May ’22 Webinar Recap: Getting What You Need – With REXX Execs

Jun 28, 2022

Within the first few minutes of the DTS Software May 2022 webinar: Getting What You Need – With REXX Execs, presenter and DTS CTO Steve Pryor proclaimed, “I’m going to do this mostly by example.” What followed was a steady stream of how-to examples and demos as Pryor looked at the REXX (Restructured Extended Executor) language, facilities, and philosophy, and how to quickly write REXX execs that can solve problems for both applications and systems programmers.

REXX Execs to Quickly and Accurately Obtain the Information You Need
Despite the many programming languages, utilities, and report generators available in mainframe systems, a z/OS® programmer is often faced with the problem of how to obtain the specific information he or she needs, quickly and accurately, and present it in a format that is easily understandable. Often the user is under time pressure, and the standard utilities can be inadequate, difficult to use, or can’t provide the necessary detail. REXX execs provide a simple yet powerful means of obtaining detailed data and the ability to distill it into useful information.

REXX Execs to Write Programs and Reports
REXX is a universal, high-level language that enables you to write programs and reports to get ad hoc information quickly and easily. REXX can be run in a multitude of different environments, performing single or groups of tasks that can include reading from a file, writing to a file, and accessing the catalog.

In addition, REXX can pull information from many different places both within z/OS and from other system services to:

  • Access locations in virtual storage to read information from the OS control blocks
  • Access dataset information
  • Access system information
  • Access tape management

Learn More in our Webinar Available On-Demand
Our May webinar is now available on-demand in the DTS webinar library. In addition to reviewing the video presentation and downloading the slide presentation from the webinar, we’re including two files containing REXX examples and the JCL for download.

As with each of our webinars, “Getting What You Need – With REXX Execs” is a 60-minute informative and educational look at an important topic in the mainframe space. It includes numerous examples, how-to guides, and references on where to find more information should you need it.

If you weren’t able to attend or would like to review the material presented, you can view it on-demand, download a copy of the slide deck, and view the examples shared during the presentation by using this link. And be sure to join us each month for our complimentary webinar series.