RE: Parms >32 long passed to CL Pgm

[Buck Calabro <mcalabro@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Monday, September 28, 1998 4:39 PM, Jon.Paris@halinfo.it 
[SMTP:Jon.Paris@halinfo.it] wrote:
> I know that if I define char parms to CL at 32chs or less they get
> passed
> OK and that if they are larger they can get screwed up, but can someone
> please remind me of the options I have to get round this.  It works if I
> make sure the full number of characters are passed but surely there are
> other options?  Also if someone can point me at the part of the CL
> manual
> that deals with this it would be helpful, I've only found one reference
> so
> far and it was less than definitive.

The manual that *may* illuminate things a bit is the CL Programming guide. 
 I did a search on "parameter length" and found an entry in the section 
entitled "Using the CALL command."

Basically, this is a problem only when you CALL a program from a command 
line (including SBMJOB).  Program-to-program calls have no problems.  If 
you must use a larger parm, create a command to wrap around the program  
 call.  The problem is that the parms are passed by reference, not by 
value.  The command line will send the address of some storage to your 
called program, but only 32 bytes of that storage are initialised by 
default.  You never really know what's in the string after that UNLESS 
you:
1) enclose the full length in quotes including trailing blanks;
2) wrap the program call in a command.

I believe I learnt this at one of the IBM tech conferences many years ago. 

hth,

Buck Calabro
Commsoft, Albany, NY
mailto:mcalabro@commsoft.net

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