Relationship: Tool Has Output Parameter

Output parameters of tools are described by the Tool has Output Parameter relationship.

The output parameters of a tool are temporarily saved during the execution of an action, so that subsequent tools can use them as input parameters.

The way in which the output of a tool should be interpreted can be modeled via the type attribute. Depending on the type, a property or a file descriptor must be referenced via the relationship.

Attribute Type Description
TargetIDFile[D] File Descriptor Reference to a file descriptor. This is only important if the type attribute has been set to “File”.
TargetIDParm[D] Property Reference to a property. This is only important if the type attribute has been set to “Element” or “String”.
Label [O] String The display text of the parameter in the Output dialog box.
SeqNo * [U] Integer The position number of the parameter in the Output dialog box (1 = at the very top).
Type Selection Determines how the output parameter should be interpreted.  

Valid values include:

  • String
  • File
  • ToolDefinedResourceOperation
  • MassProcessing

Default value is string.

ToOutputDialog Boolean Indicates whether the parameter should be displayed in the Output dialog box at the end of the action. This only takes place if there is an Output dialog modeled at the end of the tool sequence.
Ui Category String Categorizes the parameter in the Output dialog box. Categorized parameters are enclosed in a labeled frame. Successive parameters with the same categories are enclosed by the same frame in the Output dialog box. See The "UI Category" Attribute for more information.

Examples


SCLM Archgen Input Parameters
The tool SCLM_TOOL_ISPF_REX_Archgen is an example of a tool which returns an output parameter of type String and of type File. If an ISPF REXX tool is modelled to return a parameter of type File, it should return the name of the file in the REXX OUTPARM variable.
Note: The file has to be modeled on the correct type (MVS_PO, MVS_PO_Member or MVS_SEQ).

SCLM Check Out Parameters

The tool SCLM_TOOL_ISPF_REX_CheckOut is an example of a tool with output parameters of type ToolDefinedResourceOperation. The tool has to return a resource operation statement containing the resource operation to be performed and a value for every modeled output parameter of type ToolDefinedResourceOperation. See Tool-defined Resource Operations for more information. In this case, the tool is an ISPF REXX tool which has to return the resource operations in the ISPF table TAUTOTBI.


SCLM Archgen Mass Output Parameter

The tool SCLM_TOOL_ISPF_REX_ArchgenBatchInput is an example of a tool with output parameters of type String and of type MassProcessing. The tool provides the input for a succeeding tool to generate SCLM architecture definitions for a group of SCLM elements. The MassProcessing output parameters of this tool are mapped to the MassProcessing input parameters of the succeeding tool. If the tool is an ISPF REXX tool, the MassProcessing output parameters have to be returned in the ISPF table TAUTOTOP.