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Chat using REXX


IBM Mainframe Forums -> CLIST & REXX
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ursvmg

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Joined: 24 May 2007
Posts: 52
Location: Chennai

PostPosted: Wed Nov 03, 2010 10:32 pm
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Hi,
I'm trying to build a chat tool using REXX & Panels. I couldn't find any full fledged or complete tool for the purpose.

What I have in my mind is.
1) The first panel can ask for the TSO ID and ascertain whether the user is online or not
2) If online, the next panel can take one or two lines of data from user. Upon 'enter', the message will be sent via TSO SEND command.
3) The messages received from the other user will have to captured and displayed in the same panel.
4) The from and to messages can be stored in a dataset and will be retrieved by the panel.
5) The panel may hold up to last 10 conversations.

What I don't know here is.
1) How to capture the TSO SEND message from the other user? Can this be captured using OUTTRAP?
2) Am i proceeding in the correct way? Is there a better way to achieve what I want?

Kindly advice,

Regards
GK
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superk

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Joined: 26 Apr 2004
Posts: 4652
Location: Raleigh, NC, USA

PostPosted: Wed Nov 03, 2010 10:51 pm
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I don't know of any way of enabling what I think you want to do without some sort of "broker" sitting in the middle to manage the flow of the data. Something that would require each user to "signin" to make them eligible for sending or receiving messages.

Personally, I'd just stick with regular IM or email.
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dbzTHEdinosauer

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Joined: 20 Oct 2006
Posts: 6966
Location: porcelain throne

PostPosted: Wed Nov 03, 2010 10:52 pm
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yeah, stop wasting time.

how do you expect to trap the 'sent' data on the receiver's end?

since the 'sent data' either display immediately on the receivers tso session
or held until the receiver logson (based on SEND parms),
you are trying to trap something that is automatically queued to the session.
you would have to intercept broadcast messages (if that is the vehicle).

better way to achieve this?
yeah, eMail, use google chat....

this should have been posted under the
'stupid things you have done/wanted to do on a mainframe' thread.
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dbzTHEdinosauer

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Joined: 20 Oct 2006
Posts: 6966
Location: porcelain throne

PostPosted: Wed Nov 03, 2010 11:12 pm
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a user's TSO Session is not multi-threaded.
as long as this 'CHAT' panel was inframe, you could not do anything else.

the only way a receiver could 'catch' the message via the PANEL would be to effectively have a
do not receive messages indicator on,
which means the user could never receive messages until he invoked the 'CHAT' panel
(e.g. operations wanted to broadcast an important message)


the mainframe is not a PC. it is not a toy.
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ursvmg

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Joined: 24 May 2007
Posts: 52
Location: Chennai

PostPosted: Thu Nov 04, 2010 4:31 am
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Guys,

Thanks for taking time to respond.

The idea is do something out of curiosity & to learn more. I never treat/use Mainframe as a toy. Definitely I have learnt something out of this.

I accept, its definitely not a replacement to IMs what we have today, but I believe that this kind of tool that will have some importance in future.

I always think that when people start thinking out of the box they learn more, even if they couldn't achieve what they wanted to.

Quote:
"Most of the things worth doing in the world had been declared impossible before they were done"


Thanks,
GK
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sushanth bobby

Senior Member


Joined: 29 Jul 2008
Posts: 1020
Location: India

PostPosted: Thu Nov 04, 2010 6:56 am
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Hi,

In my shop, giving a
Code:
\m

in the command and press enter, we get a panel and type the userid and you can send a message. This facility was somehow linked to LMF(Library Management Tool - a Version Control Tool) which got replaced by endevor currently, so for the new id's, currently we were not able to send messages.

Some people even can send a screenshot or see what other people are looking at in the in TSO panel like looking into their screen(for this authorization is needed)....

Thanks,
Sushanth
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PeterHolland

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Joined: 27 Oct 2009
Posts: 2481
Location: Netherlands, Amstelveen

PostPosted: Thu Nov 04, 2010 10:33 am
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Maybe you could use the Socket function for a one to one conversation.
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acevedo

Active User


Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 344
Location: Spain

PostPosted: Thu Nov 04, 2010 1:09 pm
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ursvmg wrote:

The idea is do something out of curiosity & to learn more.


... and I that's why I did it, now we have Lotus Sametime but not in 1997 when I coded it.


how do you expect to trap the 'sent' data on the receiver's end?

the basic idea is use SEND with SAVE option and then get the messages with listbc nonotices.

yeah, nonsense today but I learnt to use a table (TB) to populate a panel with a MODEL section (the main program has 488 lines of code and 31 the panel) which looks like this:

Code:

                   Advanced Messaging Utility                           
A:           _ OpciĆ³n     _ Smileys    _ Inicializar Log                   
Mensaje:                                                               
______________________Log______________________________                                   


;)
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dbzTHEdinosauer

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Joined: 20 Oct 2006
Posts: 6966
Location: porcelain throne

PostPosted: Thu Nov 04, 2010 2:46 pm
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acevedo,

you are correct.
Instead of ideological arguments and criticism,
I should have mentioned what technical arguments that I have with such a project.

Indeed, as you have indicated/shown, it can be done.
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Pedro

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Joined: 01 Sep 2006
Posts: 2546
Location: Silicon Valley

PostPosted: Thu Nov 04, 2010 6:34 pm
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I do not know enough about this, but offer my two cents anyway... some miscellaneous thoughts...

I agree that trying things is an useful vehicle for learning.

Also agree you need some kind of message broker. But I think you can utilize some existing IM broker. You need to learn the APIs to connect to a broker and then how to implement on z/OS.

In such a scheme, I do not think it matters where your chat partner is.

The firewall might prevent z/OS from connecting directly to the internet.
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