Coding rules for BMS definition macros

When coding the Basic Mapping Support (BMS) macros, you must ensure that the information appears in the correct columns so that it can be processed by cicsmap.

Three column positions are significant:
StartCol
Starting column (default 1).
ContCol
Column in which continuation lines must begin (default 16).
EndCol
Last column before continuation marker (default 71).

These positions can be changed by coding an ICTL macro at the beginning of the BMS source file.

The following general coding rules apply:
  • The label for each BMS macro must start in StartCol.
  • The macro name must be separated from its label and first operand by one or more spaces.
  • Operands must be separated by a single comma (,); spaces should be used with care because they cause the remainder of the line to be treated as a comment.
  • Lines that contain many operands can be continued after any comma, by placing a nonblank character (usually X) in the position after EndCol, then starting a new line with the first character of a new operand in ContCol.
  • Blank lines are not allowed between comment lines.
  • Comment lines are indicated by placing an asterisk (*) in StartCol.
  • All macros and their operands (except INITIAL,GINIT data and LABEL name) must be in uppercase..
Note: For details of the syntax notation used here, see Conventions used in EXEC CICS commands.