CICS syntax notation

Throughout this book, the syntax for each command is presented in the form of a diagram. The diagram tells you what you can put between the EXEC CICS® that begins a command and the terminator that ends it. It summarizes what you can do with the particular command, and indicates relationships between different options and, sometimes, different values of an option.

Note:
The diagrams and some of the examples omit the initial EXEC CICS and the language-dependent terminator, even though you must use them in your code. The diagrams also omit options that you can use in any command:

These have the same meaning in SPI commands as in API commands. (See the CICS Application Programming Guide for basic information about these options, and Exception conditions for additional SPI details.)

You read the diagram by following the arrows from left to right, using these conventions:

Symbol Action
Read syntax diagramSkip visual syntax diagram>>-+-A-+-------------------------------------------------------><
   +-B-+
   '-C-'
 
A set of alternatives--one of which you must code.
Read syntax diagramSkip visual syntax diagram   .-------.
   V       |
>>---+-A-+-+---------------------------------------------------><
     +-B-+
     '-C-'
 
A set of alternatives--one of which you must code. You may code more than one of them, in any sequence.
Read syntax diagramSkip visual syntax diagram>>-+---+-------------------------------------------------------><
   +-A-+
   +-B-+
   '-C-'
 
A set of alternatives--one of which you may code.
Read syntax diagramSkip visual syntax diagram   .-------.
   V       |
>>---+---+-+---------------------------------------------------><
     +-A-+
     +-B-+
     '-C-'
 
A set of alternatives -- any number (including none) of which you may code once, in any sequence.
Read syntax diagramSkip visual syntax diagram   .-A-.
>>-+---+-------------------------------------------------------><
   '-B-'
 
Alternatives where A is the default.
Read syntax diagramSkip visual syntax diagram>>-| Name |----------------------------------------------------><
 
Name:
 
|--A-+---+------------------------------------------------------|
     '-B-'
 
Use with the named section in place of its name.
Punctuation and uppercase characters Code exactly as shown.
Lowercase characters Code your own text, as appropriate (for example, name).

Below is an example. It indicates that INQUIRE STORAGE requires you to specify either the ADDRESS option or the NUMELEMENTS option (but not both). If, and only if, you choose ADDRESS, you can specify ELEMENT, FLENGTH, both, or neither. If you choose NUMELEMENTS, you can specify DSANAME, ELEMENTLIST, LENGTHLIST, or TASK in any combination (including none).

Read syntax diagramSkip visual syntax diagramINQUIRE STORAGE
 
>>-INQUIRE STORAGE---------------------------------------------->
 
>--+-ADDRESS(ptr-value)--+-------------+--+-------------+-+----><
   |                     '-| Element |-'  '-| Flength |-' |
   '-| nlist |--| elist |--| llist |--| task |------------'
 
Element:
 
|--ELEMENT(ptr-ref)---------------------------------------------|
 
Flength:
 
|--FLENGTH(data-area)-------------------------------------------|
 
nlist:
 
|--NUMELEMENTS(data-area)---------------------------------------|
 
elist:
 
|--+----------------------+-------------------------------------|
   '-ELEMENTLIST(ptr-ref)-'
 
llist:
 
|--+---------------------+--------------------------------------|
   '-LENGTHLIST(ptr-ref)-'
 
task:
 
|--+------------------+-----------------------------------------|
   '-TASK(data-value)-'
 

Conditions: NOTAUTH, TASKIDERR

A list of the exception conditions that can occur on the command appears at the bottom of the diagram. In this case, the possibilities are the NOTAUTH and TASKIDERR conditions.

Summary of format rules

Here is a summary of the format rules for coding CICS commands:

[[ Contents Previous Page | Next Page Index ]]