RE: PRTCMDUSG RTVJOBA -- BPCS-L

Hi,

Please bear in mind that this will only affect you if you use more than 25
libraries in the BPCS environment.

There is one caveat which could have an impact in that BPCS uses data areas
to control the initial library list.  These data areas are not large enough
(max 2000 bytes) to hold the maximum possible for the system.  BPCS doesn't
allow you to specify more than the current maximum so initially the change
will not really be a problem in the BPCS system.

In general terms this is a good change for BPCS users as we all know how
large our library lists can get with user libs, ptf libs, etc.

Initially, to solve the immediate problem, you could think about inserting
the message into your system reply list with an ignore to stop the screen
errors

In the long run, you will need to change your code.  FNDSTRPDM (or opt 25
from PDM) with the print option will help you identify the pieces of code
requiring attention.

For version 6 users, this is less of a problem as you don't have access to
CL commands generated from AS SET - this contain just control (override,
call).

For other versions, I personally don't know of any base BPCS programs which
change the library list.  BPCS jobs, and I add as far as I know as their is
a few, all use the library list set up for that environment.

I would speculate that users of add-on products may have a little more work
and it is worth talking to the vendors.  As a nice side effect a lot of
library list manipulation in BPCS add-ons is done because their isn't the
space for extra libraries due to the large number of slots BPCS uses.

The question we may ask SSA GT is will they change the environment set up to
allow more than 25....that would be nice!


-----Original Message-----
From: owner-bpcs-l@midrange.com [mailto:owner-bpcs-l@midrange.com]On
Behalf Of MacWheel99@aol.com
Sent: Saturday, March 31, 2001 7:01 PM
To: AS400 & family discussion group; BPCS Users Discussion Group
Subject: PRTCMDUSG RTVJOBA


From
MacWheel99@aol.com (Alister Wm Macintyre) (Al Mac)

Below is cut & paste of information from an AS400network newsletter that I
want to talk about ... I left their advertiser URLs included in hopes they
will not get annoyed with me for forwarding their copyrighted stuff.  Item #
4 affects BPCS & probably every other ERP & other software package that
anyone is using on the 400.

PRTCMDUSG gets at a list of all programs that use a particular command.
I learned about this command in prior MIDRANGE-L discussion about
cross-referencing where various software objects are used.

We have 800 CL programs in our BPCS 405 CD live environment library list
that
use RTVJOBA.  Some of them are our modifications, but most are vanilla base
BPCS.
RTVJOBA is the first of the 5 commands listed in the newsletter that will
return more information starting OS/400 V5.  This is not the whole picture,
but I have to start somewhere.

RTVJOBA can be used to retrieve a lot of stuff about a job ... library list
information is not its only usage, so in many cases the fact that OS400 V5
is
going from 25 to 250 user libraries in the list won't make a bit of
difference, but when the retrieval is to access the library list
information,
the fact that more data is coming back could have a detrimental effect
depending on how the software is written, and depending on if & when we
utilize the extra libraries.

The situation for BPCS V6 users is different than for BPCS 405 CD because V6
users do not have access to the source code, rather all code is via SSA's
"case" AS/Set.  SSA had announced that they dropping support for 405 CD
effective end of May 2001.  This IBM V5 is due out beginning of May 2001.
Now there are SEVERAL places that offer good quality tech support for BPCS
405 CD when SSA's ends, so that is not a problem.  My thoughts are

a) Does SSA know about this? (I sent a general inquiry to SSA tech support
to
ask)
b) Can we expect a final REL 03 aggregate collection of BMRs at the end of
405 CD that includes a fix for this nuance?

Assuming that we can not depend on such an expectation, there is a joint
challenge of identifying inventorying what all our retrieve library list
software is doing to figure out the impact & what needs fixing.

I think there is a PDM search & substitute command string that I need to
learn, except I like to look at what exactly is happening in each instance.
However PDM search might help in mapping out how RTVJOBA is used in our 800
programs.

Subj:    Club Tech iSeries Programming Tips - 03.29.01
From:   ClubTechiSeriesPrgrmTips@list.as400network.com
(ClubTechiSeriesPrgrmTips)

*********** Club Tech iSeries Programming Tips Newsletter ***********
An AS400 Network Publication              http://www.as400network.com
Home of NEWS/400 Magazine
Issue 41                                               March 29, 2001

Sponsored by Generic Software, Inc., at (800) 698-5669 or visit
http://www.genericsoftware.com/html/save_output_queue.htm .

<snip>

THIS WEEK:
> APIs by Example: Read/Write an IFS File Line in RPG IV
> APIs by Example: Read an IFS File Line in Cobol
> Data Area Editor Utility
> Poor Man's Cross-Reference
> Maximum Libraries in *LIBL to Change from 25 to 250
< big snip >

* Make your RPG Programs happy! Download RPG-Alive...
  http://www.RPGAlive.com

<snip>

4. MAXIMUM LIBRARIES IN *LIBL TO CHANGE FROM 25 TO 250
The V5 release of OS/400, due out in May, changes the maximum number
of libraries in the user part of a library list (*LIBL) from 25 to
250. This will alleviate some problems that arose from the previous
limitations, but it may cause other problems with your existing code.

The new versions of the RTVJOBA (Retrieve Job Attribute) command and
the QUSRJOBI (Retrieve Job Information), QWCRTVCA (Retrieve Current
Attributes), QUSRSPLA (Retrieve Spool File Attributes), and QWDRJOBD
(Retrieve Job Description) APIs can now return more data than in
previous releases. Be sure that any applications you have that use one
of these interfaces provides enough room for 250 libraries in the
return value.

When you increase the size of a return variable, you can still safely
call V4R5 and earlier releases of these interfaces because there is no
harm in providing more space than needed. Just be sure that your own
application logic correctly handles however many library entries are
returned.

For more information, see:
http://www.ibm.com/eserver/iseries/developer/os400/lib_list.html

Thanks to Paul Conte for the above item

<snip>

http://as400network.com/str/books/uniquebook2.cfm?NextBook=181 .

This newsletter is edited by Chuck Lundgren,
mailto:clundgren@as400network.com .

FOR NEW SUBSCRIPTIONS, you can subscribe by joining the AS400 Network
with a handy Web form at http://www.as400network.com/join/ .

IF YOU WANT TO SPONSOR a Club Tech iSeries Programming Tips
Newsletter, please contact your AS400 Network sales manager. Click
here for details:
http://www.as400network.com/info/mediakit/Sales/Index.htm .
___________________________
Copyright 2001, NEWS/400
http://www.as400network.com
+---
| This is the BPCS Users Mailing List!
| To submit a new message, send your mail to BPCS-L@midrange.com.
| To subscribe to this list send email to BPCS-L-SUB@midrange.com.
| To unsubscribe from this list send email to BPCS-L-UNSUB@midrange.com.
| Questions should be directed to the list owner: dasmussen@aol.com
+---

+---
| This is the BPCS Users Mailing List!
| To submit a new message, send your mail to BPCS-L@midrange.com.
| To subscribe to this list send email to BPCS-L-SUB@midrange.com.
| To unsubscribe from this list send email to BPCS-L-UNSUB@midrange.com.
| Questions should be directed to the list owner: dasmussen@aol.com
+---