April 3, 2007
Abstract:
The IBM S/370 Mainframe Assembly programming language has traditionally only been used on the mainframe. This
project is an attempt to build a system from scratch that mimics the Mainframe Assembler's behavior in program
compilation and execution as closely as possible while allowing the user to work in a more user-friendly, web-based
environment. The simulator is written exclusively in PHP, using an SQL database to store and retrieve instruction
information and users. programs and data files. The project has support for about half of the instruction set;
floating-point manipulation and privileged instructions were not included. This simulator allows for multiple users to
set up accounts with which they can manage program and input-data files, run programs, and view results from previous
program executions. This project is intended to assist students in developing working programs using the Mainframe
Assembly language by offering more intuitive debugging help for syntax errors and program exceptions in a familiar and
simplified environment.
Read the entire document here.
Known bugs and Shortcomings:
-Through MVS, the user is able to supply input records immediately following the END statement. Here, input may only be
read via the data file system.
-Traditionally you are allowed only so many characters per line of code, and lines may be continued with a special
character field. Through D-Vision, there are no line length limits- however, line continuations are not supported.
-As mentioned in the abstract, there is no support for floating-point or privileged instructions. For more information
on which instructions are supported, see the Help page.
If you find a problem with the program, feel free to email me at ehelser@gmail.com.
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