Welcome to the Spring/Summer edition of the Pathlore Mainframe e-News.

This edition of Pathlore Mainframe e-News for PHOENIX/PREFERENCE users focuses on implementation of version 7.9. Many of our customers are in the process of upgrading to Pathlore's newest release of PHOENIX and PREFERENCE and this newsletter is intended to provide some of the 'lore' necessary to negotiate this 'path'.

In this issue:

Upgrading to 7.9
7.9 Fixes
7.9 Documentation Available Online
Technical Tip: Upgrading to a New Test System
Wanted: PHOENIX/PREFERENCE Success Stories

UPGRADING TO 7.9

Have you heard the news? Version 7.9 for PHOENIX and PREFERENCE users was released in December 2003. If you are currently running version 7.7 for one of these products, be aware that you must upgrade before July 1, 2004 to maintain a 'fully supported' support status. Please refer to www.pathlore-mainframe.com for a statement of our support policy. Should you wish to upgrade to version 7.9 contact Christie Durham at 888-PATHLORE or cdurham@pathlore.com.

Included in version 7.9 of PHOENIX is a new Course Manager facility that provides numerous system overview and search capabilities. For example, all courses on the system can be displayed in a single alphabetical listing (instead of requiring users to view individual program files), and a single student id can be tracked over all courses on the system.

The new PREFERENCE Volume Manager parallels the Course Manager and adds a feature whereby all concurrency transaction ids can be viewed in a single listing. Like the PHOENIX Course Manager, the PREFERENCE Volume Manager is intended to assist administrators get a handle on an online system that can be large and complex.

See the Technical Tip for specific considerations when upgrading to 7.9. In addition remember when moving PHOENIX and/or PREFERENCE to 7.9:

1. Certain modules ($gssys, $gswr0, $gswrk, gswork) contain data that should not be overwritten by the upgrade process. Make sure these modules are on a program file other than 100 (Pathlore recommends these reside on file 101).
2. When upgrading, follow instructions and documentation for a re-installation, not a new installation.
3. With the installation or re-installation of PHOENIX/PREFERENCE release 7.9, you need to request a new EXPID from Pathlore. To request a new product code from Customer Service perform the following:
   
   
   1. Go to http://www.pathlore-mainframe.com/order_forms.html
   2. Click on the "Expiration Code Request Form (US)" or "Expiration Code Request Form (UK)" link
   3. Follow the "Expiration Code Request Guidelines & Instructions"
   4. Fax the completed and signed form to (614) 781-7245
   5. Please allow 5 business days for processing

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7.9 FIXES

At this time, available fixes for PHOENIX/PREFERENCE 7.9 include:

S790001	If a CICS region runs our PHXI or PRDI multiple times during CICS Shutdown, then the GOALSYS CBETAM task may ABEND with an S0C1.
Z790001	PREFERENCE item level table of contents page references do not print.
Z790002	PREFERENCE item level table of contents footer is populated with 'not' sign on attempt to print or export.
Z790003	PHOENIX scoring is affected (item is always marked correct) after student links to PREFERENCE and returns to PHOENIX course.

These are available on the www.pathlore-mainframe.com website. If you need Technical assistance please contact our Technical Support team at support.pathlore.com.

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7.9 DOCUMENTATION AVAILABLE ONLINE

Did you know that documentation for your Pathlore system is available online from the Pathlore Mainframe website? It's true!

Since Spring of 2003, documentation for PHOENIX and PREFERENCE has been available to users at http://www.pathlore-mainframe.com/documentation.html. The 7.9 documentation, available online, is extensive and covers, in detail, topics of interest to system programmers, supervisor, authors and writers. The online documentation is also easy-to-use, requiring no downloading of large PDF files, and accessible 24x7.

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TECHNICAL TIP: UPGRADING TO A NEW TEST SYSTEM

This tip can be found at www.pathlore-mainframe.com/technical_hints_tips.html. You'll also discover an additional tip on "How to Migrate the New Release from a Test System to Production." Take a look.

How to create a test system and then upgrade it to a new release

Our OS Installation Guide provides documentation on how to create a test system. If you are on PHOENIX, you can refer to the PHOENIX OS Installation Guide "Chapter 3 - Preferred Test Environment: Duplicate the Production System." If you are on PREFERENCE, you can refer to the PREFERENCE OS Installation Guide "Chapter 5 - Stage 2: Creating a Test System."

Read on

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WANTED: PHOENIX/PREFERENCE SUCCESS STORIES

We want to hear from you! In future issues of the PHOENIX/PREFERENCE e-News we would like to highlight success stories enjoyed by Pathlore customers like yourself. If you would like to share an account of your ongoing use, tips and success with PHOENIX or PREFERENCE please contact Hank Hoeffgen, at hhoeffge@pathlore.com.

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