[nfbcs] Looking for tips for programming in a mainframe environment

[Doug Lee]

It's probably fair for me to mention that one of the focuses of my
company (SSB BART Group), and my personal specific focus in that
company, is preparing scripts to handle just this sort of situation.
Our web site is http://www.ssbbartgroup.com.  The complexity of
scripting efforts like this varies widely of course, but what you
describe sounds quite familiar in scope to me, as I have scripted for
numerous terminal-based environments over the last 11 years.

On Wed, Apr 20, 2011 at 04:18:41PM -0600, Gary Wunder wrote:
With regard to number one, Scripting can make some of these things
tabable.  JAWS, for example, can know the terminal emulation software
and be taught to extract the essential elements of various screens.
It can also have keystrokes which are dedicated to a particular
application so finding certain strings or moving to various locations
can be triggered  with a key press.  You need a good scripter to help
and I recommend Frank DePalermo of Ability Consulting.  He is findable
on the web.

Learning to conceptualize by row and column is doable.  The problem
you are having is the reverse of what we mainframe guys had to face
when people told us to think in pixels.

With regard to number 6, what you are being asked to do is no
different from what a Cobol programmer is asked to do when
encountering the newer languages.  You need to read and become
familiar with the syntax even though you will find it verbose compared
with the syntax of newer languages.  The fact that it is a bit more
wordy should actually make it easier with speech because JAWS and
WindowEyes know how to pronounce the verbs Cobol will use.


If I can help, please feel free to call.  I don't have all of the
answers but this list is a good place to start.

Gary Wunder

----- Original Message -----
From: "David W Bundy" <Bundy at pobox.com
To: Nfbcs at nfbnet.org
Date sent: Wed, 20 Apr 2011 15:16:10 -0400
Subject: [nfbcs] Looking for tips for programming in a mainframe
environment


Good afternoon,
I am working with a client who is a programmer developing software in
a mainframe environment.  His employer has concerns about his
productivity and I am looking for any tips any of you programmers out
there may have for him for addressing the concerns below.  He uses
JAWS and has a Braille display.  He also has Window-eyes and a Braille
embosser.


1.      I cannot tab through screens in order to navigate them rapidly
to be more productive.  Most languages automatically incorporate these
features in the non-host world.  Also, when I tab to different fields
in the non-host environment, the field will be spoken to me.
2.      It is confusing to deal with multi line column headers when I
can only see one line at a time.  I would only be able to see provider
on one line and then have to remember that, and its location, when
going to the next line.  Whereas, in the non-host environment, the
entire header can be made to be spoken.

Provider

Provider

Provider

ID

Name

Type


3.      COBOL modules are so wordy and it takes more time to navigate
through them.  Non-host programs are generally smaller and perform
more actions with lesser verbiage which would be easier to cover using
my speech display.
4.      In the non-host world elements are placed on the screen by
pixels, units of measure for each section of a screen using visual
techniques to place elements.  This would be something I can deal with
because it is according to a graph which I can visualize, 0,0 for left
top and width/2,height/2 for center.  You must design/create CICS
screens using a mouse through ASDD and I cannot do this.
5.      I have experience working with C, Java, and visual studio in
college and know I can deal with those environments.
6.      I am object oriented in my thinking: Objects are items with
instances, methods, ability to do things, properties, and attributes
of each item.  COBOL is structural, linear.




David W Bundy
Assistive Technology Consultant
SC Commission for the Blind
POBox 2467
Columbia, SC  29202
(803)898-7094
dbundy at sccb.sc.gov


________________________________
April is Women's Eye Safety Month.  It is estimated that two thirds of
blindness and visual impairments occur in women; three quarters of
these occurrences are preventable.  The South Carolina Commission for
the Blind encourages all women to become more diligent in protecting
their eye health.  For more information about the South Carolina
Commission for the Blind visit us online at www.sccb.state.sc.us.




_______________________________________________
nfbcs mailing list
nfbcs at nfbnet.org
http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfbcs_nfbnet.org
To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
nfbcs:
http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nfbcs_nfbnet.org/gwunder%40
earthlink.net
xx

_______________________________________________
nfbcs mailing list
nfbcs at nfbnet.org
http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfbcs_nfbnet.org
To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for nfbcs:
http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nfbcs_nfbnet.org/dgl%40dlee.org

-- 
Doug Lee                 dgl at dlee.org                http://www.dlee.org
SSB BART Group           doug.lee at ssbbartgroup.com   http://www.ssbbartgroup.com
"The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds
new discoveries, is not 'Eureka!' ('I found it!') but rather 'hmm....
that's funny...'"  --   Isaac Asimov