Re: Batch/interactive interaction

Lance wrote:

> Is there a way to have an interactive program submit
> something to batch and then wait for the batch job
> to finish before continuing?

Yes, and you can do it without having the batch job take any special action
such as sending messages, adding entries to a data queue, setting flags in
a data area and so on. When a submitted job ends either normally or
abnormally it automatically sends a completion message. By default the
message goes to the queue specified in the user profile of the job
submitter, but you can direct it to any message queue. Your interactive job
can then sit on a message queue wait until it receives the job completion
message. To simplify matters you might want to reserve a particular message
queue just for this function.

The following simple CL program should allow you to test the process and
might serve as a basis for something a little more solid. You pass the
message queue and the command to submit as parameters. When you run it from
a command line make sure you give the command parameter its full length eg:

   call XXXX (testq 'dlyjob 10                                        ')

pgm    (&msgq &cmd)
dcl    &cmd   *char  50
dcl    &msg   *char  78
dcl    &msgid *char  7
dcl    &msgq  *char 10
sbmjob abc rqsdta(&cmd) msgq(&msgq)
monmsg cpf0000 exec(do)
    rcvmsg   MSG(&msg)
    sndpgmmsg &msg
    return
    enddo
rcvmsg MSGQ(&msgq) WAIT(*max) MSGID(&msgid)
if (&msgid *eq cpf1240) do
    sndpgmmsg 'Job ended abnormally'
    enddo
else do
    sndpgmmsg 'Job ended normally'
    enddo
endpgm

Dave...

"Achilles only had an Achilles' heel; I have a whole Achilles' body." -
Woody Allen

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The opinions expressed in this communication are my own and do not
necessarily reflect those of my employer.