Entire Operations Version 5.4.3 Release Notes

These release notes inform you of the enhancements and new features provided with Version 5.4.3 of Entire Operations.

Unless otherwise indicated, the information in these release notes applies to Version 5.4.3:

  • for both Entire Operations (NOP) and Entire Operations GUI Client (OGC),

  • on all supported platforms.

This document supersedes and replaces the release notes for Entire Operations Version 5.4.1 and Version 5.4.2.

Update Information for Version 5.4.3, May 2017:

Update Information for Version 5.4.3, March 2017:

Update Information for Version 5.4.3, October 2016:

  • Several Entire Operations features have been corrected or enhanced after the release of Entire Operations Version 5.4.3. These changes were summarized in the Readme files of the cumulative fixes supplied for Version 5.4.3. The Entire Operations documentation for Version 5.4.3 provided in Software AG's Empower web site at https://empower.softwareag.com/ has now been revised and updated to include these changes.

  • The section Supported Browsers of these release notes has been updated.

  • The section Prerequisites for Windows GUI Client of these release notes has been updated.

This document is organized under the following headings:


Supported Operating Systems

Entire Operations Version 5.4.3 supports the following operating systems:

  • z/OS,

  • z/VSE,

  • BS2000,

  • UNIX (HP-UX, AIX, Sun Solaris, Linux) and

  • Windows (Intel) (managed node only).

Supported Browsers

As of Version 5.4.1, the Entire Operations Entire Operations GUI Client supports the following browsers:

  • Mozilla Firefox ESR Version 32 or above

    Only the Extended Support Releases (ESR) of Mozilla Firefox are explicitly supported.

  • Microsoft Internet Explorer Version 10 or above.

Prerequisites for the Mainframe

Before you can install Entire Operations on a mainframe system, the following Software AG products must already be installed at your site:

  • Adabas Version 8 or above;

  • Natural Version 8.2 or above; the Natural installation must include the Software AG Editor component;

  • Entire System Server Version 3.5 or above;

  • Entire System Server Version 2.1.7 (UNIX and Windows) or above. Note that you require Entire System Server if you intend to run jobs with job type SAP.

  • System Automation Tools Version 3.4.4 or above;

  • Natural Security (optional);

  • Entire Network (optional); this product is required for any kind of multi-CPU constellation where mainframe and/or UNIX and/or Windows partners are involved (non-local);

  • EntireX Broker Version 7.2.2 for z/VSE (optional);

  • EntireX Broker Version 9 for z/OS (optional);

  • EntireX Broker Version 8.1.1 for BS2000 (optional);

  • EntireX Broker is required for any kind of multi-machine constellation if one partner is a UNIX system or Windows or different UNIX systems are involved. EntireX Broker is not required if you are running Entire Operations on a UNIX or Windows platform and controlling the job networks on a mainframe system.

  • Entire Connection (optional);

    This product is required for importing or exporting data from or to a PC file or a Natural work file on a PC.

The installation procedure for Entire System Server is described in the Entire System Server documentation.

The installation procedure for System Automation Tools is described in the System Automation Tools documentation.

Prerequisites for UNIX

Before you can install Entire Operations on a UNIX system, the following Software AG products must have been installed at your site:

  • Natural Version 8.3.6 (or above) for UNIX;

  • Adabas Version 6.3 (or above) for UNIX.

With Entire Operations Version 5.4.3, the following products will be installed automatically:

  • Entire System Server Version 2.1.7 (or above) for UNIX;

  • System Automation Tools Version 3.4.4 or above;

  • EntireX Version 9.9 (or above) Libraries. The libraries are delivered as a separate component under Infrastructure > Libraries > EntireX Libraries in the Software AG Installer (see the webMethods documentation Installing webMethods and Intelligent Business Operations Products).

Prerequisites for Windows GUI Client

Entire Operations GUI Client will run on any Windows platform on which Natural Version 8.3.6 (or above) for Windows runs.

Note:
Make sure the machine on which you are going to run the Software AG Installer contains the latest Windows updates. On Windows Version 8.1 and Windows Server 2012R2, the installation will fail if the Microsoft update KB2919355 is missing.

Entire Operations GUI Client Version 5.4.3 requires the following products:

  • Natural Version 8.3.6 (or above) for Windows. You can use either Natural Development version or Natural Runtime.

    Entire Operations GUI Client runs on any Windows platform on which Natural Version 8.3.6 ( or above) for Windows runs.

  • Entire Operations Server Version 5.4.3;

  • EntireX Version 9 or above (optional).

Special Considerations

Database ID (DBID) 148 is reserved for Entire System Server and must not be used for any database.

Platforms and Required Middleware

The following products are required to connect the individual platforms:

Online System / Monitor Job Execution Connection / Products
mainframe mainframe (local*) none
mainframe other mainframe Entire Net-Work
mainframe UNIX EntireX Broker
mainframe Windows EntireX Broker
UNIX UNIX (local*) none
UNIX other UNIX EntireX Broker
UNIX Windows EntireX Broker
UNIX mainframe Entire Net-Work

* local means that the Entire Operations online system is installed on the same machine on which jobs are executed.

Combinations are also possible. For example, if you want to install the Entire Operations online system on one mainframe and execute jobs on another mainframe and another UNIX or Windows machine, you would need:

  • Entire Net-Work (one for each system to be connected) for connecting to the other mainframe and to UNIX or Windows, and

  • EntireX Broker (on one system) for connecting to UNIX or Windows.

Compatibility and Migration

Support for Previous Versions

Entire Operations Version 5.4. is the official replacement for Entire Operations Version 5.3, or earlier versions. Details of when support for earlier versions will cease can be found in the Product Version Availability section of Software AG's Empower web site at http://empower.softwareag.com/.

Migrating from Previous Versions

  • No migration is required to upgrade from Entire Operations Version 5.4.2 to Entire Operations Version 5.4.3.

  • Direct migration from versions earlier than Entire Operations Version 5.2.1 is possible via the Import/Export utility only.

Data Migration

The data migration from Entire Operations Version 5.4.2 to Version 5.4.3 is performed as part of the migration process.

The data migration can be run any time manually by using a Natural batch JCL:

LOGON SYSEOR
DMDRIV-P
FIN

Internal control records prevent repeating of already completed migration steps.

This following migration steps are only required if you migrate data from an Entire Operations Version earlier than Entire Operations Version 5.4.

Start of instruction setTo migrate data from Entire Operations Version 5.3.1 to Entire Operations Version 5.4, perform one of the following steps:

  1. Unload the old database files and load the new database files by using the Import/Export utility.

    Or:
    Adapt the old Entire Operations System File 1 for use with Entire Operations Version 5.4.3. Some data fields have larger field lengths and some descriptors have been released or added. This update is not upwardly compatible to Entire Operations versions below Version 5.4.3.

  2. If you want to keep your log data: Adapt the System Automation Tools log file for use with System Automation Tools Version 3.4.4. (a field was added). This update is upwardly compatible to System Automation Tools versions below Version 3.3.1 and Entire Operations versions below Version 5.4.1.

    Or:
    On UNIX: If migration is required, it is performed automatically within the guided installation.

The Entire Operations log file (System File 2, System Automation Tools log file) remains in the same format.

Application Programming Interface (API) Versions

The API versions remain the same as in Entire Operations Version 5.3.1.

Notes:

  1. Parameters reserved for future use in a previous Entire Operations version, may be used in Entire Operations Version 5.4.3.
  2. Parameters with names like -NETWORK-VERSION or -SYMTAB-VERSION have been used since Entire Operations Version 5.4.2. Please refer to the descriptions of Versioning of Job Networks and Versioning of Symbol Tables in the Concepts and Facilities documentation.
  3. For several APIs, new return codes were added. Please check the description of the API Routines in the User's Guide.

Only the latest versions of APIs should be used for new development. These are documented in the section API Routines in the User's Guide. Starting with the next Entire Operations version, older APIs will be supported for the two previous versions only. The existence of an older API routine in the Natural SYSEOR system library does not imply that it is still supported.

Most API routines contain a version number as the seventh character of their name. For example, in this Entire Operations version the Log API is NOPULW9N. The previous version NOPULW8N is still supported for a limited time.

Code Page Setting

Software AG recommends that you run the Natural environments for the Entire Operations Monitor, the Entire Operations character interface and the Entire Operations RPC server with enabled code page support. For the required Natural parameter settings, see the Natural parameters CFICU and CP described in the Natural Parameter Reference documentation.

If code page support is enabled, user exits and Macro JCL defined in Entire Operations can use the Natural system variable *CODEPAGE (see the Natural System Variables documentation) which determines the current code page for correct code page conversion, for example, with the Natural MOVE ENCODED statement.

The Entire Operations monitor tasks log the current code page setting during startup. In the Entire Operations character interface, the current code page setting is shown by the TECH direct command (see the Direct Commands documentation).

When using the CFICU and CP parameters, they must be set to the same values for the Entire Operations Monitor, the Entire Operations character interface and the Entire Operations RPC server.

Solved Problems

All solved problems of Entire Operations Version 5.4.2 up to the Cumulative Fix 4 are included in this release.

Replaced User Exit Parameter Lists

The parameter list NOPSYP2A has been replaced by NOPSYP3A.

SYSOUT not Truncated with Old Entire System Server Version

If Entire System Server (NPR) Version 2.1.9 CF2 (or an earlier version) is installed, a SYSOUT line limit defined in the Entire Operations defaults (see the Administration documentation) is ignored when SYSOUT is passed from UNIX or Windows to Entire Output Management (NOM). All lines contained in the copied SYSOUT file are processed, lines that exceed the limit are not truncated.

The reason for this behavior is that part of the functionality has been implemented in Entire System Server.

New and Changed Features

New and changed features in Entire Operations Version 5.4.3 are summarized in the following section:

No Umlauts and Special Characters in Condition Names

Umlauts are no longer allowed for new condition names. In addition, the use of special characters in new condition names is now restricted to the following:

-+/§#$_&

(Numbers and letters can of course be used as usual.)

Old condition names that contain umlauts and/or any special characters other than the ones listed above are still supported for compatibility reasons.

Notes:

  • Global condition names still begin with a plus sign (+).

  • Do not use the question mark (?) in new condition names. It is supported for compatibility only.

  • The activation escape character, the submit escape character and a period (.) symbol delimiter are still accepted if symbol replacement is allowed for the relevant name fields.

Range Specification on Object List Screens

In the input fields above the objects listed on a screen, you can use asterisk (*) as a wildcard to select a special range of object names. For example: TEST* selects all names that begin with TEST and TE*T selects all names that start with TE and end with T.

Support for Event Store of System Automation Tools

Entire Operations now supports the event store of System Automation Tools (SAT) which is used to collect events that may occur during a network run. The collected events can then be transferred to an external event management system for further processing and evaluation. This may be useful to identify error situations or monitor the network run in a web-based application.

You can select the type of messages to be written to the event store by using the Global Messages for Events function described in the Administration documentation.

For detailed information on the event store, refer to the relevant section in the System Automation Tools documentation.

New Job Type Milestone

A milestone attribute is now provided to track significant jobs in a network.

For more information, see the description of the fields available to define a job in the Job Maintenance section of the User's Guide, and the Event Store Milestones section in the Systems Automation Tools documentation.

Transfer Limit for Files

The new SYSOUT Line Limit network option of the Entire Operations Defaults function limits the number of lines read when browsing SYSOUT or other files during end-of-job checks.

The line limit applies to all files that are copied from UNIX or Windows to a mainframe platform or passed from UNIX or Windows to Entire Output Management. The new option is described in Default Setting (2) (CUI) and Defaults for Network Options (GUI), respectively, in the Administration documentation.

Prerequisite for the new option is Entire System Server Version 2.1.7 on UNIX or Windows.

New Reports

The following new reports are available:

Report Node Overview

Shows the list of all nodes available with the current Entire System Server and operating system versions installed at your site.

Report Subnetwork Usage

Shows the relationship between a network and a subnetwork.

For more information, see the section Report Types in the User's Guide.

Suspend Option for Monitor Functions

The Monitor Task Profile of the Monitor Defaults function (described in the Administration documentation) now provides the option to suspend individual monitor functions and disable them until they are assigned again to the Monitor. This can help control network processing during disaster recovery.

For more information, see the section Using the Monitor Task Profile in the Administration documentation.

Node Maintenance: Reply-To Address for E-Mails

You can now specify a return address for e-mails sent via a node in addition to the e-mail address of the sender. For more information, see the new Reply-To option described in the section Definition of Nodes in the Administration documentation.

TECH Command Shows Installed Hot Fixes

The TECH direct command (described in the Direct Commands documentation) now also shows a list of hot fixes if installed at your site.

Job Data sent to Entire Output Management Open Print Option

You can now pass End-of-Job (EOJ) output to Entire Output Management across UNIX and Window execution nodes by using the Entire Output Management Open Print Option (OPO).

New Conditions for Predecessor Jobs in Multiple Subnetworks

For a job with multiple subnetworks, you can now determine whether a predecessor job executes in the primary subnetwork only or in all subnetworks that use the same predecessor.

You can trigger these prerequisite conditions by specifying the new RCM and RCA parameters as a Reference for a job output and input condition, respectively.

Flexible Escape Character Setting in Sources

You can now specify escape characters in Natural source objects and JCLs independent of the job definition.

Documentation: Entire Operations System Messages Removed

The short and long texts of all Entire Operations system messages have been removed from the Messages and Codes documentation.

You can use the direct command HELP to display the text of a system message: see System Messages in the Messages and Codes documentation.

Full Display of Symbol Table Names (NOP only)

Symbol names with more than 20 characters are now completely displayed on the screen if you set the new Symbol list: long fields parameter as a Representation option in your user profile. For more information, see the relevant section in User Definition in the Administration documentation.

User Privileges Not Inherited from Owner SYSDBA (NOP)

A user with SYSDBA as the current owner no longer inherits administrator authorizations.

Cross Reference Reports in Batch (OGC only)

Cross reference reports can now also be executed in batch mode. For detailed information, see Command - Object: CrossReferences - Name: SaveToFile in the section Using Entire Operations in Batch Mode in the User's Guide.

Flexible View of Node List (OGC only)

The column order in the list view of nodes can now be changed. It is also possible to remove columns from the list view.

For more information, see Listing all Nodes - List Function in the section Definition of Nodes in the Administration documentation.

Multiple Deletions from a Network Diagram (OGC only)

The master network diagram function now provides the option to remove multiple objects selected for deletion with a single delete confirmation.

Trace Levels for UNIX and Windows Nodes (OGC only)

You can now set the trace levels for UNIX and Windows nodes. For more information, see the relevant section in Definition of Nodes in the Administration documentation.

Previous Release Notes

Here are links to PDF files of the release notes for prior versions of Entire Operations. They are provided for users who may be upgrading from an earlier version of Entire Operations other than the most recent.