ID: Q183179
The information in this article applies to:
PL/I is not supported by Component Builder. Nevertheless, you can use COM Transaction Integrator for CICS and IMS (COMTI) with PL/I programs operating in CICS or IMS. To do so, code the programs with data declarations that define memory the same way that the equivalent COBOL declarations do.
For example, a CICS program can perform an EXEC CICS LINK to either a PL/I program or a COBOL program if the structure defining DFHCOMMAREA in the two programs is equivalent. Similarly, a COMTI component could be used equally well with either program using a CICS LINK Remote Environment (RE). The same mechanisms hold true by extrapolation for CICS and IMS REs.
All you need to know is how to achieve the same memory mapping in PL/I and COBOL. This article presents data type comparisons for the two languages.
Note that the developer who is responsible for creating components for PL/I transaction programs (TP) should be familiar with both languages.
Data alignment is an important issue. PL/I structures are ALIGNED by default; for example, a fullword integer (4 bytes) within a structure is ALIGNED on a mainframe fullword boundary. This can cause a discrepancy with similar COBOL statements and the PL/I structure should probably be declared as UNALIGNED. This is particularly important for the DFHCOMMAREA declaration. This data structure must be unaligned. You must, therefore, specify the UNALIGNED keyword on the structure declaration.
You should use care when dealing with the COBOL "OCCURS DEPENDING ON" clause. The following samples show a comparison of a COBOL construction with a similar PL/I construction.
01 STRUCT1.
02 X PIC S9(4) COMP.
02 Y OCCURS 1 TO 100 TIMES DEPENDING ON X PIC X(10).
DCL 1 STRUCT1,
2 X FIXED BIN(15),
2 Y (1:100 REFER(X)) CHAR(10);
Automation type Visual Basic type
--------------- -----------------
VT_I2 Integer
VT_I4 Long
VT_R4 Single
VT_R8 Double
VT_CY Currency
VT_DECIMAL Decimal
VT_DATE Date
(Date and time both)
VT_BSTR String
VT_BOOL Boolean
VT_UI1 Byte
In the following table, the default COBOL type is listed first, followed by optional COBOL types for each Visual Basic type.
VB type COBOL type PL/I type
------- -------------------- ---------------
Integer PIC S9(n) COMP FIXED BIN(15)
(n <= 4)
(see NOTE)
PIC S9(n) COMP-3 FIXED DEC(n)
(n <= 4) (n <= 4)
PIC S9(n) PIC '9(n-1)T'
(n <= 4) (n <= 4)
PIC S9(n) LEADING PIC 'T9(n-1)'
(n <= 4) (n <= 4)
PIC S9(n) SIGN SEPARATE PIC '9(n)S'
(n <= 4) (n <= 4)
PIC S9(n) PIC 'S9(n)'
SIGN SEPARATE LEADING (n <= 4)
(n <= 4)
Long PIC S9(n) COMP (n <= 9) FIXED BIN(31)
PIC S9(n) COMP-3 FIXED DEC(n)
(n <= 9) (n <= 9)
PIC S9(n) PIC '9(n-1)T'
(n <= 9) (n <= 9)
PIC S9(n) LEADING PIC 'T9(n-1)'
(n <= 9) (n <= 9)
PIC S9(n) SIGN SEPARATE PIC '9(n)S'
(n <= 9) (n <= 9)
PIC S9(n) PIC 'S9(n)'
SIGN SEPARATE LEADING (n <= 9)
(n <= 9)
Single COMP-1 FLOAT BIN(21)
PIC S9(m)V9(n) COMP-3 FIXED DEC(m+n,n)
PIC S9(m)V9(n) COMP FIXED BIN(15,n)
(m+n <= 4) (See NOTE)
PIC S9(m)V9(n) COMP FIXED BIN(31,n)
(m+n <= 9)
PIC S9(m)V9(n) PIC '9(m)V9(n-1)T'
PIC S9(m)V9(n) LEADING PIC 'T9(m-1)V9(n)'
PIC S9(m)V9(n) PIC '9(m)V9(n)S'
SIGN SEPARATE
PIC S9(m)V9(n) PIC 'S9(m)V9(n)'
SIGN SEPARATE LEADING
Double COMP-2 FLOAT BIN(53)
PIC S9(m)V9(n) COMP-3 FIXED DEC(m+n,n)
PIC S9(m)V9(n) COMP FIXED BIN(15,n)
(m+n <= 4) (Footnote.)
PIC S9(m)V9(n) COMP FIXED BIN(31,n)
(m+n <= 9)
PIC S9(m)V9(n) PIC '9(m)V9(n-1)T'
PIC S9(m)V9(n) LEADING PIC 'T9(m-1)V9(n)'
PIC S9(m)V9(n) PIC '9(m)V9(n)S'
SIGN SEPARATE
PIC S9(m)V9(n) PIC 'S9(m)V9(n)'
SIGN SEPARATE LEADING
Currency PIC S9(13)V99 COMP-3 FIXED DEC(15,2)
PIC S9(m)V9(n) COMP-3 FIXED DEC(m+n,n)
(n <= 4) (m+n < 16)
PIC S9(m)V9(n) COMP FIXED BIN(15,n)
(m+n <= 4 and n <= 4)
(See NOTE)
PIC S9(m)V9(n) COMP FIXED BIN(31,n)
(m+n <= 9, n <= 4)
PIC S9(m)V9(n) PIC '9(m)V9(n-1)T'
(n <= 4)
PIC S9(m)V9(n) LEADING PIC 'T9(m-1)V9(n)'
(n <= 4)
PIC S9(m)V9(n) PIC '9(m)V9(n)S'
SIGN SEPARATE
(n <= 4)
PIC S9(m)V9(n) PIC 'S9(m)V9(n)'
SIGN SEPARATE LEADING
(n <= 4)
Decimal PIC S9(m)V9(n) COMP-3 FIXED DEC(m+n,n)
(m+n < 16)
PIC S9(m)V9(n) COMP FIXED BIN(15,n)
(m+n <= 5)
(See NOTE)
PIC S9(m)V9(n) COMP FIXED BIN(31,n)
(m+n <= 9)
PIC S9(m)V9(n) COMP Not Supported
(m+n <= 18)
PIC S9(m)V9(n) PIC '9(m)V9(n-1)T'
PIC S9(m)V9(n) LEADING PIC 'T9(m-1)V9(n)'
PIC S9(m)V9(n) PIC '9(m)V9(n)S'
SIGN SEPARATE
PIC S9(m)V9(n) PIC 'S9(m)V9(n)'
SIGN SEPARATE LEADING
Date PIC S9(7) COMP-3 FIXED DEC(7)
date in YYYYDDD format
PIC S9(7) COMP-3 FIXED DEC(7)
time in HHMMSST format
PIC S9(7) COMP-3 FIXED DEC(7)
date in YYYYDDD format
PIC S9(7) COMP-3 FIXED DEC(7)
time in HHMMSST format
String PIC X(n) CHAR(n)
padded with spaces to n bytes
PIC X(n) CHAR(n)
padded with LOW-VALUE to n bytes
Boolean PIC S9(4) COMP FIXED BIN(15)
(1 = true, 0 = false)
PIC S9(9) COMP FIXED BIN(31)
(1 = true, 0 = false)
PIC S9(n) COMP-3 FIXED DEC(n)
(1 = true, 0 = false)
Byte PIC X CHAR(1)
(no translation performed)
PIC 999 COMP FIXED BIN(15)
(value between 0 and 255)
PIC 999 COMP-3 FIXED DEC(3)
(value between 0 and 255)
Additional query words: COBOL PL/1 PL/I
Keywords : CTIData CTIProg
Version : WINDOWS:1.0
Platform : WINDOWS
Issue type : kbinfoLast Reviewed: April 2, 1998