CONTAINER

What is a CONTAINER

• A CONTAINER is a named block of data that lives inside a CHANNEL.
• Each container has a name of up to 16 characters.
• A channel can hold many containers, each with its own name and data.
• Containers replace the single flat COMMAREA with separate named pieces of data.
• You create and fill a container with PUT CONTAINER, and read it with GET CONTAINER.
• A container can hold character data or binary data.

The CONTAINER commands

• PUT CONTAINER creates a container and puts data into it. Use FROM(data-area) to name the source.
• GET CONTAINER reads a container into your working storage. Use INTO(data-area) to name the target.
• MOVE CONTAINER renames a container or moves it to another channel.
• DELETE CONTAINER removes a container from the channel.
• All four commands take the CHANNEL(channel-name) option.
• Example of reading a container in the called program:-
  EXEC CICS GET CONTAINER(CUSTOMER-NO) CHANNEL(INQUIRY-CHANNEL) INTO(CUST-NO-FIELD) END-EXEC. EXEC CICS GET CONTAINER(BRANCH-NO) CHANNEL(INQUIRY-CHANNEL) INTO(BRANCH-NO-FIELD) END-EXEC. * ... process ... EXEC CICS PUT CONTAINER(CUSTOMER-RECORD) CHANNEL(INQUIRY-CHANNEL) FROM(CUST-RECORD-AREA) END-EXEC.

Rules for using containers

• PUT CONTAINER must run before the container can be read by GET CONTAINER.
• The first PUT CONTAINER creates the channel automatically. You do not define channels anywhere.
• Container names must match exactly between the PUT and the GET.
• Use DELETE CONTAINER to clean up containers you no longer need.
• Both the caller and the called program can PUT and GET containers on the same channel.