LENGTH options in CICS commands

In COBOL, PL/I, and assembler language, the translator defaults certain lengths, if the NOLENGTH translator option is not specified. This means they are optional in programs that specify data areas.

In C, all LENGTH options must be specified.

When a CICS® command offers the LENGTH option, it is generally expressed as a signed halfword binary value. This puts a theoretical upper limit of 32 763 bytes on LENGTH. In practice (depending on issues of recoverability, function shipping, and so on), the achievable upper limit varies from command to command, but is somewhat less than this theoretical maximum. To be safe, do not let the value assigned to the length option for any CICS command exceed 24KB.

This advisory 24KB limit does not apply to the FLENGTH option on CICS commands Start of change(except for terminal-related SEND and RECEIVE commands, due to architectural limitations)End of change. The FLENGTH option is used on commands relating to containers and journals, among others.

For temporary storage, transient data, and file control commands, the data set definitions may themselves impose further restrictions.