gx20-1703-6a Dave's Green Card Collection
gx20-0157-2

Here is a small collection of Green Cards (the generic name of IBM mainframe reference summary card/booklets). You may be young enough to have never seen an actual Green Card or you may have been handed a brand new one when they came out. They have grown from 14 pages (GX20-1703-6) to 58 pages (SA22-7209-02).


A special thanks to Leslie J. Somos who sent me a boxful of Green Cards and other mainframe memorabilia!
System/360
x20-1703-1
X20-1703-1
System/360 Reference Data


Early "Green Card"!
See larger version
Scan by John Kalinich
gx20-1703-6a
GX20-1703-6
System/360 Reference Data


This is the Green Card that I
physically own. Passed on (the hard way)
gx20-1703-6
GX20-1703-6
System/360 Reference Data


This card has been used so much it had to be taped together.
Not pictured above: John P. Kalinich sent me System/360 Operator Reference Guide cover/back scans


System/370
gx20-1850-0
GX20-1850-0
System/370
Reference Summary


First Edition (April 1972)
gx20-1850-3 (CLICK ME!!!)
GX20-1850-3
System/370
Reference Summary


Fourth Edition (November 1976)
gx20-1850-6
GX20-1850-6
System/370
Reference Summary


Seventh Edition (July 1986)
Not pictured above:
  • GX20-1850-1 System/370 Reference Summary
    Second Edition (September 1972) -- 16 pages
  • GX20-1850-2 System/370 Reference Summary
    Third Edition (March 1974) -- 16 pages
    From a post on IBM-Main by Neil Stenlake on 12 November 1998
  • GX20-1850-3 System/370 Reference Summary
    Fourth Edition (November 1976) -- 16 pages

    Quoting the reference card (copyright by IBM):
    This reference summary is a minor revision and does not obsolete the previous edition. Changes include the addition of some new DASD and 3203 printer commands, the EBCDIC control characters GE and RLF and minor editoral revisions.
  • GX20-1850-4 System/370 Reference Summary
    Fifth Edition (October 1981) -- 22 pages
    From a post on IBM-Main by Neil Stenlake on 12 November 1998
    The first Reference Summary that is a booklet instead of a card

  • GX20-1850-5 System/370 Reference Summary
    Sixth Edition (July 1984) -- 24 pages
    From a post on IBM-Main by Neil Stenlake on 12 November 1998
  • GX20-1850-7 System/370 Reference Summary
    Eighth Edition (February 1989) -- 40 pages


XA and ESA/370
gx20-0157-2
GX20-0157-2
System/370
Extended Architecture
Reference Summary
The title for GX20-0157-0 was arranged like this:
System/370
Extended
Architecture
Reference
Summary
Someone noticed that if you read the first letter of the title, it spelled "SEARS" - henceforth it was called the SEARS card. Subsequent printings found the title arranged as you see on the left for GX20-0157-2:

  System/370
  Extended Architecture
  Reference Summary

Thanks to Carl Youngren for sending me this explanation of the SEARS card.
gx20-0406-0
GX20-0406-0
Enterprise Systems Architecture/370 Reference Summary


First Edition (February 1989)
Not pictured above:
  • GX20-0157-0 System/370 Extended Architecture Reference Summary
    First Edition (November 1984) -- The infamous "SEARS" card
  • GX20-0157-1 System/370 Extended Architecture Reference Summary
    Second Edition (July 1986)
  • GX20-0157-2 System/370 Extended Architecture Reference Summary
    Third Edition (February 1989)


ESA/390
With ESA/390, the Reference Summary lost the binary column in the Code Assignments table sa22-7209-01
SA22-7209-01
Enterprise Systems Archiecture/390 Reference Summary


Second Edition (December 1994)

Order SA22-7209-01
No need to scan in SA22-7209-02 - the most boring reference summary cover in "Greencard" history.
Not pictured above:
  • SA22-7209-02 Third Edition (November 1999) - 58 pages.

    It is available as a Acrobat PDF file. Tip: Do a "Save Link as" and keep this on your local hard drive. This PDF file is 70 pages!

    Quoting SA22-7209-02:
    This revision differs from the previous edition by containing minor corrections and also instructions, control blocks, and fields related to the new facilities marked by a bar under "Facility" in "Preface". Additions to the assembler also included. Changes are indicated by a bar in the margin.


Misc cards



Long before ViSiO, people flowcharted by hand with templates. Click below to see some of these templates (partially slid out of their protective envelopes):
If you enjoyed this page, you may also be interested in a history of Punched Cards

And then there is Jan Jaeger's list of opcodes not listed in Principles of Operation or your yellow/pink/blue/white reference card.
System/360, System/370, Extended Architecture, Enterprise System Architecture/370, System/390, and S/390 are registered trademarks of IBM.


BC 15,Planet MVS.


Last Updated: 2004-11-30
This web page is © 1997-2004+ by David Alcock. All Rights Reserved.