Batch COBOL

Hi AngelaC - I haven't tried to do this, but I"d think you' could do this by using two steps, just like you would in Portal. First, update the parameters via an AGS "change" call against the parameter form, then submitting the modified job.

I hope this helps.

Kelly

I am not real sure I totally understand your question, but I have used a Cobol program, outside of IPA, to update and then submit another form, i.e. AR130.  I have also used IPA to modify the parameters of AR130 and then submit the AR130.  Is this what you are asking?

I do it in 2 steps..."pretty sure" this is the only way...but I could be wrong:
1. AGS to update the specific job name.
2. webrun to call the job name. Ex: FUNC=run&USER=&JOB=&OUT=xml&WAIT=true.

I was asked if you could do this without submitting the job, and it looks like the answer is that you cannot.

You would "submit" the job through IPA using using the webrun node.

I was asked if it were possible to run the program without submitting the job. I did not think it was possible because COBOL uses LAWDIR\print\\\ as the default path. If there is no job, I do not know where the report would go. Someone thought they saw it at QUEUE. The only way I know are the steps everyone is suggesting. In PFI, the only thing I could think of is to run the command you see in the job, but you have to have the job set up with the parameters. I would think this approach would not be possible with IPA because the command line is on the Landmark server.

it sounds like you are trying to get IPA to update the parameters of a batch job and then submit that job (I apologize in advance if I am misunderstanding).This may seem a little stone age-ish, but it is possible to create a little custom 4GL program that uses the batch processing APIs (900-CREATE-AND-SUBMIT-JOB, etc) to update the parameters of any job. Then your flow would submit the custom program. Check chapter 5 of the "Doc for Developers: Lawson 4GL Application Program Interfaces" for information and examples of how to use the batch processing routines. I don't want to go to into depth here becuase I am not sure if this is really what you are looking for.

It sounds to me like you are asking if the parameters can be updated and the Batch Cobol program run but not actually submitted through the Lawson Batch process. The answer to that is most definitely NO. The Lawson architecture is built around communicating with the programs while they are running. This is true of both the Online and Batch programs. There are many routines called from the programs as well as Servers(LATM, LAJS, etc.) that control the environment. Even though the programs ultimately compile to Microfocus Cobol, they are not like normal Cobol programs. There is a lot of memory pool and message queuing that takes place between the programs, the OS and the Servers.

If you are looking to use IPA to adjust batch programs, try using the Transaction Node. We change the date on some batch jobs prior to submitting them. For example, _PDL=&_TKN=IC130&_METHOD=CHANGE&_EVT=CHG&_RTN=DATA&_TDS=IGNORE&FC=C&JOB-NAME=IC130DEV&_f73=1&_f77=N&_f79=&USER-NAME=lawson&STEPNBR=1.