IBM ES34G - Assembler Language Coding Workshop

Course Outline

Day 1

• Welcome
• Unit 1 - Numbering systems
• Unit 2 - Mainframe architecture
• Unit 3 - Assembler syntax
• Overview of instructions: LA, LR, LTR, MVC, DS, DC
• Exercise 1 - 80/80 listing
• Exercise 1A - 80/80 listing

Day 2

• Exercise 1 review
• Unit 4 - Data definition statements
• Unit 5 - Fixed-point binary instructions
• Exercise 2 - Binary data

Day 3

• Exercise 2 review
• Unit 6 - Addressing, comparing, and branching
• Unit 7 - Data movement instructions
• Exercise 3 - Text handling

Day 4

• Exercise 3 review
• Unit 8 - Assembler pseudo instructions
• Unit 9 - Reading dumps
• Unit 10 - Packed decimal processing
• Exercise 4 - Packed data/editing

Day 5

• Exercise 4 review
• Unit 11 - Miscellaneous instructions
• Course wrap-up

Objective

• Recognize architectural features, such as instruction formats, data representation, storage addressing, and so on, which are significant to program analysis
• Identify point of program interruption, using the formatted system dump and elements of information such as the Program Status Word (PSW), the Instruction Length Code (ILC), the program' s base register(s), and so on
• Identify appropriate standards for assembler programs in terms of program organization, register conventions, coding practices, documentation, and so on
• Code and debug assembler language programs which:
• Conform to standard linkage conventions using save area chaining
• Define and use various types of data definitions, including fixed point binary, character, hexadecimal, and packed decimal
• Employ standard macros such as CALL, SAVE, RETURN
• Use various Assembler Language statements such as CSECT, EQU, COPY, END
• Use both symbolic and explicit notational forms for instructions
• Use data literals appropriately, and explain the use of LTORG to direct positioning of the literal pool
• Create and use appropriate patterns for EDIT instructions

Prerequisites

This classroom hands-on lab course provides an introduction to the mainframe Assembler language. The course is designed to develop the skills appropriate to write and/or maintain programs and routines written in S/370 or S/390 Assembler Language. Emphasis is placed on enhancing skills in problem resolution through program check interruption analysis and dump reading.

Audience

This intermediate course is for application programmers and/or beginning system programmers who code, maintain and/or debug application support programs or subroutines written in S/370 or S/390 Assembler Language.