The programs of this section are designed to improve the general
usability of the REXX language and to increase the productivity
of REXX programmers. These programs may be categorized as
follows:
Data conversion:
Functions are provided for converting to and from specialized
numeric formats:
D2P/P2D
Packed decimal conversions.
D2F/F2D
Floating point conversions.
D2PIC/PIC2D
COBOL-style numeric editing.
Stem handling:
A function, STEMSORT, is provided for sorting
the contents of certain types of stem variables (those
that contain numeric subscripts).
String handling:
A function is provided for breaking a string into its constituent
tokens where the location and frequency of delimiters is not
predictable in advance (PARSETOK). Another function is used to
sort the blank delimited words in a string into either ascending
or descending collating sequence (WORDSORT).
Pattern Matching:
The MATCH function is used to compare strings to a pattern. The
pattern may contain wild card characters.
MVS/Quick-Ref access:
A function is provided for accessing the MVS/Quick-Ref database
(QWIKREF). The results of a successful search are placed in a
user-specified stem array.
Note: Requires Chicago-Soft's MVS/Quick-Ref Release 3.0 or
later.
Storage Manipulation:
The STORAGEX function gives the REXX programmer direct access to
processor main storage, using a relative addressing syntax
similar to the one used by TSO TEST.
Global Variables:
A host command environment (ADDRESS REXXTOOL) and several host
commands (VPUT, VGET, VERASE) are provided to permit the sharing
of data between REXX programs.
Service Descriptions
The sections that follow describe the syntax and operation of the
General REXX Extensions.