Pointer Enabled Tools for VM/CMS

Pointer Enabled Tools for VM/CMS - Disclaimer

The PETs codes and documentation are the result of a project (my "PET project," if you will) undertaken to provide an alternative to the standard VM/CMS interface. I wanted to be more productive personally, and I wanted to provide some ease-of-use tools to my co-workers and ultimately to my end-users.

Along the way I've explored a relatively undocumented and undeveloped synergy between workstation 3270 emulators and mainframe programs. The result is a growing, integrated collection of mouse-clickable CMS utilities.

But since this is still a research project, the codes and documentation are still "in development," and I feel compelled to offer a few disclaimers.

About 3270 Emulators Discussed on These Pages

As you look through these pages, please remember that I am not endorsing any of the 3270 emulators which I have tried or which I regularly use, nor am I recommending one emulator over another. As my notes indicate, some emulators are "PETs-friendly" and some are not. Some of the non-compliant emulators are very nice products in many other ways, and some of the compliant emulators are fairly limited in the functions they provide. (Of course, there are a few emulators which are very nice products and PETs-friendly.)

About PETs Programs in General

PETs programs are intended to provide a useful interface to standard VM/CMS functions (and maybe add some new tools). These are supposed to be GOOD things. But I doubt I've written perfect code, and therefore I expect to find bugs along the way. So, some caveats...

PETs are distributed AS IS, without any warranty concerning whether they will always work as intended or whether they are suitable for the purpose to which you put them. By downloading PETs, you assume a responsibility to try them, test them, and use them at your site. If they don't work for you, let me know and we'll find out what's wrong. But if they REALLY don't work for you, get rid of them!
PETs are honest, which is to say there are no viruses or worms or any other malicious critters hidden inside them.
If you let me know about bugs you find or enhancements you'd like to see, I will see what I can do, but I can't promise to be able to fix the nasties or enhance the code in the directions you suggest.

About the PETs Downloads

I am working to organize the various codes and documentation into simple-to-install and operate packages. This part will take some time to complete, but as the downloads are prepared and checked out, I will add them to the Download page.

If changes are made to some of the codes or documentation, the download packages will be revised. Feel free to download new versions as they are available.

If you are looking for something specific, which is not on the Download page, contact me directly and I'll see what can be done. Otherwise, be patient and check back after a few weeks to see what's new.

--rick ellis

Mail questions, comments, suggestions or inquiries to rge@uconnvm.uconn.edu .