Using TSO/E REXX for z/OS UNIX processing

A REXX program is recognized by the word REXX (not case-sensitive) as the first word on the first line and within a REXX comment. For example, the following is a simple REXX program:

   /* rexx */
   say 'hello world'

Restriction: Blank spaces cannot precede the opening REXX comment symbol (/*).

The set of z/OS UNIX extensions to the TSO/E Restructured Extended Executor (REXX) language enable REXX programs to access z/OS UNIX callable services. The z/OS UNIX extensions, called syscall commands, have names that correspond to the names of the callable services they invoke—for example, access, chmod, and chown.

You can run an interpreted or compiled REXX program with syscall commands from TSO/E, from MVS™ batch, from the z/OS shells, or from a program. You can run a REXX program with syscall commands only on a system with z/OS UNIX System Services installed. For a complete description of each of the syscall commands, see The syscall commands.

The set of z/OS UNIX REXX functions also extend the REXX language on z/OS® in the z/OS UNIX environment. There are functions that provide:

Standard REXX I/O
Access to some common file services and environment variables

All of the z/OS UNIX functions, except bpxwunix() and syscalls(), must be run in a z/OS UNIX environment. For a complete description of each of the functions, see z/OS UNIX REXX functions.

For dynamic allocation and dynamic output, BPXWDYN is a text interface to a subset of the SVC 99 and SVC 109 services that is designed to be called from REXX. For a complete description of BPXWDYN, see BPXWDYN: a text interface to dynamic allocation and dynamic output.