Knowing RBA value before write

senthils · Posted: Tue Dec 01, 2009 11:45 am

hi,

using COBOL program, is there any possibility of knowing the RBA value of an ESDS file before actually doing a write on that file.

note:
I am not sure whether i should be posting it in this forum or in COBOL section.

PeterHolland · Posted: Tue Dec 01, 2009 12:12 pm

Writing is always to the end of the file, no need to know the RBA.
Reading is a different story, you can do that direct (supply RBA) or
sequential.

senthils · Posted: Tue Dec 01, 2009 12:17 pm

My requirement is that if the RBA goes beyond a certain value then I have to write into another file.

I know i can get the RBA value after the write command is executed, but my coding logic will become easy if i can know the RBA value before writing.

So is there any possibility?

expat · Posted: Tue Dec 01, 2009 12:31 pm

Is this a continuation of the other thread that you started ?

senthils · Posted: Tue Dec 01, 2009 12:33 pm

Yes. But i thought this will fall under a separate topic since this is more of a COBOL command which i am looking for.

enrico-sorichetti · Posted: Tue Dec 01, 2009 12:46 pm

after the write
check for limit minus max_reclen

expat · Posted: Tue Dec 01, 2009 12:49 pm

Well, think about it. The situation that you find yourself in for asking this topic is explained in the previous topic, so for people to really know what is happening they will need to know to read another post.

Now we are looking at changing a program to write to either one of N files. What about the implications of this, as if you have one logical file spread over two physical ESDS then you will need to change every other program that reads the ESDS as you can not concatenate VSAM files to a single DD.

If you need to make a program change, why not spend the time and effort in getting the original program to work properly rather than creating a new monster to deal with at a later date.

dbzTHEdinosauer · Posted: Tue Dec 01, 2009 1:04 pm

Why can't you just rely on the error codes you would receive when you try to write a record and there is no more room?

not only would you be saved the computation before every write,
but you would have the trap at the correct place.

also, sounds as if you need an index to the multiple vsam files,
which you could update upon receiving the end-of-file error.
Gee, you could have n-number of vsam files.

senthils · Posted: Tue Dec 01, 2009 1:05 pm

hi expat,

This is a COBOL CICS environment. The programs already have been coded to take care of reading multiple ESDS files.

I am just coding a patch to take care of max RBA scenario. Thats why i wanted to know is there are any COBOL CICS command to know the RBA value before writing.

Robert Sample · Posted: Tue Dec 01, 2009 4:16 pm

How is CICS supposed to know how long a file is until it attempts to write to it? Answer: as expected, it cannot. You can capture the RBA or XRBA upon doing the WRITE but I'm not aware of any commands that will tell you the high used RBA in CICS without doing the WRITE.

senthils · Posted: Tue Dec 01, 2009 4:22 pm

Thanks everyone for your quick replies. I will modify the logic of my program accordingly.