISPLAY statement,
and the condition-handling builtins ONCHAR, ONCODE, ONCOUNT,
ONFILE, ONKEY, ONLOC and ONSOURCE.
.
A cross-reference listing can now be produced, and subscripted label
constants are supported.
.
ELF object files can now optionally be generated in addition to the
standard OMF.
.
A full list of enhancements and bugs fixed is available in the
"readme" file in the zip.
.
The older Version 0.6a added the %REPLACE preprocessor
statement, the 'FROMALIEN' procedure option to allow calls to
PL/I from other languages, and packages the runtime library as
a DLL and import library in addition to the previously
distributed static object library.
.
* Solaris ix (Intel)
.
IBM AS/400
--- available from IBM.
.
IBM mainframes
--- The followIng versions are available from IBM:
IBM Enterprise PL/I for z/OS and OS/390
provides access to DB2, CICS, IMS, and other data and
transactions systems.
.
* VisualAge PL/I for OS/390
.
* PL/I for MVS & VM
.
* PL/I for VSE
.
* PL/I for VSE/ESA is for MVS & VM
.
* IBM OS/390 (IBM z/OS) available as Enterprise PL/I.
.
IBM RS/6000 AIX
--- available from IBM as Enterprise PL/I.
.
Compaq (formerly Digital Equipment Corporation) on Open VMS and Alpha
AXP systems (Tru64 Unix)
---The compilers from Kednos Corporation for these systems are
called "PL/I for Open VMS" and "PL/I for Tru64 Unix"
respectively. They took over support for PL/I from UniPrise.
.
Although Kednos ceased trading in 2016, their web site is still
open. Manuals and software can be downloaded from the site.
Hobbyist licenses can be obtained.
See Kednos' web page: http://www.kednos.com
for manuals and compilers, and further inforation.
.
(Q3) How can I try out PL/I?
.
Iron Spring PL/I, runs under OS/2 and Linux. Free download from
.
http://www.iron-spring.com
.
It's still under development, and implements most of PL/I.
.
The IBM PL/I (F) compiler is available as an integral part
of the TurnKey System TK4- created by Jürgen Winkelman of
ETH Zurich at the site http://wotho.ethz.ch/tk4-/. This easy
to install, and to use MVS 3.8j on Hercules System 370, allows
to open the world of PL/I and mainframe experience to everyone,
out of the box. Its TSO user interface can be accessed through a 3270
display and input device, emulated by wc3270(Windows) / x3270(Linux).
A "card reader" input makes it easy to compile and run programmes
written in PL/I.
.
The group "PL/I(F) and MVS 3.8j" is a platform supporting all
activities in this context. PL/I language specific topics, up to the most
accurate versions, of all brands, are even more important today.
.
It is at groups.io.
.
To apply to join the group, go to http://groups.io/g/pl1f-and-mvs38j
.
Markus's latest project is enhancing the PL/I(F) compiler's functionalities
in the groups topic "PL/I(F) Face Lifting".
Add-on libraries will include a number of built-in functions,
built-in procedures, and language elements (by MACRO), in order to
bring it closer to the current versions of IBM's PL/I compiler."
.
There's the original Digital Research PL/I for DOS at:
.
https://winworldpc.com/product/digital-research-pl-i-compiler/1x
.
Make sure you get the PL/I library and all the other stuff.
DR PL/I is a subset of PL/I, of course, because it had to fit
in 64K originally (I think).
.
There's the original manual too,
in MS Word 6 format, but as it's been scanned, it is incomplete.
The corresponding PL/I Reference Manual is in Microsoft Word 6 format,
zipped at:
.
http://members.dodo.com.au/~robin51/ref-w6.zip
.
Find the PCDOS section, and then check out DOWNLOADS.
.
Be sure to download the utilities (including the linker)
as well as the compiler and sample codes.
.
You'll also need the compiler flags to use it, at:
.
http://members.dodo.com.au/~robin51/options.txt
.
Russian users have available PL/I-KT, which is a development
of DR PL/I, with extensions: parallel procedures execution etc.
The 32-bit version of PL/I-KT runs on Windows XP, 7, 8
The 64-bit version of PL/I-KT runs on Windows 10.
These versions deliver error messages in Russian, and will not
run with western versions of Windows.
For details, see www.pl1.su
.
Russian users have available the following:
https://pl1.su/drugie-kompiljatory-pl-i/ibm/visualage-opisanie-skachat/
(in Russian Language, Google translation is available).
.
On the VMS platform, either VAX or Alpha --
For personal use, the Kednos PL/I compiler
and documentation may be downloaded free from http://www.kednos.com .
To run the free version, you will need a
Hobbyist license, which may be obtained by following the links
at http://www.kednos.com .
If you don't have VMS, you can run the CHARON VAX emulator on W2K.
.
Here's another suggestion from From: "Tom Linden" <t...@kednos.com>,
Kednos Date: Sat, 08 Oct 2005 08:17:57.
.
Purchase either PWS xxx (where xxx = 433, 500 or 600)
or XP1000 Alpha box, you can probably get one for $200 to $600
off ebay, install Hobbyist version of VMS and Hobbyist version
of PL/I, both free and you will have a far superior environment.
You will never see a BSOD and you will never get hacked.
Install WASD web server, also free, you will have a hack-proof
high performance web server.
There is also a lot more freeware available.
.
(Q4) What do the compilers provide?</H3>
.
the subset G). There's a
summary of what you'll find in PL/I at:
.
http://members.dodo.com.au/~robin51/pliwhat.htm
.
Example PL/I source code, to implement the new built-in functions
(on systems other than OS/2, VisualAge for Windows, AIX systems
and Enterprise PL/I for z/OS, and earlier systems) for:
.
The SEARCH built-in function:
.
http://members.dodo.com.au/~robin51/search.htm
.
The SEARCHR built-in function at:
.
http://members.dodo.com.au/~robin51/searchr.htm
.
and the VERIFY (3 argument version) and VERIFYR built-in functions at:
.
http://members.dodo.com.au/~robin51/verify.htm
.
(these are in plain text form).
.
Further PL/I examples of a tutorial nature are at
.
http://members.dodo.com.au/~robin51/shell.htm
.
(an insertion sort), and a
.
http://members.dodo.com.au/~robin51/lists.htm
.
(a linked list creation procedure (under construction)).
.
In each case, click on the keywords for an explanation.
.
The IBM products deserve special attention because
the same PL/I features are available on z/OS, and AIX.
(they are the OS/2 compiler ported to these other systems).
.
You can download a free 60-day trial of PL/I for AIX
(or buy it) from
https://www.ibm.com/au-en/marketplace/pli-compiler-aix
.
In the cases of IBM Enterprise PL/I for z/OS, and PL/I for AIX,
some important new language features are
provided and include:
.
(a) strongly-typed list processing in which the pointers
are linked;
(b) ordinals;
(c) user-defined types;
(d) Unsigned integer type;
(e) New DO loop options that cause the loop to
terminate without overrunning the limit (specifically
(f) A much-enhanced macro-processor.
(g) A data type DATE for handling two-digit and
four-digit years that,
together with new date functions, are
known as the Millennium Language Extensions.
(h) Support for wide character set, enabling such files to be
read and written. A number of built-in functions for
wide characters is provided, as well as for UTF strings.
.
functions, housekeeping functions (e.g.,
where-am-I-called-from?), and ordinal functions
(including a function to supply the name of an ordinal!).
(Q5) What textbooks are available?
.
R.A. Barnes, PL/I for Programmers, North-Holland, 1979.
J.K. Hughes, PL/I Structured Programming, 3rd Ed., Wiley, 1986.
Books on Demand, Ann Arbor, MI, 1971.
Prentice-Hall, 1971.
Problem Solving, West, 1986, ISBN 0-314-93915-6.
Check out the Table of Contents:
http://members.dodo.com.au/~robin51/reddy.txt
E. J. Newhold & H. W.Lawson, The PL/I Machine, Addison-Wesley,
Reading (Mass), 1971.
E. Sturm, The New PL/I ... for PC, Workstation and Mainframe,
Vieweg-Teubner, Wiesbaden, Germany, 2009.
ISBN: 978-3-8348-0726-7.
E. Sturm, Das neue PL/I (fur PC, Workstations und Mainframe)
(in German language), 7th Ed., Vieweg-Verlag (2008)
ISBN: 3-528-44792-3
See the preface at:
https://www.uni-muenster.de/ZIV.EberhardSturm/
.
R. A. Vowels, Introduction to PL/I, Algorithms, and
Structured Programming, 3rd revised Ed.,
ISBN 0-9596384-9-0. 600+ pages, A4 size.
See a list of the main algorithms at:
http://members.dodo.com.au/~robin51/algor-p.htm
Comes with a disc containing all the programs,
procedures, and functions from the book. The
disc was first published in October 1996, and
was most-recently updated in January 2005.
.
The following are good PL/I reference manuals for most systems.
you can use these manuals as references on either mainframe or
PC system.)
IBM, PL/I for OS/2: Language Reference, 1994 edition
you'll need IBM's current PL/I reference manuals:
https://www.ibm.com/support/pages/enterprise-pli-zos-documentation-library#Table526
See the answers for Question 7 for more current IBM manuals.
.
(Q6) Is there a newsletter?
.
Yes.
The October 2009 issue of "The PL/I Newsletter" may be viewed at:
http://members.dodo.com.au/~robin51/pli-n11.htm
The June 2008 issue of "The PL/I Newsletter" may be viewed at:
http://members.dodo.com.au/~robin51/pli-n10.htm
The April 2006 issue of "The PL/I Newsletter" may be viewed at:
http://members.dodo.com.au/~robin51/pli-n9.htm
The January 2005 issue of "The PL/I Newsletter" may be viewed at:
http://members.dodo.com.au/~robin51/pli-n8.htm
The December 2003 issue of "The PL/I Newsletter" may be viewed at:
http://members.dodo.com.au/~robin51/pli-n7.htm
The December 2002 issue of "The PL/I Newsletter" may be viewed at:
http://members.dodo.com.au/~robin51/pli-n6.htm
The August 2002 issue of "The PL/I Newsletter" may be viewed at:
http://members.dodo.com.au/~robin51/pli-n5.htm
The November 2001 issue of "The PL/I Newsletter" may be viewed at:
http://members.dodo.com.au/~robin51/pli-n4.htm
The June 2001 issue of "The PL/I Newsletter" may be viewed at:
http://members.dodo.com.au/~robin51/pli-n3.htm
The September 2000 issue of "The PL/I Newsletter" may be viewed at:
http://members.dodo.com.au/~robin51/pli-n2.htm
You may download the July 2000 issue from:
http://members.dodo.com.au/~robin51/pli-n1.doc
.
(Q7) Is there a home page?
.
There are at least eight of interest:
IBM:
Current PL/I manuals for z/OS may be seen at
(and downloaded from):
https://www.ibm.com/support/pages/enterprise-pli-zos-documentation-library#Table526
The manuals are in English and Japanese.
Announcement letters, data sheets, product documentation etc
are found at:
https://www.ibm.com/support/pages/enterprise-pli-zos-documentation-library
.
A very detailed history of the development of PL/I
and a description of the language is to be found at
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PL/I
.
A short history of PL/I in Russian language is to be seen at
www.pl1.su
.
What is PL/I ?
http://members.dodo.com.au/~robin51/pliwhat.htm
gives you an overview of PL/I.
.
http://www.dec.com/home.html Digital
link quicker ->
http://www.kednos.com Kednos
.
http://www.yahoo.com/Computers_and_Internet/Languages/
Yahoo's Language directory </A>
Yahoo's main directory and take
main list, where you'll find PL/I. Click on that, and then you can
go to different sites.
Peter Flass's PL/I home page.
.
http://home.roadrunner.com/~pflass/mirrors/robin_v/
A mirror site for Robin Vowels' site.
.
http://members.dodo.com.au/~robin51/why_not.htm
Why not use PL/I?
.
Other possible sites are as follows:
.
Japan: http://www.ibm.co.jp/pc/prod/sa/0272.html
.
(Q8) Where can I find discussion groups?
.
* A PL/I newsgroup was established in January 1996
following the passing on 3 January 1996 of voting for
votes against).
* Join PL1-L [at] listserv.dartmouth.edu on the internet.
To subscribe, send an email to listserv [at] listserv.dartmouth.edu
In the body of the email, enter:
.
SUB PL1-L yourname
.
To post a comment, send email to PL1-L [at] listserv.dartmouth.edu
.
Then go to subsection 6: "Rexx and other languages".
* See also IBM'S forum:
.
https://www.ibm.com/developerworks/community/forums/html/forum?id=02d62102-236b-4bed-be19-2b17da1603d8
.
You can read the postings there, and if you wish to contribute
to any discussion, you will need to register.
.
* Russian: Discussion of PL/I in Russian language takes place on
www.pl1.su (with Google translation to English)
www.compiler.su (Russian language only)
.
* German: Seems to take place at: de.comp.sys.amiga.misc
.
* Or consider attending a SHARE PL/I presentation as either a
spectator or presenter. Postings appear from time to
time in comp.lang.pl1
.
(Q9) How did PL/I originate?
.
PL/I came into being as a result of an attempt to produce
a revision of FORTRAN in about 1964. Such were the changes
necessary that it was not possible to introduce the new features
needed to bring FORTRAN up-to-date, and to be compatible with
existing programs, that it was decided to introduce a
new language that incorporated the best features of the
then main languages FORTRAN, COBOL, and Algol.
.
Originally, the new language was called "New Programming
Language", or NPL. However, as these initials were
already taken by the National Physics Laboratory in
Britain, the name became PL/I (for Programming Language One).
.
First introduced in 1966, the new language contained features
not then seen before in a general-purpose programming language --
including interrupt handling, array operations, list processing,
and a macro pre-processor.
.
There is some controvesy over the name -- whether it is PL/I
or PL/1. The first manuals (for the first compiler, the
IBM PL/I (F) compiler) called it PL/I, not PL/1. The ANSI
standard calls it PL/I. The title of the first reference
manual is:
"IBM System 360 PL/I (F) Language Reference Manual", 1966.
.
(Q10) What tools are available?
.
Some are: [this question is under construction]
.
PLIFORM is a PL/I source code formatter, available from
Magicon, Inc. You'll find them at:
1124 Linda Drive, Campbell, California 95008-4507, U.S.A.
.
Peter Osterman's PL/I source code reformatter.
.
The PL/I source code reformatter for Windows (formpli3.exe,
414k self extracting file) created by Peter Ostermann of Germany
is now freeware.
.
The PL/I source code reformatter at:
.
http://home.nwn.de/peter.ostermann/formpli3.exe
.
can help make jumbled code more readable by putting statements
on separate lines and pointing out the nesting levels by indention.
.
The reformatter is a standalone product, is easy to use, and
does the job in a few seconds. It requires just one megabyte
of disk space, so give it a try.
.
Send suggestions or comments to: in...@pkf-ostermann.de
.
Visit: http://home.nwn.de/peter.ostermann/hobby.html
.
for more information and download on Peter's personal web page.
.
This PL/I package from Eberhard Sturm implements the REXX parse macro
on the mainframe and the workstation:
.
http://www.uni-muenster.de/ZIV/Mitarbeiter/EberhardSturm/parse.inc
.
(Q11) What resources are available?
.
* A large library of PL/I procedures for numerical work is available at
http://members.dodo.com.au/~robin51/numeric.htm
.
*
You'll find more PL/I codes at the PL/I Resources Page:
http://members.dodo.com.au/~robin51/resource.htm
.
* Examples of PL/I codes are to be found at the Wiki Rosetta page:
http://rosettacode.org
.
This site gives examples of codes in various programming languages.
Choose "By language" from the directory at the left-hand side,
near the top, and then choose PL/I. Here you'll find over
100 PL/I solutions to problems.
.
* A FORTRAN to PL/I language translator is available.
Contact r|o|b|i|n|5|1 at dodo dot com dot au
(omit the vertical bars, and make the usual substitutions elsewhere.)
.
* A C to PL/I language translator (in .EXE form) is available.
Contact the afore-mentioned.
.
The above two translators are useful for converting old programs.
Of course, it isn't always necessary to do a conversion,
because some PL/I compilers (in particular IBM compilers)
produce code that can call Fortran procedures and C procedures.
.
* For useful PL/I resources and links, see :-
.
http://www.google.com/Top/Computers/Programming/Languages/PL/PL-I/
.
* Take a peek at the Software Designer's Handbook at :-
.
http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Software_Engineers_Handbook/Language_Dictionary/PLI
.
(Q12) What's happening? What conferences?
.
Find out what's new?
http://members.dodo.com.au/~robin51/wots-hot.htm
.
(Q13) Where can I read about PL/I?
.
* The URL http://www.ionet.net/~mclapper/
.
is a white paper on object-oriented PL/I programming.
.
The paper PL/I for OS/2 by R. Vowels describes new features
of PL/I for OS/2. It appeared in ACM SIGLAN Notices,
Vol. 31 No. 3, March 1996.
.
Do a Google search for "PL/I for OS/2".
.
* An interesting article on PL/I appeared in the Enterprise
Systems Journal in December 1995. You can view Lou Marco's
"In Praise of PL/I" at:
.
http://members.dodo.com.au/~robin51/enterp.htm
.
* Has the King Returned? by Conrad Weisser makes interesting reading.
ACM SIGPLAN Notices, Vol. 28 No. 4, April 1993.
http://www.kednos.com/king.pdf
.
Do a google search for "Has the King Returned".
.
* Why not take a look at the paper, "Power vs Adventure -- PL/I and C" ?
.
http://www.uni-muenster.de/ZIV/Mitarbeiter/EberhardSturm/PL1andC.html
.
* Another paper on PL/I and C is Richard Perkinson's "To 'C' or Not to 'C'"
at http://members.dodo.com.au/~robin51/perkins.htm
.
* F. J. Corbato's paper on choice of PL/I as a systems programming language
is worth a read.
http://home.nycap.rr.com/pflass/PLI/plisprg.html
.
(Q14) Is there any implementation of Object-Oriented Programming?
.
Patrick Senti implemented a precompiler to PL/I to support
object-oriented programming in PL/I - in 1994. He has contributed
it to the open source community and made it available at
.
http://sourceforge.net/projects/oopli.
.
(Q15) What manuals are available?
In addition to current IBM manuals (see Answers to Question 7)
there is also
.
The PL/I Virtual Reference Library at
.
http://teampli.net/plilib.html#ibmepli
.
provides a library of downloadable PL/I reference
manuals from 1966,including PL/I(F).
.
(Q16) How can I order PL/I?
.
IBM PL/I provides compatible, cross-platform,
cross-product compilers that support z/OS, OS/390, VM, VSE/ESA,
AS/400, AIX.
.
To order IBM PL/I, contact IBM in your country.
.
Note that Kednos PL/I is free for non-commercial use,
and that Iron Spring PL/I compiler is free.
Robin Vowels
you would have found that it is dated 11 January 1996
Robin Vowels
PL/I FREQUENTLY-ASKED QUESTIONS