To access information not directly available to a generated application, you use an external action block. For example, a load module may need to use a standard date manipulation subroutine that has been defined for a particular organization or the load module may need to access files that were not created with CA Gen.
An external action block defines the interface between the CA Gen procedure step or action block that invokes it and the logic created outside of CA Gen, so that information can be successfully passed back and forth. This structure is used to match the views of a procedure step with the views (input and output arguments) of a handwritten subroutine.
When you use a CA Gen model to generate remote files for installation on a target system, an external action block stub is created that provides the source language framework for the external action. This stub includes the following information that CA Gen can supply from the definition of the external action block:
The only thing missing is the action logic.
During the load module packaging portion of construction, include external action blocks in the load modules just as you include other CA Gen procedure steps and action blocks. When CA Gen generates that load module, it includes information identifying the action block in the ICM for that remote file. That remote file does not include the action block stub. You must move it to your target system separately.
For your application to execute properly on your target system, you must add the appropriate logic to the generated action block stub before you compile and install it. A number of steps are required before the load module containing the external action block is built and implemented. These steps are listed and explained later in this guide.
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