How to pass the control from rexx to rexx

asukumar · New User Joined: 15 Apr 2009 Posts: 8 Location: bangalore

Hi,

As per one of our business request I have written a small rexx to exclude the records based on the values passed from the main rexx to sub-rexx.

The request is whenever a match is NOT found in the main rexx then based on the value, all the relevant lines needs to be excluded and then deleted from the file. Excluding and deleting is being done in the sub-rexx. Now the issue is, for example, if a match is found in the 4th row then how to pass the CONTROL to the sub-rexx to exclude the 4th row from the input file?

Please check my below main-rexx and sub-rexx for details and suggest me the solution.

Main-Rexx

/* REXX */
"ISREDIT MACRO"
filename1 = "'NUHAD.HAM910.LP11.D091209'"
"allocate da("filenam1") dd(INPUT1) shr reu"
/* "EXECIO 0 DISKR MYDD(OPEN" */
"execio * diskr INPUT1 (stem inp1. finis)"
TRACE I
I=1
PARA1:
ALPHA = SUBSTR(inp1.i,84,2)
IF ALPHA <> 'CH' THEN
SIGNAL PARA2
ELSE DO
I = I+1
SIGNAL PARA1
END
PARA2:
"ISPEXEC EDIT DATASET("FILENAM1") MACRO(NEWRX)"
I = I+1
SIGNAL PARA1

Sub-Rexx:

TRACE I
"ISREDIT MACRO"
"ISREDIT (LINEVAL) = LINE .ZCSR"
ADDRESS TSO
AGENCY = SUBSTR(LINEVAL,4,7)
"ISREDIT X ALL "
"ISREDIT F "AGENCY" ALL"
"ISREDIT DEL ALL NX"
"ISREDIT RES "
"ISREDIT END "
ADDRESS 'ISPEXEC'
RETURN
ADDRESS 'ISREDIT' END.

I know "ISREDIT (LINEVAL) = LINE .ZCSR" takes only the record on which the cursor is placed...but i have searched for a correct command but didn't find any so far...

I have tried using CALL NEWRX AGENCY command to call the sub-rexx, but no luck. Can some one please help me?

Thanks in advance.

dbzTHEdinosauer · Posted: Tue Dec 15, 2009 6:40 am

critique on code start:

well, each time you invoke the EDIT MACRO - NEWRX within an edit session of the ds, you delete a line and then save the ds and return to the main rexx.

say you decide line 3 is to be deleted.
so if your edit macro works, then you delete line 3, save the ds and return.

at this time what was line 4 in the ds is now line 3.
so if you, in your main rexx decide to delete line 4,
you will in effect delete line 5 with you macro.

critique on code end:

suggestion: put all the find CH in 82 in your sub rexx and delete from there.

another suggestion: learn how to use CALL as a PERFORM and stop using signal as a goto.

actually, you could put all this garbage in one REXX and just invoke it when you are in an edit session. sure is a lot of code to accomplish a simple task. i.e. you are over complicating the task.

dbzTHEdinosauer · Posted: Tue Dec 15, 2009 7:07 am

an addendum:

you have so many false assumptions in your code, it will never work.
you are not deleting any lines in your macro.

Pedro · Posted: Tue Dec 15, 2009 7:22 am

Can you describe how you invoke main-rexx? It looks like you want to editing a dataset... more details on that.

And also confirm that the file you want to clean up is another file altogether.

I agree with Dick about not using SIGNAL. Though, I think it should be a DO WHILE loop.

Also, if there are many calls to sub-rexx (or NEWRX, which is it, really?), then I agree there is too much overhead in starting / stopping editor. There should be only one call to the editor and the editor macro should read the control list and process any excludes / deletes that it needs to.

I disagree with Dick about "not deleting any lines". I think it will delete lines, but just not the ones that should be deleted.

dbzTHEdinosauer · Posted: Tue Dec 15, 2009 8:58 am

My suggested 4 liner will not do what the TS wants, but I am too tired to attempt to read his code and try to determine what he wanted to do.

and Pedro, you are correct he might just manage to get something deleted.

expat · Posted: Tue Dec 15, 2009 7:03 pm

I'm a little confused here because your code bears little if any resemblence to your explanation.
I would interpret your requirement as below and ask for clarification where needed.

You are reading a file, processing each record.
If it has 'CH' in columns 84/85 then you ignore the record.
If it does not, then you want to take a value from pos 4 len 7 of ......
- a) The current record being processed
- b) The first record of the dataset asis, as this is where the data will come from with your coded macro.

With this value, you then want to remove every record which contains this value.

What happens to records that you ignored previously and I assume you wish to keep which contain an exclude value from records processed later.

You really do need to write your requirement very clearly for everyone to understand, and by doing so will avoid any problems from misinterpretted replies.

MBabu · Posted: Tue Dec 15, 2009 10:40 pm

just another critique: Signal in Rexx is not really the same as GOTO in COBOL. It has side effects.

However, Signal is just as difficult to read and debug as GOTO. You should use regular subroutines with Call and Return instead.