Re: RUNRMTCMD

> Here is my situation:
> I have a process that runs on my source 400.  If the process fails, it needs
> to run a program on the remote 400 that will run a different process.  The
> end message depends on the success or failure of the processes.  I need to
> pass parameters and receive parameters on the remote call.

Parameters work by sharing memory between two programs.   Because the
caller's parameters and the called program's parameters are in the same
memory, changing one will change the other -- presto, you can exchange
data in both directions!

Now consider the problem of parameters passed to a program on another
computer.  They CAN'T share the same memory.

[SNIP]
> CHGVAR     VAR(&COMMAND) VALUE('CALL +
>              PGM(MSILVERS/TESTRMTCMD)' *BCAT 'PARM("' +
>              *CAT &SENDPARM *CAT '")')
> RUNRMTCMD  CMD(&COMMAND) RMTLOCNAME(SHIPLEY1) +
>              RMTUSER(user) RMTPWD(pass)
[SNIP]

This is a great example of why you should've known that RUNRMTCMD couldn't
have passed back parameters.  The RUNRMTCMD command doesn't even KNOW that
you're passing parameters.  All it knows about is one big long command
string called &COMMAND -- it doesn't know that some parts are parameters
and some parts are program calls...  Oh well, that's a moot point I guess.

What you don't know about the REXEC protocol is that it's capable of
transporting 3 different data streams in addition to the command itself.
These are "stdin", "stdout" and "stderr".   RUNRMTCMD has only limited
support for them, it will write the contents of stdout and stderr to a
spooled file, and will tell the remote command that there's no data on
"stdin".

However, if you use the rexec() API, or the rexec QShell command you can
work with these data streams.

And, rexec() on the '400 has a (rather bizarre) feature that allows you to
write data to stdout by writing it as printer output.  (Only works when
you're running your program through REXEC or similar facility)

Thus, if you run the following program using the rexec() API, or the rexec
QShell command, you'll get "Hello World!" back.  Not as a parameter, but
as a "stdout" data stream:

    FQSYSPRT   O    F  132        PRINTER

    c                   except    print
    c                   eval      *inlr = *on

    OQSYSPRT   E            PRINT
    O                                              'Hello World!'

The reason why I'm telling you all of this, is that you can use it to get
data back from the remote server, which may serve your purposes.