Did you know you could enhance the IBM "Work with" commands?

Over the years, many users have asked for the ability to enhance IBM-provided displays. With V6R1, this is now possible with the commands Work with Output Queue (WRKOUTQ), Work with Spooled Files (WRKSPLF), Work with Job Spool Files (WRKJOB OPTION(*SPLF), and even the Status Print (D P) of the System/36 environment. While IBM continues to reserve numeric options such as 1 for send, 2 for change, 3 for hold, and so on, users can now define their own alphabetic options such as A for archive, E for email, F for fax, and so on. In this article, we will see how to add a new option, P (Print Next or Prioritize), to move a spooled report to the top of an output queue.

The enabler for this new support is the UIM Spooled File User-defined List Action Exit Point, QIBM_QSP_SPLF_LSTACT, which is documented here. This exit point allows you to define a user program that should be called when a specific alphabetic option is entered on the "Work with" panel associated with the above IBM commands. For instance, to have the system call the user program VINING/PRIORITY whenever option P is entered, you would use the following Add Exit Program (ADDEXITPGM) command:

ADDEXITPGM EXITPNT(QIBM_QSP_SPLF_LSTACT) FORMAT(LASP0100) PGMNBR(*LOW)

   PGM(VINING/PRIORITY) PGMDTA(*JOB 1 P)

If you are not familiar with the ADDEXITPGM command, you can find additional information about the parameters being used here. The key point is that the third element of the PGMDTA parameter specifies the option being enabled--in this case, P for priority printing.

When the user enters option P, the system will call the program PRIORITY in library VINING, passing these five parameters:

Required Parameter Group:

The first parameter is the name of the exit point calling the PRIORITY program (QIBM_QSP_SPLF_LSTACT), the second parameter is the format of the information being passed (LASP0100 as that is the format we registered for with the ADDEXITPGM command), the third parameter is the option entered by the user (P), the fourth parameter is the information needed to uniquely identify the spool file the user selected, and the fifth parameter is the length of the spool file identification information.

The following program, PRIORITY, implements the option P processing:

    Pgm        Parm(&Exit_Name &Format &Action &Spool_ID + 

                 &Spl_ID_Len)                              

    Dcl        Var(&Exit_Name)  Type(*Char) Len(20)        

    Dcl        Var(&Format)     Type(*Char) Len(8)         

    Dcl        Var(&Action)     Type(*Char) Len(1)         

    Dcl        Var(&Spool_ID)   Type(*Char) Len(82)        

      Dcl      Var(&Job_Name)   Type(*Char) Len(10) +      

                 Stg(*Defined) DefVar(&Spool_ID 1)         

      Dcl      Var(&User_Name)  Type(*Char) Len(10) +      

                 Stg(*Defined) DefVar(&Spool_ID 11)        

      Dcl      Var(&Job_Number) Type(*Char) Len(6) +       

                 Stg(*Defined) DefVar(&Spool_ID 21)        

      Dcl      Var(&Splf_Name)  Type(*Char) Len(10) +      

                 Stg(*Defined) DefVar(&Spool_ID 27)        

      Dcl      Var(&Splf_Nbr)   Type(*Int) +               

                 Stg(*Defined) DefVar(&Spool_ID 37)      

      Dcl      Var(&Sys_Name)   Type(*Char) Len(8) +     

                 Stg(*Defined) DefVar(&Spool_ID 41)      

      Dcl      Var(&Crt_Date)   Type(*Char) Len(7) +     

                 Stg(*Defined) DefVar(&Spool_ID 49)      

      Dcl      Var(&Crt_Time)   Type(*Char) Len(6) +     

                 Stg(*Defined) DefVar(&Spool_ID 56)      

      Dcl      Var(&OutQ_Name)  Type(*Char) Len(10) +    

                 Stg(*Defined) DefVar(&Spool_ID 62)      

      Dcl      Var(&OutQ_Lib)   Type(*Char) Len(10) +    

                 Stg(*Defined) DefVar(&Spool_ID 72)      

    Dcl        Var(&Spl_ID_Len) Type(*Int)               

    Dcl        Var(&MSPF0100)   Type(*Char) Len(114)      

      Dcl      Var(&Src_JName)  Type(*Char) Len(10) +     

                 Stg(*Defined) DefVar(&MSPF0100 1)        

      Dcl      Var(&Src_JUsr)   Type(*Char) Len(10) +     

                 Stg(*Defined) DefVar(&MSPF0100 11)       

      Dcl      Var(&Src_JNbr)   Type(*Char) Len(6) +      

                 Stg(*Defined) DefVar(&MSPF0100 21)       

      Dcl      Var(&Src_IntJID) Type(*Char) Len(16) +     

                 Stg(*Defined) DefVar(&MSPF0100 27)       

      Dcl      Var(&Src_SplID)  Type(*Char) Len(16) +     

                 Stg(*Defined) DefVar(&MSPF0100 43)       

      Dcl      Var(&Src_SplF)   Type(*Char) Len(10) +     

                 Stg(*Defined) DefVar(&MSPF0100 59)       

      Dcl      Var(&Src_SplNbr) Type(*Int) +               

                 Stg(*Defined) DefVar(&MSPF0100 69)       

      Dcl      Var(&Tgt_OutQ)   Type(*Char) Len(10) +     

                 Stg(*Defined) DefVar(&MSPF0100 73)         

      Dcl      Var(&Tgt_OutQL)  Type(*Char) Len(10) +       

                 Stg(*Defined) DefVar(&MSPF0100 83)         

      Dcl      Var(&Src_SysNam) Type(*Char) Len(8) +        

                 Stg(*Defined) DefVar(&MSPF0100 93)         

      Dcl      Var(&Src_CrtDat) Type(*Char) Len(7) +        

                 Stg(*Defined) DefVar(&MSPF0100 101)        

      Dcl      Var(&Src_CrtTim) Type(*Char) Len(6) +        

                 Stg(*Defined) DefVar(&MSPF0100 109)

    Dcl        Var(&MsgTxt)     Type(*Char) Len(80)      

    Dcl        Var(&Msg_Key)    Type(*Char) Len(4)       

    Dcl        Var(&QUSEC_BPrv) Type(*Int)  Value(0)     

    Dcl        Var(&L_MSPF0100) Type(*Int)               

    If Cond(&Exit_Name = 'QIBM_QSP_SPLF_LSTACT') Then(Do)   

       If Cond(&Format = 'LASP0100') Then(Do)               

          If Cond(&Action = 'P') Then(Do)                   

             ChgVar Var(&Src_JName)  Value(&Job_Name)       

             ChgVar Var(&Src_JUsr)   Value(&User_Name)      

             ChgVar Var(&Src_JNbr)   Value(&Job_Number)     

             ChgVar Var(&Src_IntJID) Value(' ')             

             ChgVar Var(&Src_SplID)  Value(' ')              

             ChgVar Var(&Src_SplF)   Value(&Splf_Name)       

             ChgVar Var(&Src_SplNbr) Value(&Splf_Nbr)        

             ChgVar Var(&Tgt_OutQ)   Value('*SAME')          

             ChgVar Var(&Tgt_OutQL)  Value(' ')              

             ChgVar Var(&Src_SysNam) Value(&Sys_Name)        

             ChgVar Var(&Src_CrtDat) Value(&Crt_Date)         

             ChgVar Var(&Src_CrtTim) Value(&Crt_Time)        

             RtvVarSiz Var(&MSPF0100) Size(&L_MSPF0100)      

             Call Pgm(QSPMOVSP) Parm(&MSPF0100 &L_MSPF0100 + 

                      'MSPF0100' &QUSEC_BPrv)                

             Chgvar Var(&MsgTxt) Value( +                    

                'Spool file' *BCat &Splf_Name *BCat +        

                'moved to top of output queue')              

Bruce Vining is president and co-founder of Bruce Vining Services, LLC, a firm providing contract programming and consulting services to the System i community. He began his career in 1979 as an IBM Systems Engineer in St. Louis, Missouri, and then transferred to Rochester, Minnesota, in 1985, where he continues to reside. From 1992 until leaving IBM in 2007, Bruce was a member of the System Design Control Group responsible for OS/400 and i5/OS areas such as System APIs, Globalization, and Software Serviceability. He is also the designer of Control Language for Files (CLF).A frequent speaker and writer, Bruce can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. 

---

MC Press books written by Bruce Vining available now on the MC Press Bookstore.

		IBM System i APIs at Work Leverage the power of APIs with this definitive resource. List Price $89.95 Now On Sale