Services

The services supported for compatibility are:

The dump index service — used to print a table of contents for each of the significant parts of the dump.
The format service — used to convert data to printable hexadecimal (if necessary) and format data in the output buffer.
The old storage access service — used to obtain data from a dump data set.
The print service — used to print an output line.
The summary dump data access service — used to access the summary dump data contained in an SVC dump.

IPCS currently provides equivalent services that these services provided. If you are developing a new exit routine, or reworking an old exit routine, and you need any of these services, use the IPCS service referenced at the beginning of each of the service descriptions below.

This entire group of services is no longer recommended for two reasons:

Each member of the group expects non-standard input and generates non-standard output — interfaces of a type that research has shown to be error-prone when compared to services that are passed a formal parameter list.
Previously defined IPCS traps that assist in verifying the correct run of exits under development are not available for these services.

Note: Although you can invoke the storage access and print services directly using addresses in the BLSABDPL and standard linkage, it is recommended that you invoke them through the exit services router. The following sections explain how to invoke most of these routines directly.

You can only access the format service directly using the ADPLFRMT field in the BLSABDPL. This routine causes the output buffer to be formatted.

See the following topics for more information:

Table 1 for the recommended services
Format Service