how to invoke a job through REXX..

Mukesh Pandey · Active User Joined: 11 Nov 2008 Posts: 143 Location: India

Hi All,

Can we invoke a job ( JCL ) through REXX. currently i have developed a job which gives a desired o/p by submitting it.

if it is possible then is there any way we can recv input to jcl as a parm from the rexx screen.

Thanks in advance.

expat · Posted: Thu Nov 05, 2009 5:16 pm

Not exactly sure what you are on about here .....................

Do you mean that rather than submit the job you wish to process it in foreground via your terminal.

Please consider that the process will probably take longer doing it this way, will lock your terminal against doing any further useful work while waiting for the process to end, and because of memory size restrictions placed upon a TSO/ISPF session may well fail.

Mukesh Pandey · Active User Joined: 11 Nov 2008 Posts: 143 Location: India

expat.. you are correct .. i need to submit the job from the treminal.. i.e rexx screen....... job does not take much time to complete. i am trying this because the job needs to be run for different parameters and instead of running the job many times with different parms better way is to run the job through terminal providing the parm value.

Could you please help me hot to achieve this task.

Thanks,

superk · Posted: Thu Nov 05, 2009 6:07 pm

You can submit a job from TSO (the SUBMIT command). You can submit a job from ISPF (the ISPF SUBMIT command). You can submit a job anytime from anywhere by copying the JCL to the Internal Reader. So yes you can submit a job through REXX.

expat · Posted: Thu Nov 05, 2009 6:08 pm

OK, so what information do you think that we need to be able to help you.

Mukesh Pandey · Active User Joined: 11 Nov 2008 Posts: 143 Location: India

i have explored hot to submit jobs thru rexx piece of code... can i know how to pass values from rexx to job.... is it related to skel concept....

expat · Posted: Thu Nov 05, 2009 6:59 pm

We seem to be going in opposite directions here. Do you want to submit the job from the REXX or do you want to execute the process at the terminal.

If you want to submit the job, then using file tailoring services is one of the easiest methods of making changes to the JCL that is submitted.

example - you enter a value of ABC at the screen, and the screen variable is PARMVAL. In the skeleton you have

Mukesh Pandey · Active User Joined: 11 Nov 2008 Posts: 143 Location: India

expat......... i need to enter value in the terminal on rexx screen and that value should be accepted in a symbolic variable in job... this is my requirement.....

Thanks,

Robert Sample · Posted: Thu Nov 05, 2009 7:12 pm

Mukesh Pandey · Active User Joined: 11 Nov 2008 Posts: 143 Location: India

in job we can give like

val= value from rexx input

var=&val

but overall scenario is not clera how the value input from rexx terminal will be caught in the val ..

Mukesh Pandey · Active User Joined: 11 Nov 2008 Posts: 143 Location: India

Robert...... u are correct.. then how shall i achieve my requirement ???

Robert Sample · Posted: Thu Nov 05, 2009 7:19 pm

If you are expecting to change the JCL of a job already executing, your solution is to go back to whoever gave you the requirement and tell them it cannot be done.

Otherwise, you will have to come up with a way to change the JCL before the job is submitted because once submitted, JCL doesn't get changed.

expat · Posted: Thu Nov 05, 2009 7:21 pm

Did not my previous reply give you any clues ?

The joys of using REXX and ISPF is that they interact very well together.

OK, when you define an ISPF panel, the fields are given a name. That name, without doing anything at all, is then valid within the calling REXX, or God forbid - CLIST, and contains exactly what was entered at the terminal.

Now, when we invoke the ISPF file tailoring services from the same REXX - guess what, the very same variable name still contains what was entered at the terminal.

So go back to my previous reply and look at the example, and see if you can work it out from what has been said in this reply.

Mukesh Pandey · Active User Joined: 11 Nov 2008 Posts: 143 Location: India

Robert,i am not trying to change the jcl already executing. Just needed to pass the value from rexx terminal and after that execute the job.

Robert Sample · Posted: Thu Nov 05, 2009 7:31 pm

expat has done a good job of explaining what you need to do.

Mukesh Pandey · Active User Joined: 11 Nov 2008 Posts: 143 Location: India

expat coding the below code in the job gives error.

//STEPNAME EXEC PGM=program,PARM='&PARMVAL'

expat · Posted: Thu Nov 05, 2009 7:55 pm

Did you use the ISPF file tailoring services to generate the JCL

Mukesh Pandey · Active User Joined: 11 Nov 2008 Posts: 143 Location: India

expat my code is like below

EXEC PGM=SARBCH,
PARM='K9490P0.SAR41,&TEST'

Now how to give other parm you have mentioned as

//STEPNAME EXEC PGM=program,PARM='&PARMVAL'

Need help on coding multiple parms.
Thank you,

expat · Posted: Thu Nov 05, 2009 8:58 pm

Mmmmmmmm, I suggest that you use ISPF file tailoring services, and give an example of the FTS inputs and outputs.

I take even more time to explain briefly the interaction between ISPF and REXX giving an example of once again using FTS.

You DO NOT use ISPF file tailoring with an example that I have given which SHOULD USE file tailoring and then you tell me that it doesn't work. Well of course it will not work if you do not do as suggested.

At the top of the CLIST/REXX forum is a sticky which will give you virtually all of the manuals you will ever need for REXX and ISPF processing. I strongly suggest that you take some time and familiarise yourself with those manuals and their contents, find out about file tailoring and then try it. It's not rocket science. It's not brain surgery. It is plain, straight forward invocation and use of services that were developed by IBM to make your life easier.

Yes, there are alternatives to using these services which include building your JCL in situ, editing a base member to fit your requirements, but to me the ISPF file tailoring is the easiest way to do this.

Mukesh Pandey · Active User Joined: 11 Nov 2008 Posts: 143 Location: India

expat thanks i will surely go through the manuals. pls correct me if i have dome the wrong coding below taking two parm values in a single parm.

//SAREXTR EXEC PGM=SARBCH,
// PARM='K9490P0.SAR41,&TEST'
//SYSUDUMP DD SYSOUT=*
//SYSPRINT DD SYSOUT=*
//REPORT DD DSN=&&TEMP,
// DISP=(NEW,CATLG,DELETE),SPACE=(TRK,(20,10),RLSE),
// LRECL=133,RECFM=FBA,BLKSIZE=27930
//SYSIN DD *
/LIST ID=&&TEST*,GEN=0
/*

where test is the parm used in rexx

Mukesh Pandey · Active User Joined: 11 Nov 2008 Posts: 143 Location: India

Expat, the way i have declared the parm did not work. report is blank.

// PARM='K9490P0.SAR41,&TEST'

Please help me how the code can be corrected

Thanks in advance,

expat · Posted: Thu Nov 05, 2009 9:20 pm

Let us call this member TEST99 in the ISPSLIB

Mukesh Pandey · Active User Joined: 11 Nov 2008 Posts: 143 Location: India

Expat.., thanks for exploring your strong technical ideas to us.

please see the code below in rexx and let me know if i am wrong somewhere.

/* REXX */
/* SUBMITTING JOB THROUGH REXX */
SAY 'ENTER QUALIFIER(EG:F3698 ) :'
PULL TEST
"ISPEXEC FTOPEN"
"ISPEXEC FTINCL TEST99"
"ISPEXEC FTCLOSE"
ADDRESS TSO "SUBMIT '"Z1225AN.EM"("SAREX")'"

Job :

//SAREXTR EXEC PGM=SARBCH,
// PARM='K9490P0.SAR41,&TEST'
//SYSUDUMP DD SYSOUT=*
//SYSPRINT DD SYSOUT=*
//REPORT DD DSN=&&&&TEMP,
// DISP=(NEW,CATLG,DELETE),SPACE=(TRK,(20,10),RLSE),
// LRECL=133,RECFM=FBA
//SYSIN DD *
/LIST ID=&&TEST*,GEN=0
/*

Thanks in advance.

enrico-sorichetti · Posted: Fri Nov 06, 2009 12:45 pm

here is the proper way of doing it ...
tested

expat · Posted: Fri Nov 06, 2009 1:06 pm

Just to clarify why I used FTOPEN rather than FTOPEN TEMP is that I will allocate an ISPFILE DD for my file tailoring output.

Either method works, it is just a matter of choice.

I do suggest that you, and anyone else unfamiliar with the products who are thinking about using REXX / ISPF, take a good long read of the documentation before attempting to write your own applications.