The Productivity Aid
From its inception as a SELect and COPY utility, SELCOPY has developed into an all purpose productivity aid for IBM Mainframe, UNIX and PC systems.

On mainframe systems, the SELCOPY/i interactive environment supplied with SELCOPY, provides another dimension to aiding the user's productivity. Features of SELCOPY/i are itemised within the SELCOPY/i pages.

The mainframe version of the product is Operating System Independent, the binary download being used for OS/390 (MVS), VM and VSE. Furthermore, a SELCOPY licence allows for product usage under all three IBM operating environments, without incurring any additional fee.

SELCOPY will dynamically examine the control program and act accordingly.

The Multiple Utility
The same simple free format control cards rationalize all file to file utilities under one program. Capable not only of multiple input, output and printing, but also selective modification, and all at the same time. Conversion includes ASCII, EBCDIC and Hex representation as well as arithmetic. No device restrictions for VSE, e.g. FBA to 3390 in one operation.

Printing choice includes Char, Hex, Both, Mixed, Dump, or Report. Alternatively, you may convert some fields, rearrange them, and print a subset.

If the requirement is definable, SELCOPY notation is probably the quickest way to specify it, and at the same time make it machine readable.

Solutions become second nature through SELCOPY.

The Trouble Shooter
Simple, quickly written code will scan files for problem records. Having checked the scope of the errors, equally simple code can be used to correct the files.

Update-in-Place is featured for use on all CMS files, all VSAM files, all IMS/DL1 files along with MVS QSAM files and PDS member data.

File Format Conversion
Changing Fixed, Variable, Undefined and reblocking is just the beginning....
You can restructure any non-IBM file into standard IBM format.

The ultimate example reads IBM's MVS ICF Catalog as a VSAM file, (using its own self defining entry), and then builds Fixed length records for every GDG entry.

Test Data Generator
Generated data is controlled at the field level, with range controls on all data types in conjunction with all SELCOPY's selection logic.

Test files may thus be generated from nothing, or from a controlled selection of records from existing files with controlled regeneration of selected fields.

VSAM Usage
SELCOPY contains the full complement of VSAM facilities, such as Update in place, Keyed Read, Sequential Read, (both backwards & forwards), Insert and Delete. Such facilities are coupled with SELCOPY logic and its variety of input and output files, using the same simple syntax.

Back-Up and Restore
Processing on a Logical basis cannot give the speed of Physical I/O reading a track or cylinder at a time. But for today's machines with many users, good physical efficiency on a back-up function, by the very nature of its own efficiency, will serve to lock out the channel to on-line users and other applications for the duration of the back-up, also monopolising a large proportion of real storage for its I/O areas. (Not always desirable.)

Logical processing does not lock anybody out, and has another positive advantage - the back-up is a processable file in its own right. Any program can read it, and read it logically. You can therefore select from it, report from it, or whatever, and of course go back as far as you like through your archives without the inconvenience of restoring to temporary disk files.

During your regular back-up run, you can code SELCOPY to give a useful small report on what it has backed up. Print the number of each type of record for example, the first two or three of each type, keep a hash total, etc. In a recovery situation, this information can be invaluable.

Possibly the most important advantage of using SELCOPY for your back-up is that you can back-up many totally separate files, VSAM or other, even off different volumes, concatenating them together to one single file on tape, while still keeping it logically processable. Blocking the tape output to tape device capacity with all your associated files together on the one single file makes the system practicable and easy to manage. See Back-Up 6 VSAM Files to 1 Tape File in SELCOPY Examples.

All this is done with a few simple SELCOPY control statements. And the Restore function may be precisely controlled giving choice of: restore all files in a single job step, or restore just 1. You can even restore selected records to a file using the Update-in-Place facility, just by introducing a little further simple selection criteria into the restore and changing WRITE to UPD.

The VM/CMS Environment
Read/Write/Update CMS files with native CMS I/O (FSREAD and FSWRITE). Read Sequential files and Read/Write/Update VSAM files, on VSE and MVS disks linked to your CMS id. All this can be done in the same execution.

Unique to SELCOPY is its Keyed Read for CMS on files which are in sequence on some field within the record (RECFM V as well as F). You just tell SELCOPY the position and length of the key, then read it by Key as you would for a KSDS.

Runs with DOS ON or DOS OFF, gives TERM I/O for screen functions, with the REPLY parameter allowing the user to drive the selection process. CP and CMS commands may be issued dynamically using literal or input file data. Update-in-Place, TRUNC, APPEND, RETCODE testing and setting, all supported.

But above all, you can process any CMS file with no limit on LRECL, and no limit on File Size or RECFM.

SELCOPY will revolutionise the power available to your EXEC Procedure writer.

Multi-File Scanning
Scan all members of an MVS PDS, searching for a string, report and optionally modify and update-in-place. Input could equally be a generic group of VSE library members or CMS files, but for VSE, a second step is required to submit updates to LIBR.

SELCOPY's DIRDATA input function makes global changes to JCL quick and easy.

DB2
For MVS users the IBM Relational Database Management System DB2 may be accessed using SELCOPY.

DB2 data is defined and manipulated by executing Structured Query Language (SQL) statements.

SELCOPY uses Dynamic SQL to allow you to define the SQL statements you want to execute at run time. For example you can:

• Create and drop DB2 databases, tables, views, indexes etc.
• Read, update and delete rows in tables and views.
• Insert rows into tables and views.

Several DB2 tables may be processed together, as well as having input and output of all other types of files within the same execution of SELCOPY.

The design of the SELCOPY interface to SQL data has the following objectives:

• To integrate as far as possible SQL processing with existing SELCOPY syntax.
• To support straightforward access to tables and views as though they were traditional files.
• This allows the inexperienced or occasional SQL user to get at SQL data with the minimum of fuss. In this case SELCOPY generates and executes SQL statements on behalf of the user.
• To support the execution of SQL statements provided by the user either coded on SELCOPY control cards, built dynamically in the SELCOPY work area, or read from a file.
• This gives the experienced user full access to SQL functionality through SELCOPY and allows the use of existing SQL statement code in SELCOPY programs.

ADABAS
SELCOPY supports the ADABAS database. The only prerequisite is that the ADABAS interface module is renamed to SELCOPAD.

DL1
Insert, Delete, Replace, Sequential Read, Qualified Read, with full DL1 syntax for qualifiers, is provided with the customary SELCOPY simplicity. Again, this is with the backing of all the other SELCOPY logic. You could use a sequential input file to drive the processing on your DL1 file for example.

Users start to understand DL1 when they start to use SELCOPY. See Quick Print of IMS/DL1 Data Base in SELCOPY Examples.

Report
Selection, summarising and reformatting is what reporting is all about, and of course, this is standard SELCOPY.

Data can be restructured and printed as required, while totals can be accumulated and printed at EOJ by controlling SELCOPY's automatic EOF handling.

For complicated reports the EQU statement (available to all SELCOPY code), allows user defined names to be given to frequently occurring strings, numerics, keywords or even combinations of these.

The TSO Environment
Just ALLOC for your files and use the full range of SELCOPY's MVS facilities. Run conversationally using WTO with the REPLY function. For standard procedures, run from CLISTs or REXX allowing variables to be passed to SELCOPY on the invoking command line.

Speed of Execution
SELCOPY is written in Assembler, so is able to minimise linkage to I/O routines, but still uses standard IBM Data Management. This has the double advantage that it maximises speed while keeping up-to-date with IBM development, and at the same time avoids channel monopoly locking out other users.

Cost
Prices are not hidden. On the contrary, they are quoted openly, and for this reason are not negotiable. Full details of the licence fees for all of our products can be found in the product pricing schedule. There are no hidden extras.

Trial
CBL software is available on trial for a period of one calendar month. This is totally free of charge, and involves no commitment whatsoever.

To arrange a free trial, please follow the steps specified in the Free Trial page.

Installation
SELCOPY contains NO SYSTEM HOOKS, making installation of the product extremely simple. It is estimated that the 'first time user' can install the product within approximately half an hour (elapsed time) of reading the installation guide.

Cancellation
In the event that a customer needs to terminate usage of a particular product, all CBL contracts contain the unique clause which allows termination by giving only one month's written notice.