"Version of the compiler" is not sufficient to answer "what hardware level
is required?" For example, COBOL 6.3 lets you specify ARCH() 8, 9, 10, 11,
12 or 13. So the object code might run on a z10, or it might require a z15,
or anything in-between.

Charles


-----Original Message-----
From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List [mailto:[email protected]] On
Behalf Of Farley, Peter x23353
Sent: Tuesday, December 8, 2020 3:17 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: Determining required z/series hardware level - REVISED

It's not foolproof, but for both HLL's and assembler the COBANALZ program in
CBT file 321 will give you (in the SUMMARY DD output) a pretty good guess at
the compiler or assembler version that generated the code.  From that you
could extrapolate the minimum hardware level required based on the
announcement letter for that release of each language's compiler.  Crude,
but possible, though COBANLZ does not handle "unbound object code", only
executables (load module or P.O.).

For HLL compilers that allow you to generate the pseudo-assembler equivalent
of the compiled code, you can analyze the compiler listing for instruction
uses, but if you only have executable code, obviously that is no help.

For executable-only (no source or listing available) assembler, you would
need to decode the executable into instructions and data (not trivial by any
means) to build a list of instructions used.  An instruction trace program
like TRACE390 in CBT file 391 could help there, assuming you have the files
and JCL needed to run the program once through the trace program.  The trace
output would provide you with a list of instructions executed to analyze for
hardware level.  The caveat there is that AFAIK CBT file 391 has not been
updated in quite a while and lacks many of the newer z-architecture
instructions, not least the whole suite of vector instructions.

Running any kind of instruction trace has the caveat that not all
instruction paths are guaranteed to be executed, and there could easily be
instructions requiring a higher architecture level hiding in un-executed
code.

In general, if all you have is executable code, I would call this one of
those "hard problems".

Peter

-----Original Message-----
From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List <[email protected]> On Behalf Of
Mike Hochee
Sent: Tuesday, December 8, 2020 5:50 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: Determining required z/series hardware level - REVISED

Oops, got the hardware lvl for AHI wrong, so changed 'G9' to 'G10'  

Hi,

I'm looking for a utility/program which is capable of reading a z/OS
executable, whether an lmod or program object, or unbound object code, and
examining it for hardware/architecture level compatibility. I'm not
specifically referring to the ARCLVL of on the SYSSTATE macro, although I
know there is some correspondence, but rather to the set of unprivileged
instructions introduced at a particular hardware architecture levels.
Apologies in advance for any imprecise/inaccurate  terminology.

For example, let's say I happen to know that the most recently introduced
z/Series instruction used by a particular executable is the AHI instruction,
then I would expect this utility/program to output 'G10', suggesting the
minimum hardware architecture required to support execution.

I understand things are not always black/white in this area and could be
clouded by instruction facility requirements, etc..

Thanks in advance for any suggestions, guidance.

Mike
--

This message and any attachments are intended only for the use of the
addressee and may contain information that is privileged and confidential.
If the reader of the message is not the intended recipient or an authorized
representative of the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any
dissemination of this communication is strictly prohibited. If you have
received this communication in error, please notify us immediately by e-mail
and delete the message and any attachments from your system.

----------------------------------------------------------------------
For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions,
send email to [email protected] with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN

----------------------------------------------------------------------
For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions,
send email to [email protected] with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN

Reply via email to