Processing

The system tests for the presence of the input record exit by examining field RTDAIREX in the routing data area. If this field is zeros or blanks, the Network Print Facility assumes no input record exit is to be used. If this field is something else, it uses this name in a conditional LOAD to the input record exit and saves its address. This address is used to access the exit on all calls.

The input record exit is invoked for 4 conditions. The specific condition can be determined by checking the field RTDAFUNC in the routing data area. The four conditions explained below are: open, put, close, and term/release.

OPEN

The system is preparing to process a print file. It is about to allocate and open the QSAM file to contain the data to be passed. The input record exit should prepare itself as follows:

Obtain program storage, if necessary. For the JES capture point, this should be necessary only on the first OPEN issued by a (JES) logical printer. For the VTAM® capture point, this is necessary for each print file. The address of this storage is stored in the area pointed to by IRESTRG and is returned for any processing related to this logical printer/file.
Get addressability to the routing data area. The address of the RDA is in field IRERTD in the parameter area. Use the DSECT RTDATA, generated using the EZAPPFCD RDA=DSECT macro.
Examine the field RTDARTYP. If it is not acceptable, it can be changed to one of the following record fowmats:
Value

Meaning

FB

File will be allocated as fixed blocked records.

FBA

File will be allocated as fixed blocked records with ASA carriage control.

FBM

File will be allocated as fixed blocked records with machine carriage control.

VB

File will be allocated as variable blocked records.

VBA

File will be allocated as variable blocked records with ASA carriage control.

VBM

File will be allocated as variable blocked records with machine carriage control.
Examine the field RTDARECL. This field specifies the logical record length to be used for the QSAM file. If the file format is VB, VBA or VBM, this specifies the maximum record length. If the file format is FB, FBA or FBM, it specifies the actual record length. If the value is not acceptable, it can be changed but with the following considerations:
- If the record format is FB, FBA or FBM, and this length is greater than the length of records passed from the capture point, the records are padded to the right with blanks. This might cause unpredictable results including the insertion of additional blank lines on the printed output. The exit must avoid this condition by reformatting the data as it is processed.
- If the record format is FB, FBA or FBM, and this length is less than the length of records passed from the capture point, the records are split, resulting in multiple printed lines for each line received from the capture point. The exit must avoid this condition by reformatting the data as it is processed.
- If the record format is VB, VBA or VBM, this length is the maximum record length and includes the 4-byte LLbb field preceding each record.
Examine the field RTDABLKS. This field specifies the blocksize to be used in the QSAM file. If the value is not acceptable it can be changed, with the following considerations:
- If the record format is FB, FBA or FBM, it must be an even multiple of the value in RTDARECL.
- If the record format is VB, VBA or VBM, it must be a minimum of the value in RTDARECL plus 4.
Examine the field RTDABUFS. This field specifies the buffer size to be passed to the exit for PUT processing. If this buffer size is not acceptable, it can be changed. It must have a minimum value of the value in RTDARECL plus 2.

PUT

Network Print Facility is about to place a record of print data on the file for processing. The data is located in a buffer and the address and length of the data is passed to the input record exit via the parameter list. The input record exit performs three functions:

It modifies the data. For this purpose, there are two bytes of buffer space in front of the data, which is used by the exit to expand the record to the left. The amount of buffer space to the right is equal to the buffer size minus the record length minus 2. If the exit moves the record within the buffer or moves it to another buffer, it must replace the address and length of the data in the parameter list fields.
The input record exit specifies the disposition of the data by using the IREWFLG as follows:
Value

Meaning

X'00'

Write the data to the file.

X'01'

Do not write the data to the file.
The input record exit controls the logic of the capture point using the field IRERFLG as follows:
Value

Meaning

X'00'

Do not re-invoke the input record exit until the next data record has been obtained or the file is to be closed.

X'01'

Re-invoke the input record exit without a new input buffer before returning to the capture point. This permits the input record exit to insert additional data.

X'02'

This option is available for JES only. It tells the capture point to restart processing at the beginning of the spool file.

CLOSE

Processing for CLOSE is similar to processing for PUT. The following exceptions must be observed:

The data address and length fields will have no meaning at invocation. If the exit wants to write an additional data record to the file, it must place the address and length of the data in these fields.
Unless the input record exit provides data to be written to the file, IREWFLG must be set to X'01'.
A value of X'00' in IRERFLG is interpreted as 'continue with CLOSE processing. Thus, if the exit specifies this value, it will be the last time the exit is invoked related to this file.
A value of X'02' in IRERFLG is currently not supported for CLOSE.

TERM/RELEASE

The exit is invoked at this time to allow it to free any resources such as storage that it might have obtained.