How to call batch script in JCL/Cobol in Net Express

[Migrated content. Thread originally posted on 22 February 2011]

Hi,

can we call batch script in JCL/Cobol in Net Express 5.1.
If yes, How?

Thanks and Regards
Cheeta LM

Create a second program compiled as ASCII without any of the mainframe compiler dialects. Call this program from the mainframe program. If you need to pass parms in you'll need to convert parms from EBCDIC to ASCII using a call to _CODESET and then use a x'91' function 35 library routine to shell to dos and execute the BAT file

[Migrated content. Thread originally posted on 22 February 2011]

Hi,

can we call batch script in JCL/Cobol in Net Express 5.1.
If yes, How?

Thanks and Regards
Cheeta LM

Using the x'91' Function 35 will work but does not give you much control. The return code from this call only indicates that the command file you executed started correctly but does not capture the success or failure of the scipt itself.

The use of a Pipe file allows you to execute a command file and if opened I-O also allows the program to capture any STDOUT from the script itself.

Use of Pipe files also makes the code more portable as with due consideration it will work in both Windows and Unix.

You should be able to find details of using the Pipe file in the Net Express Help.

Regards
Gary

[Migrated content. Thread originally posted on 22 February 2011]

Hi,

can we call batch script in JCL/Cobol in Net Express 5.1.
If yes, How?

Thanks and Regards
Cheeta LM

Using the x'91' Function 35 will work but does not give you much control. The return code from this call only indicates that the command file you executed started correctly but does not capture the success or failure of the scipt itself.

The use of a Pipe file allows you to execute a command file and if opened I-O also allows the program to capture any STDOUT from the script itself.

Use of Pipe files also makes the code more portable as with due consideration it will work in both Windows and Unix.

You should be able to find details of using the Pipe file in the Net Express Help.

Regards
Gary

[Migrated content. Thread originally posted on 22 February 2011]

Hi,

can we call batch script in JCL/Cobol in Net Express 5.1.
If yes, How?

Thanks and Regards
Cheeta LM

Using the x'91' Function 35 will work but does not give you much control. The return code from this call only indicates that the command file you executed started correctly but does not capture the success or failure of the scipt itself.

The use of a Pipe file allows you to execute a command file and if opened I-O also allows the program to capture any STDOUT from the script itself.

Use of Pipe files also makes the code more portable as with due consideration it will work in both Windows and Unix.

You should be able to find details of using the Pipe file in the Net Express Help.

Regards
Gary

[Migrated content. Thread originally posted on 22 February 2011]

Hi,

can we call batch script in JCL/Cobol in Net Express 5.1.
If yes, How?

Thanks and Regards
Cheeta LM

For Pipe read Pipes. Its been a long day!

To make up for it I have C&P'd the section from the help.

Setting Up Pipes
You can use COBOL file syntax to launch another process (such as the dir command) and either write data to the standard input of that other process or read data coming from the standard output of the other process. The COBOL file organization must be either LINE SEQUENTIAL or RECORD SEQUENTIAL.

Output Pipes
To launch a process and write data to its standard input, the filename must consist of the > sign followed by the name of the command. The file should be opened for output.

For example:

select output-file
assign to ">cmd /c sort"
organization is line sequential.
fd output-file.
01 output-file-record pic x(10).
procedure division.
open output output-file
write output-file-record from "Charles"
write output-file-record from "Bill"
write output-file-record from "Alan"
close output-file.
Input Pipes
To launch a process and read data from its standard output, the filename must consist of the "lt" symbol followed by the name of the command. The file should be opened for input.

For example:

select input-file
assign to "
organization is line sequential.
...
open input input-file
read input-file
In this example the program launches the dir process and reads in the first line that it writes to its standard output.

Two-way Pipes
Two-way pipes combine the functions of input and output pipes. To use a two-way pipe, the filename must consist of the pipe symbol (|) followed by the name of the command. The file should be opened for inpit-output i-o.

For example:

select i-o-file
assign to "| cmd /c sort"
organization is line sequential.
fd i-o-file.
01 i-o-file-record pic x(20).
procedure division.
open i-o i-o-file
write i-o-file-record from "Hello world"
write i-o-file-record from all "A"
write i-o-file-record from all "Z"
write i-o-file-record from x"1a"
perform until exit
read i-o-file
at end
exit perform
end-read
display i-o-file-record
end-perform
close i-o-file
In this example, the program launches the sort process and passes it three lines of text, followed by an end-of-file marker. The program then reads all three lines back from the standard output of the sort process.

[Migrated content. Thread originally posted on 22 February 2011]

Hi,

can we call batch script in JCL/Cobol in Net Express 5.1.
If yes, How?

Thanks and Regards
Cheeta LM

I have a similar problem and don't know how to solve it.
I'm using Server Express 5.1 with HP-UX 11.31.

I need to translate a string from iso8859-1 to utf-8.
I wrote a php script for that. the script needs one argument (the string) and returns the string in utf8.
The script has the path /usr/local/bin/iso2utf8.php.
I wrote the following in cobol but it didn't work.
What's wrong?
Thanks Roland

input-output section.
select i-o-file
assign to "|/usr/local/bin/iso2utf8.php "
organization is line sequential.
*-================================================================
data division.
file section.
*-----------------------------------------------------------------
fd i-o-file.
01 i-o-file-record pic x(80).
*-================================================================
open i-o i-o-file.
write i-o-file-record from "Glas Trösch AG".
read i-o-file.
move i-o-file-record to w01-ws-out-customerReference.
close i-o-file.

[Migrated content. Thread originally posted on 22 February 2011]

Hi,

can we call batch script in JCL/Cobol in Net Express 5.1.
If yes, How?

Thanks and Regards
Cheeta LM

I am not all that familiar with PHP but I believe that because this is a scripting language, it requires either a web server or other translator in order to run it.

Can you run it from a shell by executing the command:
/usr/local/bin/iso2utf8.php

If you cannot run it from the shell or command line then you cannot create a pipe to it in the manner that you are attempting.

Is there a php command processor that needs to be run, e.g. php /usr/local/bin/iso2utf8.php?

Perhaps someone with more knowledge of PHP could chime in here?

[Migrated content. Thread originally posted on 22 February 2011]

Hi,

can we call batch script in JCL/Cobol in Net Express 5.1.
If yes, How?

Thanks and Regards
Cheeta LM

Chris Glazier originally wrote:

I am not all that familiar with PHP but I believe that because this is a scripting language, it requires either a web server or other translator in order to run it.

Yes - it would be executed by the PHP interpreter (whether standalone or under a web server is immaterial). But that could happen implicitly, if the file starts with an interpreter line.

Can you run it from a shell by executing the command:
/usr/local/bin/iso2utf8.php

That should work if:

- iso2utf8.php starts with an appropriate interpreter line (eg "#! /usr/bin/php")
- iso2utf8.php is readable and executable by the user
- the specified interpreter exists and is executable by the user
- the specified interpreter is an installation of the PHP interpreter that was compiled with support for the CLI SAPI

(See the PHP documentation for more details.)

If it can be executed directly from the user's shell, then it should work as a pipe-file from an ordinary COBOL program run by the same user. (PHP wouldn't be my choice for this job - it seems far too heavy for the problem as described - but it ought to work.)

However, it might still not work under ES (which wasn't part of this poster's question, but is relevant to the original question in the thread), because processes there will likely be running under a different user ID, etc. Getting this sort of thing to work may require a good understanding of the Unix programming model and how all the pieces fit together.