Hi,

How can i pass parameters through the parmlib of a JCL for the execution of a focexec. Do i have to have a seperate master for that?? Is there any other way to do it??

Thanks
Vix

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Vikas,

There's a lot more to executing a focexec through JCL than knowing how to pass parms. Master files, although required, have very little to do with the process. A lot depends on your operating system/installation which is not specified. You can do a search for the topic on this forum or also on techsupport.ibi.com for instructions. It is also in the documentation.

Put the parm and variables behind the focexec that you are trying to execute. (CAR=VOLVO)

This depends on what you are passing.

Are you parameters going to be variable, do they have to be changed ?

If not Pat is correct.

If so, you may want to store them elsewere and read them into the fex.

The variable can be passed as a parm, the "VOLVO" doesn't have to be hard coded that was just an example it could just as easily be &PARM1. It has been so long since I have written JCL that I don't remember all of the syntax and don't have a way to reference or test it here.

Here what i have to do is that i am gonna run the focexec for many countries. So the variables that i have to pass will change. Are the below given lines helpful??

//sysin dd *
ex focexec-name parm1=xx, parm2=yy, parm3=zz
/*

quote:

Originally posted by Waz:
This depends on what you are passing.

Are you parameters going to be variable, do they have to be changed ?

If not Pat is correct.

If so, you may want to store them elsewere and read them into the fex.

Where will the variables come from?

Vikas,

See the following:

  
Processing FOCUS Jobs in MVS Batch Mode
The following is a sample job stream of MVS batch JCL:
//FOCUS EXEC PGM=FOCUS
//STEPLIB DD DSN=FOCUS.FOCLIB.LOAD,DISP=SHR
//ERRORS DD DSN=FOCUS.ERRORS.DATA,DISP=SHR
//SYSPRINT DD SYSOUT=A
//OFFLINE DD SYSOUT=A
//MASTER DD DSN=MASTER.DATA,DISP=SHR
//FOCEXEC DD DSN=FOCEXEC.DATA,DISP=SHR
//* FOCUS FILE CAR
//CAR DD DSN=CAR.FOCUS,DISP=SHR
//SYSIN DD *
.
. FOCUS commands
.
FIN
//*
Each time you enter FOCUS, it automatically opens and executes the procedure PROFILE if
it is present before opening SYSIN. If you operate FOCUS in batch mode, you should include
a FIN statement in the PROFILE or in the SYSIN jobstream. Otherwise, FOCUS will terminate
with completion code 8.
Note that outside of a request or FOCEXEC, you can insert a comment line in SYSIN by
starting the line with an asterisk (*).
To use an alternative PROFILE member in place of the usual one, specify the following
values for the PARM parameter:
//FOCUS EXEC PGM=FOCUS,PARM='NOPROF'
or
//FOCUS EXEC PGM=FOCUS,PARM='PROFILE member'
where:
NOPROF
Is an optional parameter. Enables you to bypass or ignore your usual PROFILE member
of the FOCEXEC data set when you enter your FOCUS session.
member
Is an optional parameter. Names an alternative PROFILE to execute instead of the usual
PROFILE member.

So, if you don't want to run your focexec through the job stream (after the SYSIN DD *) but from the PARM parameter in the JCL EXEC statement, the only way FOCUS provides for this is by executing a focexec in the the FOCEXEC PDS. For example:

  
//FOCUS EXEC PGM=FOCUS,PARM='PROFILE VIKAS'

The VIKAS focexec must then contain all the values for the parameters or know how to find them.
I hope this is clear enough.

Our mainframe reporting environment was all parameter driven. We accomplished this by added a parameter dataset (or library) to our jcl and then using -READ in our Focus program to bring the parameters in. So in the example below, the DD statement USER points to the library member which contains our parameters.

//FOCUS EXEC PGM=FOCUS
//STEPLIB DD DSN=FOCUS.FOCLIB.LOAD,DISP=SHR
//ERRORS DD DSN=FOCUS.ERRORS.DATA,DISP=SHR
//SYSPRINT DD SYSOUT=A
//OFFLINE DD SYSOUT=A
//MASTER DD DSN=MASTER.DATA,DISP=SHR
//FOCEXEC DD DSN=FOCEXEC.DATA,DISP=SHR
//* FOCUS FILE CAR
//CAR DD DSN=CAR.FOCUS,DISP=SHR
//USER DD DSN=TEST.PARAMETER.LIB(PARAMS),DISP=SHR
//SYSIN DD *
EX FOCREPRT
FIN
//*

So if our TEST.PARAMTER.LIB(PARAMS) contained the following:
05/22/2008 PDF COUNTRY

FOCREPRT would have the following code:
-READ USER &TODATE.A10 &SPACE1.A1 &RPTFORMAT.A5 &SPACE2.A1 &SORTBY.A10

(Note, the -READ statement must map exactly to the layout of the parameter file being read in)
The results would be that &TODATE='05/22/2008', &RPTFORMAT='PDF', &SORTBY='COUNTRY'

In this case, the assumption is that the parameters are static. We actually built our mainframe environment so that the user could enter parameters through dialog manager screens and then submit a background jcl jobstream by invoking a tso clist. We captured the parameters in a temporary file and then read that file back into the job. This allowed us to use dynamic parameters and made our reporting environment extremely flexible.