GETLINE and PUTGET let you read from the stack, if you're comfortable writing in assembly language.
________________________________________ From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List <IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU> on behalf of Schmitt, Michael <michael.schm...@dxc.com> Sent: Tuesday, August 15, 2023 1:48 PM To: IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU Subject: How can a REXX data stack pass information from a program? The z/OS TSO REXX User's Guide says (https://www.ibm.com/docs/en/zos/2.4.0?topic=stack-using-data): The data stack [...] can pass information between REXX execs and other types of programs in a TSO/E or non-TSO/E address space. Because of the data stack's unique characteristics, you can use the data stack specifically to [...] Share information between an exec and any program running in MVS(tm). My question is how can the data stack be used to share information between an exec and a program? I don't see this in either the User's Guide or Reference. What I'm trying to do is pass an 8 character field from a COBOL program to a calling exec. The constraints are: * Exec is running in the TSO/E address space in a batch job * ISPF may not be used * COBOL program is called via TSO CALL * No assembler * No REXX programming services (e.g. IRXEXCOM) * Any calls to other programs would also be under the same constraints. So the calling path is PGM=IKJEFT01 > REXX exec > TSO CALL *(program) > COBOL program Please don't say, run using ISPF, it's easy! Or, call program with LINKMVS, it's easy! Or, use the IRXECOM variable access routine, it is easy! I know it is, but it can't be used in this case. It has to be the way I describe. Hence my problem. Trying a cheat like "call some other program to gain the address of a REXX variable" won't work because it would hit the same constraint; it can't be called by LINK or ATTACH, so the parm is one-way, and would have no way to pass back the address. Nor will it work to try to pass back an address from the COBOL program in a return code; it will get truncated. (I suppose one option is to call the COBOL program multiple times, passing back the data as a return code one or two bytes a time, but if it came to that I have a better last-resort work-around.) The User's Guide is hinting that the data stack can be used to pass data to or from another program. So how can a COBOL program put data on the data stack? ______________________________________________ Michael Schmitt | DXC Apps Development | MassMutual (737) 910-8248 | michael.schm...@dxc.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN
