Use CICS_ExternalCall for making program link calls, status information calls, and reply solicitation calls.
Use the ECI parameter block (ECI_PARMS for C and ECI-PARMS for COBOL) for passing parameters to the ECI. The eci_call_type parameter in the ECI parameter block indicates the type of CICS_ExternalCall. The following example shows the format of the request and associated declarations:
ECI_PARMS EciBlock;
cics_sshort_t Response;
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Response = CICS_ExternalCall(&EciBlock);
CALL CICSEXTERNALCALL
USING BY REFERENCE ECI-PARMS
RETURNING ECI_ERROR_ID.