About the CICS API commands

General information which applies to all the CICS® API commands.

CICS API command format
The general format of a CICS command is EXECUTE CICS (or EXEC CICS) followed by the name of the required command, and possibly by one or more options.
CICS command syntax notation
In CICS documentation, CICS commands are presented in a standard way. You interpret the syntax by following the arrows from left to right.
CICS command argument values
The data associated with a command option is called its argument. Each type of argument can contain different data types; some arguments return information from CICS to the program and others are set by the program.
CICS command restrictions
Some general restrictions apply to all CICS commands that access user data.
LENGTH options in CICS commands
In COBOL, PL/I, and Assembler language, the translator defaults certain lengths, if the NOLENGTH translator option is not specified. This means they are optional in programs that specify data areas. In C, all LENGTH options must be specified.
NOHANDLE option
Use the NOHANDLE option with any command to specify that you want no action to be taken for any condition or AID resulting from the execution of that command.
RESP and RESP2 options
You can use the RESP option with any command to test whether a condition was raised during its execution. With some commands, when a condition can be raised for more than one reason, if you have already specified RESP, you can use the RESP2 option to determine exactly why a condition occurred.
Translated code for CICS commands
Application programs can be written in COBOL, C, PL/I, or assembler language, and contain CICS commands. CICS translates these programs and creates an equivalent source program where each command is now translated into a call macro or statement in the language of the original source program.
CICS-value data areas (cvdas)
There are options on a number of commands that describe or define a resource. CICS supplies, in CICS-value data areas, the values associated with these options. The options are shown in the syntax of the commands with the term cvda in parentheses.
CICS threadsafe commands in the API
If your application program is defined as threadsafe, it can receive control on an open transaction environment (OTE) TCB.
Threadsafe commands
The commands that are threadsafe, or threadsafe in certain conditions, are listed.

Last updated: Monday, 02 November 2020 23:01