I've been writing mainframe software since 1973. One of my first jobs as a student (on my own initiative as other new users were getting confused) was to write an automated tool to mix the case of help information, using an established dictionary of acronyms and abbreviations to determine which words should be left in upper case (and some rather messy logic to identify plurals and similar, for example "CPUs" or "IPLing"). I was writing international product code from 1976 at which time lower case was not only a problem for Japanese users, but also for line printers and other output devices (the 1403 TN print chain was only used specifically for text printing), so I've always ensured there is some way to force upper case output, although admittedly back then that used the standard technique of OC with spaces.
The listing and message texts of most products are not an official programming interface. But HLASM messages do have message ids and there is an option to have them all in upper case English, mainly for compatibility with older assemblers. Jonathan Scott -----Original Message----- From: IBM Mainframe Assembler List <ASSEMBLER-LIST@LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> On Behalf Of Jon Perryman Sent: 30 August 2025 22:32 To: ASSEMBLER-LIST@LISTSERV.UGA.EDU Subject: Re: Is HLASM efficient WAS: Telum and SpyreWAS: Vector instruction performance On Sat, 30 Aug 2025 20:13:40 +0100, Jonathan Scott <jonathan.scott...@gmail.com> wrote: >I've always used mixed-case messages where possible. You must ask yourself if you impacted someone else and how they were impacted. You never know you're in a bubble until it pops. It's unlikely that anyone complained. Since you mention HLASM, did someone want to do HLASM message analysis? Unlikely because of ADATA or other options but possible.
