MQSeries.net :: View topic - Q Program (MA01) is now an MQGem Software Product

PaulClarke

I wrote the Q program in the early 1990's because I found the sample programs AMQSPUT and AMQSGET far too limiting. I wanted something with a little more flexibility and features. When they introduced the SupportPac program I thought other people would benefit from Q so it became one of the first MQ SupportPacs (as you can tell by it's number!). It proved very popular with MQ users, with many thousands of downloads, and I had lots of requests for added function. This continued until I left IBM in 2012. At this time IBM decided to discontinue the SupportPac and instead put the source on GitHub. I have continue to enhance Q for my own use and still use it virtually every day.

However many MQ customers don't have the time nor want the expense of building and maintaining tools such as this. In addition many customers, quite understandably, are not keen on running unsupported software anyway which was always the downside of the Category 2 MQ SupportPacs. Perhaps not surprisingly then, after the formation of MQGem Software, we have received a number of requests from customers to turn MA01 into a supported MQGem product. Well, I am pleased to say now that we have done just that.

The MQGem Q product is a super-set of the MA01 SupportPac functionality although we have modified a few of the parameters to make them more internally consistent as well as consistent with our other products such as QLOAD. We have also added a few new features which have been commonly requested, for example JSON message formatting.

If you would like to try out the product then just email support@mqgem.com and a free, 1-month, no obligation licence will be sent to you. Even if you are not interested in purchasing a licence but are a Q user then it might be worth visiting the web site just to download the Q manual. As I said above, the parameters are not absolutely identical to the SupportPac, but the majority are the same, and the vast majority of the manual is still applicable to the SupportPac. You may well discover features you never knew that Q had.

Cheers and a Happy Christmas to MQ users everywhere and a Happy 25th Birthday to MQ,

Paul.
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Paul Clarke
MQGem Software
www.mqgem.com