Re: Command Processing Multiple Values with RPG -- RPG400-L

Alright.. I looked up some old programs with user spaces, offsets, etc and
got it to work using the method mentioned above. Basically just move one
pointer up the data to each offset, and use that offset to set the pointer
of the actual data DS.

Whew! I'm sure it could be done another way, but if it works.. I'm happy.
:)

On Wed, Nov 12, 2025 at 8:32 AM Brad Stone <bvstone@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Ok this is making more sense, but setting things up seems like I may need
to use a pointer of some sort.

If there is one entry, the data comes as:
[number of items][offset to first item][number of elements in data][data]

Then of course, if there are two it is:
[number of items][offset to first item][offset to second item][number of
elements in data][data][number of elements][data]

And three....
[number of items][offset to first item][offset to second item][offset to
third item][number of elements in data][data][number of
elements][data][number of elements][data]

So what it seems I need to do is make a single DS for the data and based
on a pointer and read through the offsets setting the pointer of the DS to
each offset. Or is there an easier way? Kinda reminds me of processing
user space data from APIs back in the day. :) Unless there are new things
that I've missed that make this easier.

On Wed, Nov 12, 2025 at 7:44 AM Brad Stone <bvstone@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Thanks, Daniel ! I will give it shot!

On Wed, Nov 12, 2025 at 7:20 AM Brad Stone <bvstone@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Ah, that makes sense, Peter. Yes, there are 3.

Im actually making a SNDDST clone for a couple customers that don't want
to change their programs when they need to move to OAuth. But that answers
that.

I got a couple old CL manuals now to look at as well.

On Tue, Nov 11, 2025 at 8:52 PM Daniel Gross <daniel@xxxxxxxx> wrote:

P.S.: This is how the parameter should be defined in RPG in your case:

dcl-ds address_parm qualified;
entries uns(5); // actual number of addresses
dcl-ds entry dim(10);
elements uns(5); // in this case always 2
address char(100);
state char(2);
end-ds;
end-ds;

Now hopefully that makes sense.

Am 12.11.2025 um 03:21 schrieb Daniel Gross <daniel@xxxxxxxx>:

Hi Peter,

when the CL manual is referring to a "mixed list" parameter, it

means, that you have a parameter defined with multiple elements.

For example something like the LOG parameter of the CHGJOB command:

LOG(4 0 *SECLVL)

This is already a mixed list with 3 elements.

Therefore the like always has a binary prefix of 0x0003 - and then

the elements as if they were defined as single parameters. That binary
prefix is ALWAYS 0x0003 for an mixed list with 3 parts - it only changes to
0x0001 if you have the *SNGVAL option set for the parameter.

Now in your case, you have a "list of mixed lists":

PARM KWD(...) TYPE(ADDDEF) MIN(1) MAX(10)

ADDDEF: ELEM TYPE(*CHAR) LEN(100) ...
ELEM TYPE(*CHAR) LEN(2) ...

You will receive a parameter consisting of:

- binary number of actually list entries
example: 0x0002 = 2 entries
- 1st list entry
- binary number of mixed list elements
fix: 0x0002 = 2 elements in mixed list
- char(100)
- char(2)
- 2nd list entry
- binary number of mixed list elements
fixed: 0x0002 = 2 elements in mixed list
- char(100)
- char(2)

So the list of mixed lists is prefixed with the actual number of

values entered in the command.

And wvery mixed list entry of that list is itself prefixed with the

number of elements in the mixed list.

I know this looks puzzling at first, but makes sense if the mixed

list uses the *SNGVAL option. And it also makes sense, when you look at the
actual command line:

ADDRESS( ('...' '...') ('...' '...') )

This is a "list of lists" - as each entry itself is enclosed in ( ) -

and the whole list parameter is enclosed in ( ).

I hope this all makes some sense now. Here are the IC pages to read

about "simple lists" and "mixed lists" - you have to combine both to get to
the "list of mixed lists" type of parameter:

->

https://www.ibm.com/docs/en/i/7.6.0?topic=dslcp-using-cl-other-hlls-simple-list-cl-command-parameters

->

https://www.ibm.com/docs/en/i/7.6.0?topic=parameter-defining-mixed-list-cl-command

HTH
Daniel

Am 12.11.2025 um 02:05 schrieb Peter Dow <petercdow@xxxxxxxxx>:

What does the command look like?

An "always 0003" before the data implies to me it's telling you how

many elements there are in a parameter, e.g. JOB(nbr user name) has 3
elements, job number, job userid, and job name.

--
*Peter Dow* /
909 793-9050
petercdow@xxxxxxxxx
/

On 11/11/2025 1:10 PM, Brad Stone wrote:

Heres some example data I'm seeing and some notes There is always

0003

before the data itself. It's messed up. More reading to do I

guess.

1 parameter
00010004 0003C2E5 E2E3D6D6 D3E2D2E2 - ......BVSTOOLSKS

4=Offset

after length ?
F1F1F340 4040D7A3 85A2A340 A689A388 - 113 Ptest with

2 parameters
00020019 00060003 C2E5E2E3 D6D5C540 - ........BVSTONE

6=Offset

after length x19=25 offset to #2 after length
D2E2F1F1 F3404040 D70003C2 E5E2E3D6 - KS113 P..BVSTO
D6D3E2D2 E2F1F1F3 404040D7 A385A2A3 - OLSKS113 Ptest

3 parameters
0003002E 001B0008 0003C1D5 D6E3C8C5 - ..........ANOTHE

8=Offset

after length x2E=46 offset to #3 after length x1B=27 offset to #2

after

length
D940D2D2 D2D2D240 4040D700 03C2E5E2 - R KKKKK P..BVS
E3D6D5C5 40D2E2F1 F1F34040 40D70003 - TONE KS113 P..
C2E5E2E3 D6D6D3E2 D2E2F1F1 F3404040 - BVSTOOLSKS113

4 parameters
00040043 0030001D 000A0003 C6D6E4D9 - ...ä........FOUR
x0A/10=Offset after length x43=67 x30=48 x1D=16
E3C84040 D6D5C540 40404040 D70003C1 - TH ONE P..A
D5D6E3C8 C5D940D2 D2D2D2D2 404040D7 - NOTHER KKKKK P
0003C2E5 E2E3D6D5 C540D2E2 F1F1F340 - ..BVSTONE KS113
4040D700 03C2E5E2 E3D6D6D3 E2D2E2F1 - P..BVSTOOLSKS1
F1F34040 40D7A385 A2A340A6 89A38840 - 13 Ptest with

On Tue, Nov 11, 2025 at 3:08 PM Brad Stone<bvstone@xxxxxxxxx>

wrote:

Will do.

The first one appears to be close to what I am figuring out. I'll

dig

deeper. Thanks again.

On Tue, Nov 11, 2025 at 3:07 PM Peter Dow<petercdow@xxxxxxxxx>

wrote:

Hi Brad,

Try the "CL Programming" manual, SC41-5721-05, the section on

"Defining

Lists for Parameters". It has examples on exactly what is passed

to the

CPP.

--
*Peter Dow* /
909 793-9050
petercdow@xxxxxxxxx
/

On 11/11/2025 12:37 PM, Brad Stone wrote:

I have a few RPG programs that are processing programs for CMD

interfaces.

Some have the option to send multiple values. I've always just

defined

the

parameter as a data structure with a binary value to hold the

"count" of

options.. For example:

PARM KWD(NAME) TYPE(*CHAR) LEN(60) MIN(1) +
MAX(10) CASE(*MIXED) PROMPT('Name')

dcl-ds NameDSDef Qualified;
NumName Bindec(4) Pos(1);
Name char(60) dim(10); //*NONE
end-ds;

The the parameter is defined as:
NameList likeds(NameDSDef);

This filles the Name.Name array as it should.

But now I have parameters that have multiple parts to them and

it's not

working quite the same way.
PARM KWD(ADDRESS) TYPE(ADDDEF) MIN(1) +
MAX(10) PROMPT('Address')

ADDDEF: ELEM TYPE(*CHAR) LEN(100) CASE(*MIXED) +
PROMPT('Address')
ELEM TYPE(*CHAR) LEN(2) +
PROMPT('State')

dcl-ds AddressDSDef Qualified;
NumAddress Bindec(4) Pos(1);
Address char(100) dim(10);
State char(2) dim(10);
end-ds;

Then the parameter is defined as:
AddressList likeds(AddressDSDef);

This seems to add more data in the front, not just the count.

Let's say there are 3 items in the list.... The string appears

to be

count, offset to item 3, offset to item 2, offset to item 1,

x'0003',

then

the data.... etc...

So before each data item is x'0003' and the offsets appear to be

the

offset

AFTER the count value.

I've been searching for some sort of documentation or examples

for this,

but I've come up short. AI is pretty useless when it comes to

this.

I'm sure I'm doing something wrong, but I can't find any docs or

examples.

It's been years since I've done commands and yes, this has to be

a

command. :)

Thanks!

Bradley V. Stone
www.bvstools.com
Native IBM i e-Mail solutions for Microsoft Office 365, Gmail,

or any

Cloud

Provider!

--
This is the RPG programming on IBM i (RPG400-L) mailing list
To post a message email:RPG400-L@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
To subscribe, unsubscribe, or change list options,
visit:https://lists.midrange.com/mailman/listinfo/rpg400-l
or email:RPG400-L-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Before posting, please take a moment to review the archives
athttps://archive.midrange.com/rpg400-l.

Please contactsupport@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx for any subscription

related

questions.

--
This is the RPG programming on IBM i (RPG400-L) mailing list
To post a message email: RPG400-L@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
To subscribe, unsubscribe, or change list options,
visit: https://lists.midrange.com/mailman/listinfo/rpg400-l
or email: RPG400-L-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Before posting, please take a moment to review the archives
at https://archive.midrange.com/rpg400-l.

Please contact support@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx for any subscription

related questions.

--
This is the RPG programming on IBM i (RPG400-L) mailing list
To post a message email: RPG400-L@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
To subscribe, unsubscribe, or change list options,
visit: https://lists.midrange.com/mailman/listinfo/rpg400-l
or email: RPG400-L-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Before posting, please take a moment to review the archives
at https://archive.midrange.com/rpg400-l.

Please contact support@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx for any subscription

related questions.

--
This is the RPG programming on IBM i (RPG400-L) mailing list
To post a message email: RPG400-L@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
To subscribe, unsubscribe, or change list options,
visit: https://lists.midrange.com/mailman/listinfo/rpg400-l
or email: RPG400-L-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Before posting, please take a moment to review the archives
at https://archive.midrange.com/rpg400-l.

Please contact support@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx for any subscription
related questions.