z/OS REXX Programming Workshop (ES52A)

Many labs are included to address coding REXX programs in the z/OS environment. Hands-on lab projects may be done in teams depending on the number of attendees and location.

This course is designed to teach you the basic skills required to write programs using the Rexx language in the standard z/OS environments: TSO, ISPF, and MVS. The course covers the TSO extensions to Rexx, the interface with ISPF, and interaction with other environments such as the MVS console, and running Rexx in batch jobs, and compiling Rexx.

Skills Gained

Day 1

• Unit 1 - Introduction
• Unit 2 - Getting Started with Rexx (start)
• Lab Exercise 1
• Unit 2 - Getting Started with Rexx (finish)
• Lab Exercise 2
• Unit 3 - Programming in Rexx (start)
• Lab Exercise 3

Day 2

• Unit 3 - Programming in Rexx (finish)
• Lab Exercise 4
• Unit 4 - Functions and Subroutines (start)
• Lab Exercise 5
• Unit 4 - Functions and Subroutines (finish)
• Lab Exercise 6

Day 3

• Unit 5 - Debugging and Error Handling
• Lab Exercise 7
• Unit 6 - Executing Host Commands
• Lab Exercise 8
• Unit 7 - Compound Variables and the Data Stack
• Lab Exercise 9

Day 4

• Unit 8 - Reading and Writing Data Sets in Rexx
• Lab Exercise 10
• Unit 9 - The Parse Instruction
• Lab Exercise 11
• Unit 10 - Using Rexx: Rexx Compiler, Rexx in Batch, MVS Console Commands (start)

Day 5

• Unit 10 - Using Rexx: Rexx Compiler, Rexx in Batch, MVS Console Commands (finish)
• Lab Exercise 12
• Unit 11 - Rexx with ISPF and the ISPF Editor
• Optional Lab Exercises

Who Can Benefit

This is an intermediate course for people who need to write and maintain Rexx programs in the z/OS system environment.

Prerequisites

You should be able to:

• Code basic Job Control Language statements
• Code in a programming language
• Create, alter, and delete data sets using TSO

These skills can be developed by completing:

• Fundamental System Skills of z/OS (ES10)
• A programming language course