Calling a program

Introduction:

Description of program and parameters

This example shows the execution of a MYPGM program from the MYLIB library, with the following parameters:

We want to read different values from the return variable, composed as follows:

The call would be made with the following code:

Step 1/4: Opening the connection

We start by declaring a new instance of NTiConnection and opening it:

//Open an NTi connection:
NTiConnection conn = new NTiConnection(connectionString);
conn.Open();

Step 2/4: Parameter creation

Next, we refer to the description of the parameters expected by the program or PLC to be executed (above). Create the various parameters and their values:

//Create parameter list:
List parms = new List() {
  new NTiProgramParameter("Hello", 10).AsInput(), //CHAR(10) INPUT
  new NTiProgramParameter("World", 10).AsInput(), //CHAR(10) INPUT
  new NTiProgramParameter(new byte[] {0x00}).AsInput(), //CHAR(10) INPUT
  new NTiProgramParameter(128).AsInput(), //INTEGER (BYTE(4)) INPUT
  new NTiProgramParameter("", 128).AsOutput(), //CHAR(128) OUTPUT
  new NTiProgramParameter("", 50) //CHAR(50) I/O
};

Step 3/4: Calling the program

The program can be called up using the CallProgram() method of the NTiCOnnection class:

//Program call
conn.CallProgram("MYLIB", "MYPGM", parms);

Step 4/4: Retrieving returned data

Once the program has been called, we retrieve the returned data

//Data retrieval from return variable (parameter n°5)
string message1 = parms[4].GetString(0, 64);
string message2 = parms[4].GetString(64, 64);

Code summary

The final code for calling an IBM i program from .NET with NTi, passing parameters and retrieving data in return is as follows:

//Open connection
var conn = new NTiConnection(connectionString);
conn.Open();

//Create parameter list:
List parms = new List() {
  new NTiProgramParameter("Hello", 10).AsInput(), //CHAR(10) INPUT
  new NTiProgramParameter("World", 10).AsInput(), //CHAR(10) INPUT
  new NTiProgramParameter(new byte[] {0x00}).AsInput(), //CHAR(10) INPUT
  new NTiProgramParameter(128).AsInput(), //INTEGER (BYTE(4)) INPUT
  new NTiProgramParameter("", 128).AsOutput(), //CHAR(128) OUTPUT
  new NTiProgramParameter("", 50) //CHAR(50) I/O
};

//Program call
conn.CallProgram("MYLIB", "MYPGM", parms);

//Data retrieval from return variable (parameter n°5)
string message1 = parms[4].GetString(0, 64);
string message2 = parms[4].GetString(64, 64);

//Closing the connection
conn.Close();

You should also remember to close the connection at the end of processing if you don't want to use it again. However, when the conn object is destroyed at the end of the program or when the current method is exited, the connection will automatically be closed.