tableBASE operates on IBM mainframes using z/OS. It has no direct dependencies on operating system levels.

tableBASE Release 6 runs on all levels of CICS Transaction Server (TS). Full support of threadsafe applications is available in the latest maintenance release. However, CICS TS V3.1 does not support OS/VS COBOL programs. tableBASE 5.0.2 (released in 1996, End of Service date June 2006) uses OS/VS COBOL (TBDRIVC program and TBOL/CICS programs) and therefore is not compatible with CICS TS V3.1 and later CICS TS releases.

tableBASE/IMS does not have any dependencies on the version of IMS used.

tablesONLINE/ISPF has no dependencies on the version of ISPF used.

tableBASE has no dependencies on the version of Db2-WLM. tableBASE Release 6 is designed to work in a Db2 stored procedure environment with multiple TCBs.

tableBASE Release 6 supports shared data using the Virtual Table Share (VTS) option. When regions (or address spaces), whether online or batch, need to share Read-Only or Read/Write tables, tables are opened into a VTS-TSR (Table Space Region) rather than a local TSR.

tableBASE is fully capable of running in a Sysplex environment. However, it does not support full Read/Write data sharing at this time. tableBASE TSRs are resident in MVS images’ memory. An update to a TSR in one MVS image is not propagated to other TSRs in the same or other MVS images.

tableBASE libraries, as VSAM or BDAM datasets, are fully supported across all MVS images in a GRS configuration. Integrity is assured in a multi-CPU, shared DASD environment as long as enqueues with a scope of SYSTEMS are propagated around all the CPUs in the complex.

Version 7.0 is the most current release. Version 6.1.1 is the most current Version 6 release. All versions of tableBASE 6 are currently supported with no end of support date declared.

The annual tableBASE maintenance agreement includes new releases of purchased products, PDF manuals of purchased products, 24/7 customer support, and access to the customer-only section of the DataKinetics Web site.

tableBASE is a 31-bit application. It does not use virtual storage above the 2G ”bar“. IBM fully supports 31-bit applications when accessed by 64-bit applications on current levels of z/OS. Since IBM has implemented ”glue code“ to allow 64-bit applications to work with 31-bit applications, we expect no problems with applications that exploit virtual storage above the 2G ”bar“. If your tableBASE applications are to be modified to exploit 64-bit virtual, please contact DataKinetics to verify if any changes will be required.

tableBASE supports BDAM and QSAM datasets and VSAM relative-record datasets. (A QSAM dataset is accessed with BDAM). The datasets must be configured by the tableBASE ”Define Library“ command, which is supported in the batch interface and through the TBEXEC utility.

tableBASE is CICSPLEX compliant, but applications using tableBASE often require transaction affinities. A CICSPLEX consists of multiple CICS regions across multiple MVS images. IBM’s CICSPLEX/SM makes administering such large numbers of CICS regions relatively simple by presenting a single image of the system.

A key component of CICSPLEX/SM is workload balancing which is achieved by routing transactions to CICS regions that are the least busy. The dynamic transaction routing (DTR) function of CICS is used to route transactions from a TOR (Terminal Owning Region) to any one of many AORs (Application Owning Regions). Transactions that cannot be routed to any AOR have affinities. While the goal of CICSPLEX/SM is to have no transaction affinities; in practice, there will always be transactions that require some degree of affinity.

In general, applications using tableBASE must be routed to the same AOR if they need to access a table that may have been updated or created in the TSR for that CICS region. The distribution of specific applications to AORs and the tableBASE tables they will update and create is a user decision. Any resulting transaction affinities are then implemented though the DTR exit.

With Release 6, transaction affinities within an MVS image could be eliminated by using a VTS-TSR. Virtual Table Share (VTS), an optional tableBASE component, provides support for multiple regions accessing a shared Read/Write VTS-TSR. A transaction running in any AOR can create, update and access any table in a common VTS-TSR if all applications using tableBASE use the same VTS-TSR.

tableBASE dynamically acquires storage below the line when needed for DCBs, etc. All load modules in tableBASE are AMODE(31) and RMODE(ANY), except the API load module. It is delivered as AMODE(ANY) RMODE(24) for compatibility with any customers’ RMODE(24) applications. Current versions of COBOL are fully reentrant and fully support above-the-line (31-bit addresses) execution and data. tableBASE fully supports this mode of operation. To ensure that this is true, first ensure that your COBOL program and all subroutines are capable of executing in AMODE(31) RMODE(ANY). This may require recompilation and relinking with current versions of the tableBASE.

tableBASE does not support paged tables. Instead, tableBASE relies on the operating system to manage the virtual memory.