Migration to the new function

This section describes how you can migrate several types of existing application to use channels and containers rather than communication areas (COMMAREAs).

It’s possible to replace a COMMAREA by a channel with a single container. While this may seem the simplest way to move from COMMAREAs to channels and containers, it’s not good practice to do this.

Start of changeAlso, be aware that a channel may use more storage than a COMMAREA designed to pass the same data. (See Designing a channel: best practices.)End of change

Because you’re taking the time to change your application programs to exploit this new function, you should implement the "best practices" for channels and containers—see Designing a channel: best practices. Channels have several advantages over COMMAREAs (see Benefits of channels) and it pays to design your channels to make the most of these improvements.