• The Four Hundred
  • Subscribe
  • Media Kit
  • Contributors
  • About Us
  • Contact
Menu
  • The Four Hundred
  • Subscribe
  • Media Kit
  • Contributors
  • About Us
  • Contact
  • Interpreted CL Members

    March 7, 2012 Hey, Ted

    I am thinking of writing a program that will read a source member of CL commands, interpreting them and running them dynamically one at a time. I can think of several situations in which such a utility would be more suitable than compiled CL programs. Before I re-invent the wheel, I want to know if IBM i already has something like that.

    –Tom

    Yes, there’s something like that. You can do this sort of thing with input spooling. I’ve only used input spooling on occasion, so I’m not an expert, but I can show you how it works.

    Create a source physical file member to hold the CL commands. Place Batch Job (//BCHJOB) and End Batch Job (//ENDBCHJOB) commands in the first and last records, with your commands in between, like this:

    //BCHJOB   JOB(MYJOB) JOBQ(NOMAX)
    DSPLIBL    OUTPUT(*PRINT)
    DSPLIB     LIB(MYLIB) OUTPUT(*PRINT)
    //ENDBCHJOB
    

    Use the Submit Database Job (SBMDBJOB) to run the commands in the file.

    SBMDBJOB FILE(MYLIB/MYSRCF) MBR(MYSRCMBR)
    

    One thing you should be aware of is that most of the parameters that you’re accustomed to placing in the Submit Job (SBMJOB) command don’t appear in SBMDBJOB, but in BCHJOB instead.

    In addition to CL commands, the file may contain input data for the job stream. Tell the program to read a file named QINLINE. Here’s such a program, which I call MYRPGPGM.

    Fqinline   ip   f   80        disk
    Fqsysprt   o    f  132        printer
    D count           s              3p 0
    Iqinline   ns  01
    I                                  1   80  DataIn
     /free
         count += 1;
     /end-free
    Oqsysprt   h    1p                  1
    O                                              'Begin'
    O          d    01                  1
    O                       count         4
    O                       DataIn           +   1
    O          t    lr                  1
    O                                              'End'
    

    Surround the data with //DATA and an end-of-data marker, which defaults to //.

    //BCHJOB   JOB(MYJOB) JOBQ(NOMAX)
    CALL MYRPGPGM
    //DATA
    LINE 1
    LINE 2
    LINE 3 AND FINAL
    //
    //ENDBCHJOB
    

    As I said, I’ve rarely used input spooling. I suspect that’s true in general. When I was new to the System/38 world (having worked only with S/34 and S/36), I asked an experienced S/38 programmer how he submitted batch jobs, and he replied, “SBMJOB. Is there any other way?”



                         Post this story to del.icio.us
                   Post this story to Digg
        Post this story to Slashdot

    Share this:

    • Reddit
    • Facebook
    • LinkedIn
    • Twitter
    • Email

    Tags:

    Sponsored by
    Raz-Lee Security

    Start your Road to Zero Trust!

    Firewall Network security, controlling Exit Points, Open DB’s and SSH. Rule Wizards and graphical BI.

    Request Demo

    Share this:

    • Reddit
    • Facebook
    • LinkedIn
    • Twitter
    • Email

    Sponsored Links

    BCD:  On-Demand Webinar with Bob Cozzi: 5 decision to make before a Web enablement project
    System i Developer:  Upgrade your skills at the RPG & DB2 Summit in Fort Worth, March 26-28
    COMMON:  Join us at the 2012 Conference & Expo, May 6 - 9 in Anaheim, CA

    IT Jungle Store Top Book Picks

    BACK IN STOCK: Easy Steps to Internet Programming for System i: List Price, $49.95

    The iSeries Express Web Implementer's Guide: List Price, $49.95
    The iSeries Pocket Database Guide: List Price, $59
    The iSeries Pocket SQL Guide: List Price, $59
    The iSeries Pocket WebFacing Primer: List Price, $39
    Migrating to WebSphere Express for iSeries: List Price, $49
    Getting Started with WebSphere Express for iSeries: List Price, $49
    The All-Everything Operating System: List Price, $35
    The Best Joomla! Tutorial Ever!: List Price, $19.95

    Reader Feedback On Thinking Strategically About IT As A Service IBM Does March Madness Rebate On Power 770s

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Volume 12, Number 5 -- March 7, 2012
THIS ISSUE SPONSORED BY:

WorksRight Software
Infor
Northeast User Groups Conference

Table of Contents

  • Commenting Interactive Code
  • Interpreted CL Members
  • Admin Alert: Getting Started With An i 6.1 Upgrade

Content archive

  • The Four Hundred
  • Four Hundred Stuff
  • Four Hundred Guru

Recent Posts

  • Big Blue Raises IBM i License Transfer Fees, Other Prices
  • Keep The IBM i Youth Movement Going With More Training, Better Tools
  • Remain Begins Migrating DevOps Tools To VS Code
  • IBM Readies LTO-10 Tape Drives And Libraries
  • IBM i PTF Guide, Volume 27, Number 23
  • SEU’s Fate, An IBM i V8, And The Odds Of A Power13
  • Tandberg Bankruptcy Leaves A Hole In IBM Power Storage
  • RPG Code Generation And The Agentic Future Of IBM i
  • A Bunch Of IBM i-Power Systems Things To Be Aware Of
  • IBM i PTF Guide, Volume 27, Numbers 21 And 22

Subscribe

To get news from IT Jungle sent to your inbox every week, subscribe to our newsletter.

Pages

  • About Us
  • Contact
  • Contributors
  • Four Hundred Monitor
  • IBM i PTF Guide
  • Media Kit
  • Subscribe

Search

Copyright © 2025 IT Jungle