Using "EXEC CICS LINK" for Gen CICS COBOL Dynamic Call
Article ID: 245342
Updated On:
Products
Issue/Introduction
Is it possible in Gen to implement CICS COBOL Dynamic Call using EXEC CICS LINK command to call External Action Block (EAB) instead of static COBOL CALL statement?
If so, what are to options to be used in generation process to replace static CALL with dynamic CALL (EXEC CICS LINK)?
Is it possible to change a calling model to dynamic EXEC CICS LINK model?
If so, what are the options to use to achieve this?
Environment
Release : 8.6
Component : Gen Construction
Resolution
1. Engineering advised that the Gen construction process has not been enhanced to support making EXEC CICS API calls (e.g. "EXEC CICS LINK") from the generated code. The "EXEC CICS LINK" command could be added to an External Action Block (EAB) because an EAB is built outside of Gen and this external build process could call the CICS translator itself.
2. However, it is not necessary to use an "EXEC CICS LINK" command to achieve the desired results. For example, if a shared Action Block's Dynamic Link property is set to Yes, then that Action Block will be built as a separate DLL and it will be invoked dynamically by any PSteps/Action Blocks that USE this shared Action Block.
If this shared Action Block needs to be changed in the future, then only this Action Block would need to be regenerated and installed (assuming the changes did not impact the interface between this Action Block and its callers). The calling load modules would not need to be linked again since this Action Block will be called dynamically.
Gen will also perform the bind of this Action Block's DB2 Package during the Install step so the DB2 Plan should not need to be bound again. When the Plan was originally bound, Gen would have used "<Your Collection ID>.*" as one of the specified Package Lists, therefore this Action Block's new Package should be picked up automatically by any Plans that use this Package.
3. If interested in making CICS calls from Inline Code (ILC) in Gen applications please open a new idea on the Broadcom Ideas Community.
Additional Information
Gen™ 8.6 > Encyclopedia > Host Encyclopedia > Host Encyclopedia Construction > Specify Target Environment for HE > Dynamic Link Features and Considerations
Gen™ 8.6 > Encyclopedia > Client Server Encyclopedia > Client Server Encyclopedia Construction > z/OS Dynamic Linking Option
Gen™ 8.6 > Developing > Designing > Using the Toolset > MVS Environment Parameters Dialog
Gen™ 8.6 > Developing > Designing > Using the Toolset > Dynamically Link Action Blocks > Dynamic Linking Concepts
Gen™ 8.6 > Developing > Workstation Construction > Packaging the Load Module > Packaging Options
Gen™ 8.6 > Implementation Toolset > z/OS Implementation Toolset > Implementing External Action Blocks > Construct External Action Blocks
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