z390 Getting Started

• What is required to use z390 to assemble, link, and execute programs on Windows XP or 2000?
  • Download and install latest version of z390 using InstallShield
  • Download and install latest version of Sun Microsystems J2RE 1.5.0+
  • Also remove any prior versions of J2RE such as 1.4.2
  • Also change IE Explorer to use J2RE  instead of Microsoft default (Click on "Tools", "Internet Options", "Advanced tab", and scroll down to "Java (Sun)" section and "Microsoft VM" section.  Check J2RE 1.5.0+ and uncheck Microsoft VM options, click apply, restart and verify again.)
• How do I verify the required z390 releases are installed?
  • Double click on the z390 desktop icon to start the GUI interface
  • Click on "Help", "Releases"
  • Verify Windows XP or 2000 (these are the only versions tested but others may work)
  • Verify J2RE 1.5.0+  (releases prior to 1.5.0 such as 1.4.2 will not work and should be uninstalled)
  • Verify z390 1.3.01+ (if old version such as 1.0.xx shows up, uninstall all z390 versions, and delete the z390 install directory to remove any old read-only files from very early installs, then install again)
• How do I run the Hello World demo and view results?
  • Double click the z390 desktop icon to start z390 GUI interface
  • Enter the command "ASMLG demo\DEMO" to assemble, link, and execute the demo program demo\DEMO.MLC using batch command ASMLG.BAT
  • The execution step should display the "HELLO WORLD" on the console
  • To view the console log file, enter command "edit demo\DEMO.LOG", close editor
  • To view the assembler listing enter command "edit demo\DEMO.PRN", close editor
  • To view the linker listing enter command "edit demo\DEMO.LST", close editor
• How do I rerun the demo with instruction execution trace?
  • Enter the command "EXEC demo\DEMO trace con
  • The instruction execution trace should appear on console and TRE trace file
  • To view the trace file enter command "edit demo\DEMO.TRE", close editor
• What are the best references for more information on z390 and mainframe assembler
  • z390 User Guide (See appendix for listings of demo "Hello World" source files)
  • z390 Additional documentation links
  • IBM z/Architecture and z/OS reference links
• Where can I find more examples?
  • The z390\demo directory contains several example programs
  • Run the command RTDEMO to assemble, link, and execute them all
  • Edit the file RTDEMO.BAT and the files it calls to see how batch command work
  • For a lot more examples, download and install the RT.zip file into z390 directory.  Then view all the programs in z390\RT\TEST and run the command RT.BAT to assemble, link, and execute them all.
• What macros are supported?
  • The install directory z390\mac contains all the currently supported MVS compatible macros which generate svc calls supported by the z390 runtime emulator.  See the z390 documentation links above for additional documentation on these macros.  Requests for additional macro support are welcome.
  • There is an optional download file named MVS.zip which contains the public domain MVS 3.8 macro library in ASCII text format.  These macros can be used with z390 to assemble mainframe programs targeted for execution on MVS or z/OS mainframe systems.  You could even upload the binary OBJ files generated for linking and executing them on a mainframe system.  These macros also provide useful examples of macro assembler code.  However these macros do not generated svc code compatible with the current z390 runtime.  For those interested in actually running MVS 3.8 code on Windows, I recommend the Hercules emulator.  The Hercules emulator will also run the mainframe assembler that comes with MVS 3.8, but that assembler is quite dated and does not support new z series opcodes for such features as DFP.  Hercules is also limited to 16MB regions.
  • Note IBM z/OS and other current operating system product macros are only available from IBM under license.  z390 is targeted to be HLASM compatible and any bugs found by users assembling these macros should be submitted for RPI correction.
• How do I run the regression tests?
  • You can enter command RTDEMO to run all the demos in z390\demo directory.  The output of the regression test is in z390\demo\dif consisting of text files showing the differences between the generated demo files and the saved files from last verified regression test.  The files are listed in descending order by size to quickly any spot files with differences which can be due to different software versions, different options, bugs, etc.
  • You can also run RTCICS for regression tests of CICS.
  • You can download and unzip the optional MVS.zip macros into z390 directory and then run RTMVS regression tests using the MVS macros.
  • You can download and unzip the optional RT.zip tests into z390 directory and then run the RTTEST regression test which takes 5 minutes or more to assembler and run over a 100 different test programs for the macro processor, assembler, linker, and emulator.  You can also run RT.BAT which runs all of the above regression tests.

  IBM Trademarks - z/OS, CICS, HLASM.