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NAME

MQSeries::Message::PCF -- Generic OO and procedural interface to PCF (Programmable Command Format) messages.

SYNOPSIS

  #
  # Here's an example of creating a PCF Command (InquireQueue) to send
  # to the command server.  Note that this example is a bit contrived,
  # since you would normally use the higher level MQSeries::Command
  # object for this.
  #
  use MQSeries;
  use MQSeries::Message::PCF;

  #
  # The $header hash represents the MQCFH PCF Header.
  #
  $header =
  {
   Type         => MQCFT_COMMAND,
   Command      => MQCMD_INQUIRE_Q,
  };

  #
  # The $parameters array is an array of hash references, each of
  # which individually represents one of the PCF parameter structures
  # (MQCFIN, MQCFST, MQCFIL, or MQCFSL).
  #
  $parameters =
  [

   # QName is a string (MQCFST)
   {
    Parameter   => MQCA_Q_NAME,
    String      => "FOO.*",
   },

   # QType is an integer (MQCFIN)
   {
    Parameter   => MQIA_Q_TYPE,
    Value       => MQQT_LOCAL,
   },

   # QAttrs in an integer list (MQCFIL)
   {
    Parameter   => MQIACF_Q_ATTRS,
    Values      =>
    [
     MQCA_Q_NAME,
     MQIA_Q_TYPE,
     MQCA_Q_DESC,
     MQIA_MAX_Q_DEPTH,
     MQIA_MAX_MSG_LENGTH,
    ],
   },

   # Although not shown in this example, string lists (MQCFSL) have a
   # structure similar to the integer lists.

  ];

  my $message = MQSeries::Message::PCF->new
    (
     Header                     => $header,
     Parameters                 => $parameters,
    ) || die;

  #
  # The rest of the SYNOPSIS shows the procedural interface, which you
  # can use directly if you really want to, but the intent was for
  # MQEncodePCF and MQDecodePCF to be used as building blocks for OO
  # classes which further abstract the PCF data.  See the SEE ALSO
  # section for a list of modules which do exactly that.
  #
  use MQSeries;
  use MQSeries::Message::PCF qw(MQDecodePCF MQEncodePCF);

  my $msgdata = MQEncodePCF($header,$parameters);

  #
  # The reverse operation would be:
  #
  my ($header, $parameters) = MQDecodePCF($msgdata);

DESCRIPTION

This module is both an OO API to PCF messages, and a pair of exportable procedures for encoding and decoding PCF messages. The two functions are imported by other classes which further parse and abstract specific PCF formats.

Note that it the intention of the author to provide specific implementations of each of the standard PCF formats used in the MQSeries product, and the current release already includes support for:

  PCF Command Server messages           (MQSeries::Command)
  Performance Events                    (MQSeries::Message::Event)

If you are reading this documentation with the intention of using it for any of the above standard MQSeries messages, please see the docs for those modules instead.

This module optionally exports the core PCF parsing procedures used by all of the above (MQEncodePCF and MQDecodePCF), and the OO API is provided for completeness (and because, well, it was trivial).

METHODS

The MQSeries::Message::PCF class is a subclass of MQSeries::Message, so all of the methods of the latter class are also available.

new

The arguments to the MQSeries::Message::PCF constructor are passed directly to the MQSeries::Message constructor, upon which this object is based. There are two additional keys supported by this class as well: "Header" and "Parameters"

The value of this key is a HASH reference, representing the MQCFH PCF header structure. See below for specific details.

Parameters

The value of this key is an ARRAY reference of HASH references. Each HASH reference represents one of the PCF parameters structures MQCFIN, MQCFST, MQCFIL, or MQCFSL. See below for details.

PROCEDURES

Both of these procedures must be explicitly imported by the caller, and they are provided as building blocks for higher level abstractions of the PCF message format. All of the previously mentioned OO classes in the MQSeries heirarchy which implement PCF formats use these procedures in this way.

MQEncodePCF

This takes a pair of HASH references, for the PCF Header and Parameters (format discussed below) and returns a string which is the binary encoding of data into a set of C structures, suitable for use as the message body for an MQSeries message of the appropriate PCF format type.

  my $msgdata = MQEncodePCF($header,$parameters);

This routine returns the undefined value if an error is encountered while encoding the data.

MQDecodePCF

This takes a string, which is assumed to be the body of a PCF message, and returns a pair of HASH references, each representing the PCF Header and Parameters data structures (formats discussed below).

  my ($header,$parameters) = MQDecodePCF($msgdata);

This routine returns an empty array if an error is encountered while decoding the data.

Header and Parameter Data Structures

PCF Header (MQCFH)

This is a HASH reference which represents the MQCFH PCF header structure. See the MQCFH documentation for the details of the keys which can be given in this hash, and the specific PCF implementation documentation for the possible values which can be given, since they vary from one usage to another.

Note that the "ParameterCount" key need not be specified, as the MQEncodePCF() subroutine will calculate this automatically, by simply counting the entries in the Parameters ARRAY.

Also, the "StrucLength", and "Version" keys are handled automatically, and need not be given.

When this HASH is returned, all of the structures fields are returned as keys in the HASH, although in most cases, you can ignore most of them.

PCF Parameters (MQCFIN, MQCFST, MQCFIL, or MQCFSL)

This is an ARRAY reference or HASH references. Each individual HASH reference represents one of the PCF parameters structures, and each is discussed individually.

In all cases, the "Type" and "StrucLength" keys can be omitted, since the "Type" is derived from the other keys present (if there is a "Value" key, its a MQCFIN, a "String" key, its a MQCFST, etc). In fact, both of these keys will be entirely ignored.

The "Parameter" values depend entirely on the specific usage of the PCF format, with one set of possible values used for PCF command server messages and another for performance events. See the respective documentation for each of these formats for more information.

Integer Parameter (MQCFIN)

This is a HASH reference with the following input keys:

  Parameter
  Value

The "Value" must be a numeric value, or an error will be raised.

When returned, it has the following output keys:

  Parameter
  Value
  Type (always == MQCFT_INTEGER)
String Parameter (MQCFST)

This is a HASH reference with the following input keys (optional keys denoted by *):

  Parameter
  String
  CodedCharSetId*

The "String" must have a string value, or an error will be raised.

When returned, is has the following output keys:

  Parameter
  String
  CodedCharSetId
  Type (always == MQCFT_STRING)
Integer List Parameter (MQCFIL)

This is a HASH reference with the following input keys:

  Parameter
  Values

The "Values" must be an ARRAY reference of numeric values, or an error will be raised. Note that the documented "Count" MQCFIL key may be omitted, since it is automatically calculated as the length of the ARRAY.

When returned, it has the following output keys:

  Parameter
  Values
  Type (always == MQCFT_INTEGER_LIST)
String List Parameter (MQCFSL)

This is a HASH reference with the following input keys (optional keys denoted by *):

  Parameter
  Strings
  CodedCharSetId*

The "Strings" must be an ARRAY reference of string values, or an error will be raised.Note that the documented "Count" MQCFSL key may be omitted, since it is automatically calculated as the length of the ARRAY.

When returned, it has the following output keys:

  Parameter
  Strings
  CodedCharSetId
  Type (always == MQCFT_STRING_LIST)

SEE ALSO

  MQSeries::Message::Event(3),
  MQSeries::Command::Request(3),
  MQSeries::Command::Response(3),