Course objectives

Indicative content

At the completion of this course, students will know and understand how to use the REXX programming language in a TSO/E environment.

All students will be able to:

·          Explain the general syntax and structure of the language

·          Decide which diagnostic aids to use and when

·          Parse data in a variety of ways

·          Demonstrate the use of control instructions to make decisions and alter the program logic flow

·          Program iterative and repetitious operations, i.e. loops

·          Use REXX built-in functions appropriately

·          Use TSO/E commands to extend the capabilities of REXX

·          Describe the process and benefits of Data Stacks

·          Generate sub-routines, and communicate with them.

1 - REXX environment

     The platforms which support REXX, the

     general syntax of the language, variables,

     operators.

2 - Diagnostics  The SAY instruction, immediate commands, and the CALL, SIGNAL, TRACE, and EXECUTIL instruction.

3 - Parsing data  Default parsing, numeric parsing, and literal parsing, handling excess data and placeholders.

4 - Control instruction  IF / THEN / ELSE, SELECT - WHEN - OTHERWISE, and the DO instructions.

5 - Sub-routines.  Internal and external, and the CALL, RETURN, EXIT, PROCEDURE, and EXPOSE instructions.

6 - Built-in functions  Miscellaneous, string manipulation, arithmetic, comparison, conversion, and formatting.

7 - Data stack management   The use of stacks, creating stacks, and maintaining them.

8 - TSO/E commands and functions  Allocating data sets, EXECIO, OUTTRAP, and other useful commands.