CALL command operands
- dsname
- specifies the name of a PDS or a PDSE from which the program is to be executed. If dsname is not fully qualified, it is assumed to be 'prefix.dsname.LOAD'.
- *
- specifies that CALL should use the standard load module search sequence for the member name.
- (member_name)
- specifies the program name to be executed. When you specify only a member_name, the fully—qualified dsname and member_name, it is assumed to be 'prefix.LOAD(member_name)'. If member_name, is not specified, the member 'TEMPNAME' is assumed.
- Note: CALL command processing allocates the data set you specify and then accesses the member:
- When allocating the data set, it is possible that the cataloged version of the data set will not be used, but rather a different copy that has already been allocated in your TSO/E session. For information about how MVS™ dynamic allocation may convert an existing allocation, see z/OS MVS Programming: Authorized Assembler Services Guide.
- When giving control to the program, the data set you specify on the CALL command is established as a task library. The tasklib is effective for the execution of the CALL command.
- parameter_string
- specifies up to 100 characters of information that you want to
pass to the program as a parameter string. The character string can
contain DBCS characters that you delimit with shift-out (X'0E')
and shift-in (X'0F') characters.
The program to be executed receives parameters according to the standard linkage conventions. These are the same conventions that will apply if the program was executed by batch job control language (JCL) and a parameter string was passed by the EXEC statement with the PARM keyword.
Some utilities accept multiple entry parameter lists; for example, to pass a list of alternate ddnames, TSO/E commands require a special multiple entry parameter list known as a command processor parameter list (CPPL). Neither of these options are supported by the CALL command, whose primary purpose is to support the execution of programs written for a batch processing environment rather than a TSO/E environment.
- ASIS | CAPS
- ASIS
- prevents translation of a parameter list to uppercase characters. Use ASIS for programs that accept mixed case characters in a parameter list; the CALL command will not alter the parameters in any way when the ASIS option is specified.
- CAPS
- translates the parameter list to uppercase characters. CAPS is the default.
- PASSENVB | NOENVB
- PASSENVB
- passes the currently active REXX environment block (ENVBLOCK) address to
the invoked program in register 0. The currently active REXX ENVBLOCK
is obtained from the environment to which the CALL command is directed.
See Example 6 and Example 7 for
uses of PASSENVB in REXX execs.
This operand is:
- recognized for unauthorized programs and non-isolated environments
- ignored for authorized programs and isolated environments.
For a description of isolated environments, see z/OS TSO/E Programming Services. For further information about the REXX environment block see z/OS TSO/E REXX Reference.
- NOENVB
- does not pass a REXX environment block (ENVBLOCK) address. The contents of register 0 on entry to the invoked program are unpredictable. NOENVB is the default.