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.

Type = String
Standard value. The output is assigned as a property value of the referenced property.
Type = ToolDefinedResourceOperation
To be used if the tool returns TOOL-DEFINED resource operations for a group of elements. See Tool Descriptor for more information about tool-defined resource operations. The count of parameters should map to the property values returned by the tool-defined resource operation of the specified tool.
Type = MassProcessing
To be used if the tool returns property values for a group of elements. The count of parameters should map to the property values per element returned by the specified tool.
Type = File
A tool output that is modeled with the File type is interpreted as a file name. You must reference a file descriptor. If a physical name (Name_Physical) is modeled for the referenced file descriptor, it is temporarily overwritten. The output parameter contains the name of the file, and the referenced file descriptor defines the type and the structure of the file.

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

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).

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.

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.