REXX

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Objectives
Introduction to REXX Syntax and Functions

Advanced Concepts

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Introduction
What is REXX ?
Restructured EXtended eXecutor Interpreted command language Very useful for linking TSO, ISPF and other functions Useful for developing custom-made utilities

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Features of REXX
Ease of use Free format

Convenient built-in functions

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Features of REXX (Cont...)

Debugging capabilities Interpreted language

Extensive parsing capabilities

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Components of REXX
Instructions Built-in functions TSO/E external functions Data stack functions

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Instruction
Keyword
Tells the language processor to do something

Assignment
Gives a value to a variable or changes the current value of a variable

Label
A symbolic name followed by a colon Identifies a portion of the exec Commonly used in subroutines and functions, and with the SIGNAL instruction

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Instruction (Cont...)
Null
Comment or a blank line Ignored by the language processor Makes an exec easier to read

Command (both REXX commands and host commands)

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Built-in functions
These functions are built into the language processor Provide convenient processing options

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TSO/E external functions

Interact with the system Do specific tasks for REXX

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Data stack functions

Store data for I/O Other types of processing

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Syntax of REXX

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Character Type of REXX

A REXX instruction can be in lower case, upper case, or mixed case Alphabetic characters are changed to uppercase, unless enclosed in single or double quotation marks The two types of quotation marks cannot be mixed If any word in the statement is a variable, REXX substitutes the value

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Format
REXX uses a free format A line usually contains one instruction except when it ends with a comma (,) or contains a semi-colon (;).
Comma is the continuation character Indicates that the instruction continues to the next line Semi-colon indicates the end of the instruction Used to separate multiple instructions on one line

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Environment / Address
ADDRESS TSO for native TSO commands ADDRESS ISPEXEC for ISPF services ADDRESS ISREDIT for ISPF edit macros These are required to invoke the environment for function calls

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Variables and expressions

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Variables
Character or group of characters that represents a value e.g. count = 1000 Variable names can consist of:
A....Z / a - Z alphabetic 0....9 numbers @#$?!._ special characters

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Variables (Cont...)
Restrictions on the variable name are:
The first character cannot be 0 through 9 or a period (.) The variable name cannot exceed 250 bytes The variable name should not be RC, SIGL, or RESULT, which are REXX special variables

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Parsing
Separates data by comparing the data to a template (or pattern of variable names) Preserves the case of the input data PARSE UPPER converts data to uppercase Separators in a template can be
blank, string, variable, or number that represents column position

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Parsing
Blank - an example
Each variable name gets one word of data in sequence except for the last, which gets the remainder of the data PARSE VALUE Value with Blanks. WITH pattern type
pattern contains Value type contains with Blanks.

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Parsing
Blank - another example
PARSE VALUE Value with Extra Variables. WITH data1 data2 data3 data4 data5
data1 contains Value data2 contains with data3 contains Extra data4 contains Variables. data5 contains

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Parsing
Substitution - an example
PARSE VALUE Value with Periods in it. WITH pattern . type . pattern contains Value type contains Periods the periods replace the words with and in it.

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Parsing
Separators - an example
phrase = Dun & Bradstreet PARSE VAR phrase part1 & part2 part1 contains Dun part2 contains Bradstreet

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Parsing
Number: Numbers in a template to indicate the column at which data must be separated
Unsigned integer indicates an absolute column position and Signed integer indicates a relative column position

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Parsing
Absolute column position
An unsigned integer or an integer prefixed with an equal sign (=) in a template The first segment starts at column 1 and goes up to, but does not include, the information in the column number specified The subsequent segments start at the column numbers specified

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Parsing
Absolute column position - an example
quote = Dun & Bradstreet PARSE VAR quote part1 6 part2
part1 contains Dun & part2 contains Bradstreet

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Parsing
Absolute column position - another example
quote = Dun & Bradstreet PARSE VAR quote part1 5 part2 7 part3 1 part4 part1 contains Dun part2 contains & part3 contains Bradstreet part4 contains Dun & Bradstreet

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Parsing
Relative column position
A signed integer in a template separates the data according to relative column position The starting position is relative to the starting position of the preceding part. Can be either positive (+) or negative (-)

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Parsing
Relative column position - an example
quote = Dun & Bradstreet PARSE VAR quote part1 +5 part2 +5 part3 part1 contains Dun & part2 contains Brad part3 contains street

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Parsing
Variables
Define and use variables to provide further flexibility of a PARSE VAR instruction Define the variable prior to the parse instruction Enclose the variable in parenthesis - this variable must be an unsigned integer Use a sign outside the parenthesis to indicate how REXX is to interpret the unsigned integer REXX substitutes the numeric value for the variable

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Parsing
Variables - an example
quote = Dun & Bradstreet movex = 4 PARSE VAR quote part5 +6 part6 +4 part7 -(movex) part8 part5 contains Dun & part6 contains Brad part7 contains street part8 contains Bradstreet

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Expressions
Something that needs to be calculated/evaluated Consists of numbers, variables, or strings, and one or more operators Four types of operators
Arithmetic Comparison Logical and Concatenation

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Arithmetic Operators
Work on valid numeric constants or on variables that represent valid numeric constants
+ -number +number Add Subtract Negate the number Add the number to 0

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Arithmetic Operators (Cont...)

* Multiply ** Raise a number to a whole number power / Divide % Divide and return a whole number without a remainder (quotient only) // Divide and return the remainder only

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Arithmetic Operators Priority

Priority from maximum to minimum
-+ ** * / % // +Prefix operators Power (exponential) Multiplication and division Addition and subtraction

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Comparison operators
Do not return a number value Return either a true or false response in terms of 1 or 0 respectively
== = > < >= <= Strictly Equal Equal Greater than Less than Greater than or equal to Less than or equal to

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Comparison operators (Cont...)

\== \= >< \< \> Not strictly equal Not equal Greater than or less than (same as not equal) Not less than Not greater than

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Strictly Equal and Equal Operators

When two expressions are strictly equal, everything including the blanks and case (when the expressions are characters) is exactly the same When two expressions are equal, they are resolved to be the same

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Logical Operators
Return a true (1) or false (0) value when processed Combine two comparisons and return the true (1) or false (0) value depending on the results of the comparisons Used in complex conditional instructions Can act as checkpoints to screen unwanted conditions

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Logical Operators (Cont...)

The logical operators are
& AND Returns 1 if both comparisons are true | Inclusive OR Returns 1 if at least one comparison is true && Exclusive OR Returns 1 if only one comparison (but not both) is true Prefix \ Logical NOT Returns the opposite response

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Concatenation operators
Combine two terms into one Terms can be strings, variables, expressions, or constants Concatenation can be significant in formatting output

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Concatenation operators
(Cont...)

blank e.g. || e.g. abuttal e.g.

concatenate terms, one blank in between TRUE BLUE result is TRUE BLUE concatenate terms, no blanks in between a||.b result is a.b concatenate terms, no blanks in between per_cent% if per_cent = 50, result is 50%

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Overall Operator Priority

\- + ** * / % // + blank || abuttal == = >< & | && Prefix operators Power (exponential) Multiply and divide Add and subtract Concatenation operators Comparison operators Logical AND inclusive OR, exclusive OR

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Control of program flow

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Conditional instructions
Instructions which set up at least one condition in the form of an expression IF/THEN/ELSE, and

SELECT/WHEN/OTHERWISE

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IF construct
Can direct the execution of an exec to one of two choices IF expression THEN instruction ELSE instruction for more than one instruction for a condition, begin the set of instructions with a DO and end them with an END

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IF construct (Cont...)
IF expression THEN DO instruction instruction END ELSE DO instruction instruction END

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SELECT construct
can direct the execution to one of many choices. SELECT WHEN expression THEN instruction WHEN expression THEN instruction : OTHERWISE instruction(s) END

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SELECT construct
for more than one instruction for a possible path, begin the set of instructions with a DO and end them with an END However, if more than one instruction follows the OTHERWISE keyword, DO and END are not necessary

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Looping instructions
Tell the language processor to repeat a set of instructions A loop can repeat a specified number of times or Can use a condition to control repeating Two types of loops
Repetitive repeat instructions a certain number of times Conditional use a condition to control repeating

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Repetitive loops
Repeat a set of instructions a specified number of times
e.g. DO i = 1 to 5 SAY Hello ! END

The step can also be controlled e.g. DO i = 1 to 10 STEP 2 SAY Hello ! END

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Repetitive loops
DO FOREVER/END - infinite loops EXIT when a condition is reached LEAVE instruction - leaves the loop e.g. DO FOREVER IF X = 0 THEN LEAVE

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Conditional loops
DO WHILE
DO WHILE expression instruction(s) END Test the expression before the loop executes the first time and repeat only when the expression is true

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Conditional loops
DO UNTIL
DO UNTIL expression instruction(s) END Test the expression after the loop executes at least once and repeat only when the expression is false

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Interrupt instructions
Tell the language processor to leave the exec entirely or leave one part of the exec and go to another part either permanently or temporarily These are
EXIT SIGNAL CALL/RETURN

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EXIT
Causes an exec to unconditionally end Return to where the exec was invoked Can also return a value to the caller of the exec

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SIGNAL label
Interrupts the normal flow of an exec Causes control to pass to a specified label Unlike CALL, SIGNAL does not return to a specific instruction to resume execution When SIGNAL is issued from within a loop, the loop automatically ends

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SIGNAL label
When SIGNAL is issued from an internal routine, the internal routine will NOT return to its caller SIGNAL is useful for testing execs or to provide an emergency course of action Should not be used as a convenient way to move (jump) from one place in an exec to another

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CALL / RETURN
When calling an internal subroutine, CALL passes control to a label specified after the CALL keyword When the subroutine ends with the RETURN instruction, the instructions following CALL are executed

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CALL / RETURN
When calling an external subroutine, CALL passes control to the exec name that is specified after the CALL keyword When the external subroutine completes, the RETURN instruction returns to where you left off in the calling exec

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Functions and Subroutines

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Functions
Sequence of instructions that can
Receive data Process that data, and Return a value

All functions return a value to the exec that issued the function call Syntax is function(arguments) No space between the function name and the left parenthesis

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Functions - parameters
Up to 20 arguments separated by commas
Blank function( ) Constant function(55) Symbol function(symbol_name) Literal function(With a literal string) function(function(arguments)) Another function function(With a literal string, 55, option) Combination of argument types

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Functions - Types
Built-in functions built into the language processor User-written functions - Written by an individual user or supplied by an installation Internal function is part of the current exec that starts at a label External function is a self-contained program or exec outside of the calling exec

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Built-in functions

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Arithmetic functions
ABS Returns the absolute value of the input number DIGITS Returns the current setting of NUMERIC DIGITS FORM Returns the current setting of NUMERIC FORM FUZZ Returns the current setting of NUMERIC FUZZ MAX Returns the largest number from the list

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Arithmetic functions
MIN the list specified Returns the smallest number from

RANDOM Returns a quasi-random, nonnegative whole number in the range specified SIGN Returns a number that indicates the sign of the input number TRUNC Returns the integer part of the input number, and optionally a specified number of decimal places
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Comparison functions
COMPARE
Returns 0 if the two input strings are identical Returns the position of the first character that does not match

DATATYPE Returns a value indicating data type of the input string, such as a number or character
SYMBOL Returns this state of the symbol (variable, literal, or bad)

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Conversion functions
Convert one type of data representation to another type of data representation B2X Binary to hexadecimal C2D Character to Decimal C2X Character to Hexadecimal D2C Decimal to Character

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Conversion functions
D2X X2B X2C X2D Decimal to Hexadecimal Hexadecimal to binary Hexadecimal to Character Hexadecimal to Decimal

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Formatting functions
CENTER/CENTRE Returns a string of a specified length with the input string centered in it, with pad characters added as necessary to make up the length COPIES Returns the specified number of concatenated copies of the input string FORMAT Returns the input number, rounded and formatted to the number of digits specified

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Formatting functions
JUSTIFY Returns a specified string formatted by adding pad characters between words to justify to both margins LEFT Returns a string of the specified length, truncated or padded on the right as needed

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Formatting functions
RIGHT Returns a string of the specified length, truncated or padded on the left as needed SPACE Returns the words in the input string with a specified number of pad characters between each word

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String manipulating functions

ABBREV Returns a string indicating if one string is equal to the specified number of leading characters of another string DELSTR Returns a string after deleting a specified number of characters, starting at a specified point in the input string DELWORD Returns a string after deleting a specified number of words, starting at a specified word in the input string
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String manipulating functions

FIND Returns the word number of the first word of a specified phrase found within the input string INDEX Returns the character position of the first character of a specified string found in the input string INSERT Returns a character string after inserting one input string into another string after a specified character position
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String manipulating functions

LASTPOS Returns the starting character position of the last occurrence of one string in another LENGTH string Returns the length of the input

OVERLAY Returns a string that is the target string overlaid by a second input string

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String manipulating functions

POS Returns the character position of one string in another REVERSE Returns a character string, the characters of which are in reverse order (swapped end for end) STRIP Returns a character string after removing leading or trailing characters or both from the input string

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String manipulating functions

SUBSTR Returns a portion of the input string beginning at a specified character position SUBWORD Returns a portion of the input string starting at a specified word number TRANSLATE Returns a character string with each character of the input string translated to another character or unchanged

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String manipulating functions

VERIFY Returns a number indicating whether an input string is composed only of characters from another input string or returns the character position of the first unmatched character

WORD Returns a word from an input string as indicated by a specified number

WORDINDEX Returns the character position in an input string of the first character in the specified word

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String manipulating functions

WORDLENGTH Returns the length of a specified word in the input string WORDPOS Returns the word number of the first word of a specified phrase in the input string WORDS the input string Returns the number of words in

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Miscellaneous functions
ADDRES Returns the name of the environment to which commands are currently being sent ARG Returns an argument string or information about the argument strings to a program or internal routine BITAND Returns a string composed of the two input strings logically ANDed together, bit by bit

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Miscellaneous functions
BITOR Returns a string composed of the two input strings logically ORed together, bit by bit BITXOR Returns a string composed of the two input strings eXclusive ORed together, bit by bit CONDITION Returns the condition information, such as name and status, associated with the current trapped condition

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Miscellaneous functions
DATE optional formats Returns the date in one of various

ERRORTEXT Returns the error message associated with the specified error number EXTERNALS Returns the number of elements in the terminal input buffer. In TSO/E, always a 0 LINESIZE width minus 1
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Returns the current terminal line

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Miscellaneous functions
QUEUED Returns the number of lines remaining in the external data queue at the time when the function is invoked SOURCELINE Returns either the line number of the last line in the source file or the source line specified by a number TIME Returns the local time in the default 24-hour clock format (hh:mm:ss) or in one of various optional formats
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Miscellaneous functions
TRACE effect Returns the trace actions currently in

USERID Returns the TSO/E user ID, if the REXX exec is running in the TSO/E address space VALUE Returns the value of a specified symbol and optionally assigns it a new value XRANGE Returns a string of all 1-byte codes (in ascending order) between and including specified starting and ending values
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Date formats
Syntax of the date function id DATE(option)
A variety of options are available The full option, or its first alphabet, can be passed as argument A list of options follows

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Date formats
Base(or Basedate) Returns the number of complete days (that is, not including the current day) since and including the date, January 1, 0001, in the format: dddddd (no leading zeros or blanks)
The expression DATE(B)//7 returns a number in the range 0-6, where 0 is Monday and 6 is Sunday Thus, this function can be used to determine the day of the week independent of the language

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Date formats
Century Returns the number of days, including the current day, since and including January 1 of the last year that is a multiple of 100 in the format: ddddd (no leading zeros) Example: A call to DATE(C) is made on March 13, 1992, so the number of days from January 1, 1900, to March 13, 1992, (33675) is returned Days Returns the number of days, including the current day, so far in this year in the format: ddd (no leading zeros or blanks)
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Date formats
European Julian Returns date in dd/mm/yy format Returns date in yyddd format

Month Returns full English name of the current month, for example, August Normal Returns date in the format: dd mon yyyy. This is the default

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Date formats
Ordered Returns date in the format: yy/mm/dd (suitable for sorting) Standard / Sorted Returns date in the format: yyyymmdd (suitable for sorting) USA Returns date in mm/dd/yy format

Weekday Returns the English name for the day of the week, in mixed case, for example, Tuesday
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Time formats
Syntax of the Time function is TIME(option)
A variety of options are available The full option, or its first alphabet, can be passed as the argument A list of options follows

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Time formats
Civil
Returns the time in Civil format: hh:mmxx The hours take the values 1 through 12 The minutes take the values 00 through 59 The minutes are followed immediately by the letters am or pm The hour has no leading zero The minute field shows the current minute (rather than the nearest minute) for consistency with other TIME results

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Time formats
Elapsed
Returns sssssssss.uuuuuu, the number of seconds.microseconds since the elapsed-time clock was started or reset No leading zeros or blanks Setting of NUMERIC DIGITS does not affect the number The fractional part always has six digits

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Time formats
Hours
Returns up to two characters Gives the number of hours since midnight Format is hh No leading zeros or blanks, except for a result of 0

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Time formats
Long
Returns time in the format: hh:mm:ss.uuuuuu (uuuuuu is in microseconds) The first eight characters of the result follow the same rules as for the Normal form The fractional part is always six digits

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Time formats
Minutes
Returns up to four characters Gives the number of minutes since midnight Format is mmmm No leading zeros or blanks, except for a result of 0

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Time formats
Normal
This is the default Returns the time in the format hh:mm:ss Hours take the values 00 through 23 Minutes and seconds take 00 through 59 All these are always two digits Any fractions of seconds are ignored (times are never rounded up)

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Time formats
Reset
Returns sssssssss.uuuuuu, the number of seconds.microseconds since the elapsed-time clock was started or reset Also resets the elapsed-time clock to zero The number has no leading zeros or blanks Setting of NUMERIC DIGITS does not affect the number The fractional part always has six digits

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Time formats
Seconds
Returns up to five characters Gives the number of seconds since midnight Format is sssss No leading zeros or blanks, except for a result of 0

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Subroutines

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Subroutines
Series of instructions that an exec invokes Performs a specific task The subroutine is invoked by the CALL instruction When the subroutine ends, it returns control to the instruction that directly follows the subroutine call The instruction that returns control is the RETURN instruction

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Subroutines
Subroutines may be
Internal and designated by a label, or external and designated by the member name that contains the subroutine

IMPORTANT NOTE
Internal subroutines generally appear after the main part of the exec. So, when there is an internal subroutine, it is important to end the main part of the exec with the EXIT instruction

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Using subroutines
Sharing information can be done by
Passing variables

Passing arguments

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Passing Variables
Main exec and subroutine share the same variables by name Value of the variable is the same irrespective of where it has been set

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An example
number1 = 5 number2 = 10 CALL sub1 SAY answer (Displays 15) EXIT sub1: answer = number1 + number2 RETURN

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Shielding Variables
Done by using PROCEDURE instruction immediately after the subroutine label All variables used in the subroutine become local to the subroutine Shielded from the main part of the exec

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An example
number1 = 10 CALL sub2 SAY number1 number2 (displays 10 NUMBER2) EXIT sub2: PROCEDURE number1 = 7 number2 = 5 RETURN

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Exposing Variables
To protect specific variables
use the EXPOSE option with the PROCEDURE instruction followed by the variables that are to remain exposed to the subroutine

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An example
number1 = 10 CALL sub3 SAY number1 number2 (displays 7 NUMBER2) EXIT

sub3: PROCEDURE EXPOSE number1 number1 = 7 number2 = 5 RETURN

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Passing Arguments
Passed in main EXEC by
CALL subroutine_name argument1, argument2, argument3, etc. Up to 20 arguments can be passed

Received in subroutine by
ARG arg1, arg2, arg3, etc. The names of the arguments on the CALL and the ARG instructions need not be the same information is passed by position, and not by name

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An example
length = 10 width = 7 CALL sub4 length, width SAY The perimeter is RESULT Meters EXIT sub4: ARG len, wid perim = 2 * ( len + wid) RETURN perim

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Compound variables
Compound variable is a single-dimensional array, denoted by <variable name>. The variable name itself can be more than one level The rules that apply to a variable name also apply to a compound variable Very useful in array manipulation, input/output etc.

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Using REXX

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Conventions
Datasets are named as <high level qualifier>.REXX.EXEC The last level .EXEC is optional Each member must have the first line as /* REXX */ This makes the command processor (TSO) invoke the REXX interpreter

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Concatenations
Datasets containing REXX EXECs must be concatenated to SYSEXEC or SYSPROC Concatenation to SYSEXEC makes execution faster, as it is above SYSPROC in the search order

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MODEL command
Useful for giving an on-line model for ISPF function calls
Edit a member in a REXX dataset, and issue the MODEL command A list of all ISPF services is displayed Choose the desired service A copy of the syntax is embedded Change it as required

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Execution
How and where can REXX execs be executed
From TSO READY prompt (if no ISPF services are used) From inside ISPF From inside another exec

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Debugging REXX Execs

TRACE C
any command that follows is traced before it is executed then it is executed, and the return code from the command is displayed

TRACE E
any host command that results in a non-zero return code is traced after it executes the return code from the command is displayed

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Debugging REXX Execs

Trace ?I (Intermediates)
Stops execution after each instruction

Trace ?R (Results)
Displays the result of execution of each step, but runs continuously

These help to trace the progress of the EXEC EXECUTIL TS (Trace start) and TE (trace end) can also be used to start and end the tracing of a REXX

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Debugging REXX Execs

RC Return code of the last instruction executed SIGL Set to the line number from where the transfer occurred These variables can also be used to trace the exec

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TSO/E External functions

All TSO commands can be issued Enclose them within quotation marks
e.g. "LISTDS my.dataset STATUS"

Variables can also be passed

e.g. "LISTDS" name "STATUS" here, name is a variable used in the REXX

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ISPF functions

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Panels
Display panels, accept data and pass on data for processing Syntax is
ADDRESS ISPEXEC Display panel(XXXXXX)

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Tables
All table services like TBCREATE, TBADD, TBUPDATE, TBDELETE etc. Syntax is
ADDRESS ISPEXEC TBADD tbl-name .... TBDELETE tbl-name... etc.

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Skeletons
ISPF Skeleton services like generating JCLs from skeletons Syntax is
ADDRESS ISPEXEC ftopen ftincl skelname ftclose temp ADDRESS TSO submit ztempf

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LM Functions
Dataset list Member list
Copy members Delete members manipulate statistics of members

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Data stack
Place for storing variables temporarily Manipulated using PUSH and QUEUE No limits on the length and format of the data items Theoretically no limit on the number of items to be stacked - limited only by practical considerations

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Data stack
PUSH works LIFO (Last-In-First-Out)
puts items to the top of the stack

QUEUE

works FIFO (First-In-First-Out)

puts items on the bottom of the stack

In both cases, elements are removed by PULL QUEUED() gives the number of items put on a stack in a single EXEC

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Input/Output processing
Operations with datasets All datasets with a defined record format are allowed (except RECFM=U)

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DISKR
EXECIO DISKR for reading the dataset/member
EXECIO 0 DISKR mydd (OPEN - just opens the dataset EXECIO 25 ...- reads 25 lines EXECIO * ... - reads all the lines EXECIO * DISKR myindd 100 (FINIS - reads all lines from line 100
In all the above cases, the lines are read on to the STACK

EXECIO * DISKR myindd (STEM newvar. - reads into a stem of variables called newvar

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DISKW
Options for DISKR also hold for DISKW Writes to dataset/member Can be written from stem/stack Numerous other options available for positioning, skipping, LIFO/FIFO etc.

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An example
Use REXX to
List all datasets following a particular pattern For each dataset, list all the members starting with a particular pattern

This can be done by

Using LMDLIST to get the dataset list Then using LMMLIST on each dataset to get the member list Match patterns, and display appropriate members

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References
TSO/E Version 2 REXX/MVS Users Guide TSO/E Version 2 REXX/MVS Reference Both these books are available on our file server (IBM Book Manager for Windows) Programming in REXX by Charles Daney, J.Ranade IBM series

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Thank You!

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