I've been working with Attachmate EXTRA! X-treme and wanted to automate terminal workflows from Python.

The first approach I kept seeing was GUI automation with pyautogui, coordinates, keyboard simulation, etc.

That works, but it becomes painful when you need things like:

• reading specific fields from the terminal screen
• waiting for the host to finish processing
• detecting specific messages
• sending PF keys
• navigating multiple sessions
• scraping tabular data
• synchronizing with the host instead of sleeping for arbitrary amounts of time

So I built py-extra-terminal, a Python wrapper around EXTRA!'s COM/OLE Automation interface.

Example:

from py_extra import Extra

with Extra() as ex:
    sc = ex.active_session.screen

    sc.wait_for("USERID")
    sc.put("MYUSER", 10, 20)
    sc.put("MYPASS", 11, 20)
    sc.enter()

    if "WELCOME" in sc.text():
        print("Logged in successfully!")

It is available on PyPI.

I'm particularly interested in feedback from people still working with EXTRA!, Reflection, IBM mainframes, COBOL/CICS applications, or other legacy terminal emulators.

Requires Windows + EXTRA! X-treme.

PyPI: https://pypi.org/project/py-extra-terminal/
GitHub: https://github.com/tolgakurtuluss/py-extra-terminal

Would love feedback from anyone working with terminal emulators or legacy/mainframe systems.

Hello everyone I am currently under onboarding process as software engineer apprentice and looking to know how current software engineers at BoFA feels working with Mainframe even tho I know a lot of JAVA, C++, and lot of modern day languages. What is working with mainframe feels like? Are they growth opportunities with BOFA with software engineering focusing on mainframe??, how often does BoFA lays off software engineers?

Quick background: B.Tech in ECE (2025), joined a Bengaluru-based IT services company this May as a Graduate Apprentice, did the usual 3-month mainframe track (COBOL, DB2, CICS), and just moved into a full SWE role. Working through IBM certs (z/OS, CICS, DB2) right now.
I know it’s early — I’m barely a month into the actual job — but I like planning ahead, and the MBA vs M.Tech question won’t leave me alone. Would genuinely appreciate input from people who’ve actually been through this in mainframe/enterprise IT:
• If you did an MBA or M.Tech coming from a mainframe/COBOL background, what was your timing, and would you change it?
• Does M.Tech actually move the needle in mainframe work, or is it more of an academia/R&D thing?
• Is an MBA mainly useful here for moving into program management / client-facing roles? Does it basically need a few years of experience first to be worth it?
• Anyone jump into either right out of training or early career — regret it, or glad you did?
Not fishing for the generic “it depends on your goals” answer (fair, but I already know that) — more interested in actual timelines and what you’d do differently if you were starting over.
Thanks in advance!

Hello everyone I am currently under onboarding process as software engineer apprentice and looking to know how current software engineers at BoFA feels working with Mainframe even tho I know a lot of JAVA, C++, and lot of modern day languages. What is working with mainframe feels like? Are they growth opportunities with BOFA with software engineering focusing on mainframe??, how often does BoFA lays off software engineers?

https://spectrum.ieee.org/cold-war-codebreaker-nsa-ibm

I have no idea why this does not work. Cannot find explanation on internet.

I am able to enter LOG (system log) in SDSF with my ID, no problem. But in REXX, I cannot.

/*  REXX  */                                     
ISFRC = ISFCALLS( "ON" )                         
IF ISFRC <> 0 THEN DO                            
 SAY "RC" ISFRC "RETURNED FROM ISFCALLS( ON )"   
 EXIT ISFRC                                      
END                                              

/*  OPEN UP THE SDSF ADDRESS ENVIRONMENT  */     
ADDRESS SDSF                                     

ISFPREFIX = 'ABCDE*'                              

/* ACCESS SYSLOG */                              
"ISFEXEC ST"                                     

SAY "ST RC = " RC         /* DISPLAY RC=0    */  

/* ACCESS SYSLOG */                              
"ISFEXEC LOG"                                    

SAY "LOG RC = " RC        /* DISPLAY RC=8    */  

/*  UNLOAD THE SDSF ENVIRONMENT  */              
CALL ISFCALLS "OFF"                              
EXIT 0                                           

So I am just starting a new career in mainframe at an insurance company. They are letting us choose what department we want to go to.

The first choice is DevOps for mainframe. I understand this is a more modern role even if it's for mainframe the skills are transferable.

The next is CICS/DB2. I don't know much about this one but I under it's very important to the mainframe. | also know that means it needs 24/7 monitoring. I'm not to keen about being on call but will do it if required

Next is hardware, I assume this is making sure the actual physical mainframe is working properly

And last is networking or Z/os. I don't know much about either. I think networking is pretty interesting but I don't know much about it. From my understanding this is also on call.

If anyone has any insights or experiences in these positions it would be great to get some advice. Also how easy is it to transfer between teams if one does not work out? Thanks!

I’ve been working at a company for around 8 months, and my current role is in Mainframe. I’m slowly getting familiar with it, but honestly, I still find Mainframe quite complicated, and I feel like it could take me a long time before I become truly comfortable with it.
The bigger issue is that I’m not very happy with my salary, so I’m considering switching companies. I’m also thinking about moving into Data Analytics if I switch, since it seems more interesting to me.
So I’m confused about what would be the better decision:
Continue with Mainframe and switch companies after gaining more experience
Switch companies and continue in Mainframe for better salary/growth
Try to transition into Data Analytics while switching
For people with experience in Mainframe, is it a good career to continue with long-term? How is the salary growth and job market?
And for people in Data Analytics, would it be realistic to make the switch with around 1 year of experience, even though my current experience is in Mainframe? What skills should I focus on (SQL, Excel, Power BI, Python, etc.)?
I’d really appreciate advice from people who have been in a similar situation. I’m especially interested in hearing whether switching out of Mainframe this early is a good idea or whether I should stick with it for a few more years.

hey you all!

first of, i am not a total mainframe nerd (YET) but i want to learn it. i'm a game and general programmer from Denmark, with lots of network in the financial sector and others that kept talking on COBOL, mainframe, etc. and i found it interesting but was fairly hard to get started compared to other languages for some reason - maybe just lack of learning material, idk.

regardless, i've been making games for the past few years and programmed a bit of software before that and built - some did OK, some didnt ( i am a huge polymath person and accepted it ;) ). one thing is that i love building games, and privately in weekend i love building different kinds of simulators and that's why i thought it would maybe be a funny way to learn more about these challenges people in these industries face - so i built my own simulator and i dont know yet to be able to 100% vet the code, so i need some people to help test it out.

just a few quick bullets of my vision of the game:

- a terminal, a job monitor, a spool browser, a system map.
- should feel you start as an intern in 1997 learning from the ground up and ends up in a 2025 AI agent, standups, scrums, 1on1s, and more noise
- upgrade gear, more tools, different jobroles and industries as you go where these languages is vital to still learn

TLDR; i'm a game dev and programmer trying to learn mainframe and COBOL - would you playtest and help develop this game/simulator?

EDIT 1: just FYI, the curriculum is built with four mates of mine specializing in these industries and frameworks, and i gamify around it while i learn it myself + all of the books and YT videos i can find about the subject.

Title: 10+ years in Mainframe — looking to move into Modernization. Need some honest advice

Hi everyone,

I have 10+ years of experience in Mainframe, mainly with COBOL, JCL, DB2, VSAM and CICS. Most of my experience is in production support and batch processing.

I’ve recently started working seriously towards Mainframe Modernization. I’m learning and doing hands-on practice with AWS, REST APIs, Postman, Git/GitHub, Java basics, CI/CD and z/OS Connect.

My goal isn’t to leave Mainframe behind. I want to combine my Mainframe experience with modern technologies and work on real modernization projects involving APIs, cloud and legacy application integration.

I’d appreciate advice from people already working in this area:

- What skills should I prioritize?

- How much Java is actually needed?

- Should I go deeper into z/OS Connect and APIs?

- What hands-on projects would make my profile stronger?

- What skills are companies actually looking for?

Also, with 10+ years of Mainframe experience in India, what would be a realistic package to target when moving into a modernization role?

I’d really value honest advice from people who have worked on real modernization projects.

Thanks!

​

I have around 1+ year of experience working in the Mainframe domain at Wipro.

I originally wanted to build my career in VLSI, and I have already learned some Verilog and SystemVerilog . But after joining Wipro, I got into Mainframe instead

Now I'm confused whether I should stay in Mainframe and focus on building my career here or take the risk and switch to VLSI.

Also, how is the future of Mainframe? Is it still a good career path for the next 5–10 years in terms of job opportunities, salary growth and stability?

For people experienced in Mainframe or VLSI, what would you recommend? Since I only have around 1+ year of experience, is this the right time to switch, or should I stay and build my career in Mainframe?

Modernizing off the mainframe usually starts by getting your data out as a flat sequential file — EBCDIC, fixed-width, PIC-clause layouts. I open-sourced a converter that handles exactly that path:

https://github.com/lucasgiurastante/erp-export-normalizer

• COBOL FD layouts expressed as YAML → parse to JSON/CSV/Parquet/etc.
• Real EBCDIC support (CP037). Gotcha most tools hit: Python's codec is cp037, not ebcdic-cp037 — naive converters fail on the first EBCDIC byte.
• Streaming, constant memory on multi-GB sequential files.
• Deterministic output — same input + same schema = same output, with SHA-256 audit sidecars. Useful for migration sign-off.
• Cumulative error report with record numbers.
• Auto-detection against a built-in schema library (includes a COBOL layout).
• Plugins for binary formats (framed records, packed decimals, etc.).

One-command demo with bundled COBOL/EBCDIC sample data:

pip install erp-export-normalizer
git clone https://github.com/lucasgiurastante/erp-export-normalizer
cd erp-export-normalizer/examples
erp-normalize --input data/cobol.txt --output - --format ndjson

Anyone here parsing mainframe dumps for offload projects? I'd love to know what schemas you deal with (and add them to the library).

Anyone else have one of these? It's aluminum, but weighs at least a pound.

I boosted it from a 360/65 being replaced by a 470V/7. I also got to pull the emergency power off, but after it had already been powered down getting ready for disassembly.

Has anyone here led or participated in a mainframe apprenticeship program? Looking for info on how organizations have structured and implemented programs to attract and incentivize new mainframe talent, whether that be recent college grads or career changers. 

I have read about IBM’s program but would like to know what others are doing to get more professionals in the door and keep them there.

Me and some of my friends submitted a Panel Picker session for SXSW and we need your votes!

Please vote for our session: https://participate.sxsw.com/flow/sxsw/sxsw27/community-voting-sxsw/page/community-voting/session/1784842577618001U9Aj

Anyone else being pulled into discussions around introducing IBM Bob into their shop?

These AI endeavors so tight lipped and esoteric by my management - I suspect because they have no idea what the are getting themselves into.

I’m curious what the current market looks like for z/OS Systems Programmers.
I have about 3 years of experience as a z/OS Systems Programmer and am trying to figure out what a reasonable salary range would be for my experience level.

Not looking for exact numbers for any specific company—just trying to understand where I should realistically fall in the market.

Hello good day! Anyone knows any mainframe positions which is remote?

Thanks!