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Quick Tip - MVS/Quick-Ref API

by Mike Shaw

Did you know that MVS/Quick-Ref has an Application Program Interface (API)? In this brief article, we will take a quick look at the MVS/Quick-Ref API and discuss how you can use it at your installation.

The MVS/Quick-Ref API is documented in Chapter Three of the MVS/Quick-Ref User’s Guide, under the section titled "Direct Program Interface." A description of the parmlist to use and other considerations also appear in this section of the documentation.

With a properly constructed program call to MVS/Quick-Ref, you can use the MVS/Quick-Ref API to call MVS/Quick-Ref from another program and extract reference text from the MVS/Quick-Ref database dynamically. Possible uses of this facility include:

Adding detailed message descriptions to problem records in an Info/MVS problem database

Coding a REXX function that you can use to write a REXX application to port MVS/Quick-Ref to any MVS environment that supports REXX, such as Netview

Add MVS/Quick-Ref calls to your IEFACTRT SMF exit to add abend code descriptions to the step messages for an abended job step

Using MVS/Quick-Ref DASD free space information in a dynamic DASD space reporting facility or report

The parmlist passed to MVS/Quick-Ref on an API call is slightly non-standard, so if your calling module is written in COBOL or some other high-level language, you will need to assemble and use module QWCOBINF, the source for which can be found in the MVS/Quick-Ref library. QWCOBINF converts the standard parmlist passed to it by a calling module written in a high-level language into the non-standard parmlist expected by the MVS/Quick-Ref API.

Some IVS software products, like OPS/MVS and SYSVIEW/E from Computer Associates, already include API calls to MVS/Quick-Ref within their code. The calls are used to look up MVS message descriptions seen in the SYSLOG while using the ISV product.

Mike Shaw is a senior software developer in the MVS/Quick-Ref product support group at Chicago-Soft, Ltd., in Vienna, VA.

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