[nfbcs] Looking for tips for programming in a mainframeenvironment

[Gary Wunder]

This fellow is good. Get him.

 

-----Original Message-----
From: nfbcs-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nfbcs-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
Of Doug Lee
Sent: Wednesday, April 20, 2011 6:51 PM
To: NFB in Computer Science Mailing List
Subject: Re: [nfbcs] Looking for tips for programming in a
mainframeenvironment

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.




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-- 
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

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