REXX can make your daily mainframe life even better. It helps you in automating the daily manual stuff you do which consumes most of your productivity. Small tools developed with REXX will be really helpful on a day to day basis.
I am planning to post the tools that I have seen/copied/written/been using. Some of them, you might already be using it. This is the first of the tools.
O – Open any mainframe element from any screen
When you are new to a company (or already part of one for some time), it will take time for you to open an element by going to 3.4 and typing in the PDS name and then opening it and then locating the member you need and then viewing it. All these steps can be performed by one single command, and the member can be in any of the PDS (COBOL, JCL, CONTROL CARD, PROC, COPYBOOK,…) that you have provide in the tool.
Please find attached the Tool. Please make changes to the PDS names at the top. You can add as many as you like. When you add more than 6, please remember to change the number from 6 in the below line.
DO I = 1 TO 6
You need to copy the TOOL to a PDS where your company usually stores the REXX execs. This PDS will be part of your DD SYSEXEC or SYSPROC (when you type TSO ISRDDN). Please ensure you do not already have an element O in it.
Once you have copied, please use the tool by typing as below in any of the screen.
TSO O ELEMENT-NAME
Please share if this REXX TOOLS series is useful to you.
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Hi , I am new to rexx. I have placed the Rexx code in the sysproc and I could invoke the Rexx . but how to use it . please help. Thanks
Hi Yuvraj,
Please see the blog which helps you in the Initial setup of REXX
https://mainframesf1.com/2016/02/11/rexx-initial-setup/
Once you have the REXX member available in a PDS which is allocated to SYSEXEC or SYSPROC, you can invoke it by using below command
TSO O MEMBER
Where MEMBER is the member name that you want to open. Ensure that you have all your PDS available in the REXX EXEC “O” and the member name that you entered is part of one of those PDS.
Hi Rejeshar. What will happen if same member name element is present in multiple libraries? Will it work?
The first PDS that the member is found will be opened.
HI Rajesh if it present in both the libraries can we see it in both ??
No Vivek. Based on current code, it opens the first PDS it encounters the member in.
I have a similar situation for PROD and TEST PDS. So I have created a new utility with name as OT. So when i want to open PROD element, I use O, which has all PROD libraries. When I want to open TEST member, I use OT.
Same works for different type of elements. If you have same name for copybook and program. O opens the first PDS that it encounters. So you can create OC with copybook libraries. So when you want to open copybook, you can use it.
Let me know If my answer did not resolve your question 🙂