Are you creating commands to improve your productivity?

Written by Bruce Vining

This article is the first of several related to creating your own user CL commands. We will start with a simple command definition and then enhance the command with various features in order to demonstrate how to incorporate these extensions within your own commands. But first we need a command scenario.

If you're still using IF/ELSE a lot, you need to get up to speed on IBM CL programming enhancements. Embrace SELECT, WHEN, and OTHERWISE.

Written by Bruce Vining

Are you still coding with the CL IF and ELSE commands? I continue to do so in some cases, but I find that with the introduction of several new CL commands in V5R3, my use of IF/ELSE is way down. The commands that I am referring to are SELECT, WHEN, OTHERWISE, and ENDSELECT. This article will bring you up to date on these "new" programming constructs.

Pointer variables, based variables, overlaid variables—do you know all the variable types and the right ways to use them?

Written by Ted Holt

Editor's Note: This article is an excerpt from the MC Press book Complete CL.

Variables are program data that are allowed to change values. They have names and are stored in memory for the duration of the program. Variables are of different types: character, decimal, signed integer, unsigned integer, logical, and pointer.

Are you up on IBM file-related enhancements?

Written by Bruce Vining

In the course of recent user group presentations and discussions, I have been surprised by the number of CL developers who are unaware of IBM-provided CL file-related enhancements that have become available in the past few releases. In hindsight, it is possible that you may not have the time to review all new commands, new parameters on existing commands, and relaxed limitations for existing commands. The focus of this article will be getting you up to date on file-related CL enhancements that IBM made in V5R3, V5R4, and V6R1.

Are you taking advantage of printer files and subfiles in your CL programs?

Written by Bruce Vining

In the two previous columns, "A Much More Flexible SNDESCAPE Program" and "Controlling the CL Testing Environment," we saw how to use PowerCL: CL for Files commands to write and update records in a database file, respectively. In today's column, we'll look at how to work with printer files and subfiles, from a CL program, by implementing the command Display Test Cases (DSPTSTCASE).

Prompt override programs and database update from a CL program.

Written by Bruce Vining

In our last column, "A Much More Flexible SNDESCAPE Program," we introduced the Add Test Case (ADDTSTCASE) command and significantly improved on the flexibility of the SNDESCAPE program. Today, we will implement the command Change Test Case (CHGTSTCASE).

Bruce Vining's new PowerCL: CLF product allows IBM i professionals to work directly with database, display, and printer files from CL programs.

Written by Chris Smith

As everyone knows, CL is the control language for the System i and is known by every developer and operator of the platform. IBM has provided a very complete set of commands within CL to work with the many different types of objects on the system. What the company has not provided, and what users and developers have been requesting for many years, is a set of commands that fully support working with database, printer, and display files. All that has now changed.

Use database files with CL programs.

Written by Bruce Vining

In our last column, "Determining What Program Is Being Tested," we left the SNDESCAPE program with the limitation of having to be modified and recompiled when changes such as the command to test, the escape message to send, or the person conducting the test changed. Today, we will look at how to easily change any of these characteristics and do so in a way that does not require any change to the SNDESCAPE program.