RE: Procedures, Modules, Service Programs

Mark,

I haven't seen it yet (may have skimmed over it in the thread), but I thought that there was an option or feature in V6R1 so that the entire service program didn't get loaded at program start up. Rather that if there were, for example, three [3] procedures in the service program and your main program only used one [1] if them that only that one got loaded.

There's a good possibility, as you know, that I'm wrong. I just thought I heard this at a COMMON session last year in Nashville.

Jerry C. Adams
IBM System i Programmer/Analyst
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B&W Wholesale
office: 615-995-7024
email: jerry@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx


-----Original Message-----
From: midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Mark S. Waterbury
Sent: Tuesday, May 19, 2009 12:26 PM
To: Midrange Systems Technical Discussion
Subject: Re: Procedures, Modules, Service Programs

Hi, Birgitta:

The main problem with binding many modules into a single large service
program is that you force the system to activate the entire large
service program "all at once" -- the more procedures it has, the longer
this process will take. By keeping service programs smaller, with
relatively fewer procedures per service program, you can keep this
overhead to a minimum.

Note, however, that If service program A uses a procedure in service
program B, then when A is activated, this will cause B to be immediately
activated, too, and so on, down the line (if B uses procedures in C, and
so on). This process can add significantly to the "overhead" associated
with activation.

At V6R1, IBM implemented the ability to delay activating other service
programs until they are actually needed (when any procedure in that
*SRVPGM is first called). You must specify a new *DEFER option on the
BNDSRVPGM parameter of the CRTSRVPGM command to take advantage of this
new feature. For details, see:


http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/iseries/v6r1m0/topic/cl/crtsrvpgm.htm

This could be beneficial if you have many small *SRVPGMs that use
procedures in many other small *SRVPGMs, and you are running V6R1.

All the best,

Mark S. Waterbury

Birgitta Hauser wrote:
Hi guys,



I'm just curious and I'd like to know how to handle it:

Procedures, Modules, Service Programs and Programs



(We just had some discussions about it).

Currently I'm using several procedures within a single module (grouped
according functionality).

To make it easy I normally create a service program for each module
(exceptionally I also bind several modules with generic names for example
Date* into a service program).

Into a program only a single module gets bound and I never export procedures
from a program module.



An colleague argues having a lot of service programs is not good, he insists
in having a single service program with all modules for the whole
application, because there will be only a single activation.

I don't like this idea, because: If I only want to use a string function for
my batch program all display and printer file and what else functions must
be activated.



I just like to know how you handle it and why.



Mit freundlichen Grüßen / Best regards



Birgitta Hauser



"Shoot for the moon, even if you miss, you'll land among the stars." (Les
Brown)

"If you think education is expensive, try ignorance." (Derek Bok)

"What is worse than training your staff and losing them? Not training them
and keeping them!"