PKZIP for z/OS

Enhanced Tape Processing: Using enhanced tape processing, available with PKZIP for z/OS Enterprise Edition , there are significant reductions in elapsed time and I/O required to write files to, and extract files from, tape media. Enhanced tape processing integrates with IBM’s Large Block Interface (LBI) to ensure maximum efficiency when using contemporary tape drives.

Additional benefits of enhanced tape processing include:

• Reduced seek times to locate files written to tape
• Improved operational efficiency, reducing labor expense
• Faster display of tape archive contents
• Significantly faster retrieval and fewer requests for multiple volume tapes

Versatile and user-friendly interfaces: Designed specifically for IBM z/OS, PKZIP mainframe ZIP software can be invoked in many ways, including batch processing through JCL, an intuitive ISPF interface, and CLI (Command Line Interface) through the command processor. Calling PKZIP for z/OS from an external program such as REXX, COBOL, or ASSEMBLER is also supported.

EBCDIC/ASCII translation: Data files intended for other operating systems can be automatically translated from EBCDIC to ASCII language sets, making data transfer much faster and easier. ZIP files created on ASCII platforms can be easily read on z/OS. EBCDIC/ASCII code pages that are distributed with PKZIP for z/OS include Danish, English (US and UK), Finnish, French, German, Italian, Norwegian, Portuguese, Spanish, and Swedish. All code pages also include support for the Euro and a code page conversion utility is provided to meet unique language interchange requirements.

Support for multiple file handlers: PKZIP for z/OS allows sequential, PDS, PDS/E, VSAM, and magnetic tape data sets to be easily compressed and decompressed. It also allows ZIP archives to be stored as a SEQ, VSAM, and magnetic tape data sets, as well as PDS or PDS/E members. Additionally, file attribute retention provides for automatic allocation of supported dataset types in their original format and size.

Also, zIIP Support offloads processing to IBM z Integrated Information Processors (zIIP) to free up general computing capacity and lower overall total cost of computing for select workloads.

Support for multiple file handlers: PKZIP for mainframe ZIP software allows SEQ, PDS, PDS/E, VSAM, and magnetic tape data sets to be easily compressed and decompressed. It also allows ZIP archives to be stored as a SEQ, VSAM, and magnetic tape data sets, as well as PDS or PDS/E members. Additionally, file attribute retention provides for automatic allocation of supported dataset types in their original format and size.

Exchange data between operating systems: PKZIP files are cross-platform compatible, enabling efficient data exchange with other major enterprise computing platforms. Zipped files can be transferred to Windows® desktop, Windows and UNIX®/Linux® servers, and IBM i environments, where they can be unzipped by PKZIP, SecureZIP®, ZIP Reader, or other ZIP-compatible products.

Reduce number of steps required to create & extract archives: Moving data between disparate computing systems often requires multiple steps and could require additional data translation products and converters. However, System Integration allows PKZIP for z/OS to write directly to, and read directly from, UNIX, Linux, and Windows file systems; this eliminates extra steps when moving files across systems. System Integration also allows PKZIP for z/OS to:

• Facilitate the exchange of data between different types of systems
• Automatically convert data to the appropriate format for the system
• Enhance PKWARE's extensive cross-platform capabilities; PKWARE is the only vendor to provide seamless data exchange across z/OS for the mainframe, IBM i for the IBM Power midrange systems, UNIX/Linux/Windows servers, and Windows desktops.