Re: COBOL Quest

[Bob Larkin <blarkin@xxxxxx>]

Jon,
Busted Again. Gosh, usually the Smoke & Mirrors explanation satisfies them.
Thanks for the explanation, a lot clearer and quicker than my foggy brain would
have come up with.
Bob Larkin

Jon.Paris@halinfo.it wrote:

> >>> If RPG programs call COBOL programs, there can be a performance
> penalty. We
> saw this in an RPG batch job, which called a COBOL progfram repeatedly.
> Performance went from 10+ HOURS to <20 MINUTES, with one simple change. We
> added a COBOL program as the first program. All it did was call the
> original
> first program in the batch job, but it does some smoke & mirrors stuff
> .......
>
> No "smoke and mirrors" - it's simply that COBOL programs run within what is
> known as the Run Unit.  This is created by the first COBOL program that is
> called in the job (if you mix OPM and ILE it's a bit more complicated but
> .... ).  According to the ANSII rules for COBOL, if the first program in the
> run unit (known as the Main program) returns to it's caller then the run
> unit ends - this also has the effect of closing files etc. so it can cause
> even bigger performance problems than the one you witnessed.
>
> So, if an RPG program calls a COBOL program which then returns - the run
> unit is created on the call, and destroyed on exit - that's a lot of wasted
> time.  ILE programs have a mechanism that allows them to avoid this, but
> for OPM the only answer is the one you used - put a "stub" program
> somewhere in front of the RPG program that calls the "real" COBOL one.
> That ensures that the run unit is maintained.
>
> Jon.Paris@halinfo.it
>
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