RE: SBMJOB ~ RQSDTA

rpg400-l-request@xxxxxxxxxxxx wrote:

  1. SBMJOB ~ RQSDTA (Captain Jerry)

*Can anyone explain (maybe in layman's terms!) what the difference in the
two CL Statements below is?  Is one better then the other?  More
functionality?  Different System Impacts?  Anything?*
**
*
SBMJOB     JOB(WPC8060) RQSDTA('CALL WPC8060 ')

SBMJOB     CMD(CALL PGM(WPC8060)) JOB(WPC8060)

Jerry:

Probably only an IBM developer can really explain, but they remain pretty quiet 
on this even though it's regularly discussed.

The difference that was _apparently_ intended by IBM is that the CMD() 
parameter is useful for humans and the RQSDTA() parameter is better suited for 
programs.

The CMD() parameter allows for prompting of commands. This is _FAR_ less useful 
when the command is CALL because the PARM() list on the CALL command is 
practically unstructured. Each parm element can be a different data type and 
length from each of the others. There is no external indication of what each 
element should be.

For anything but CALL, prompting makes sense. But for CALL, RQSDTA() is much 
better.

When you write an RPG program that builds a SBMJOB command (submitting a CALL 
command), you have total control over the RQSDTA() string. You can place any 
sequence of characters within it and the string that you build is what gets 
used.

The same is not necessarily true for the CMD() parm. Although it's much easier 
to use, it doesn't guarantee that what gets submitted is what you build. One 
significant issue involves truncation of trailing spaces for CALL parms longer 
than 32 characters. Another issue is how numeric parms are handled -- they are 
very likely to end up with a definition that isn't what you wanted.

The guideline might be as simple as "CMD() is easy, but RQSDTA() is reliable." 
For your example, it doesn't make any difference since your CALL command has no 
parms. If you go with a more complex CALL, the difference could appear at a 
very unexpected moment.

When I write a program that uses SBMJOB to submit a CALL, I always use RQSDTA().

Even better, never submit a CALL. Create a *CMD definition that prototypes the 
CALL and submit the *CMD. Then it pretty much makes no difference between CMD() 
and RQSDTA().

Tom Liotta