call

programName

Name of the called program. The program is either generated by EGL or is considered to be externally defined. Many program names, such as those on UNIX™ or written in Java™, are case sensitive. Program names in the EGL debugger are not case sensitive. The name can be a direct part reference without quotation marks, a literal string in quotation marks, or a variable or constant name.

argument

One of a series of value references that are separated by commas. An argument can be a primitive variable, a form, a record, an array of primitive types, an array of records, a non-numeric literal, or a non-numeric constant. If EGL can access the called program at generation time, the argument can be a more complex date/time, numeric, or text expression. You cannot pass a field of type ANY, ArrayDictionary, BLOB, CLOB, DataTable, or Dictionary. You cannot pass arrays of those types, or records that include any of those types. For local calls, there is no limit to the number of arguments. Remote calls might not support more than 30 arguments.

properties

The following properties are supported:

isExternal

A Boolean property:

• NO, the default, indicates that the callLink element in the linkage options part specifies whether an external program is being called. Placing a value in the callLink element is more flexible; the setting is not embedded in the code.

  The relevant attribute in the callLink element is pgmType for local calls, or remotePgmType for remote or EJB calls.

• YES indicates that a non-EGL-generated program is being called

isNoRefresh

A Boolean property that is meaningful only when the caller presents text forms and one of the following situations is in effect:

• The called program does not present a text form.
• The caller writes a full-screen text form after the call.

This property has two values:

• NO, the default, indicates that the callLink element in the linkage options part specifies whether a screen refresh is avoided. Setting a value in the callLink element (specifically, in the refreshScreen attribute) is more flexible; the decision is not embedded in the code.
• YES indicates that a screen refresh is avoided when the called program returns control.

linkageKey

A string that references the callLink element in a linkage options part. The string matches the pgm attribute in that element. For more details, see linkageKey.

timeout

An integer that represents the maximum valid number of milliseconds that elapse between a service invocation and reply. For a call statement, this property is solely for Rich UI applications where the value is the maximum number of milliseconds between when the EGL Rich UI Proxy, on the web server, invokes a service and when the Proxy receives a response. For more details, see Coding a call statement and callback function for service access.

The following table shows the valid calls to or from EGL-generated code.

To call EGL-generated Java™ code from non-EGL-generated Java™ code, use an EGL external type or a Java™ access function.

The following example shows a called program that calculates interest on a loan:

  if (userRequest == "C")
    try
      call programA(myCustomer, interestRate);
    onException(myEx InvocationException)
      myErrorHandler(12);
    end
  end

The number of bytes that are passed in each argument must be the same as the number of bytes that are expected by the receiving parameter. For more information, see "Compatibility."

An exception in a remotely called program never propagates directly to the calling program. Instead, it is wrapped by an InvocationException. If the remotely called program does not handle an exception, the called program ends and the caller throws an InvocationException.