RETURN

What the RETURN command does

• RETURN ends the current program's execution and gives control back to CICS or to a calling program.
• Every CICS program must end with a RETURN command.
• A plain RETURN with no options simply ends the program.
• RETURN with TRANSID and COMMAREA sets up the next execution of a pseudo-conversational program.
• RETURN with the CHANNEL option passes a channel to the next program execution.

The three uses of RETURN

• If the program was started by typing a transaction id, a plain RETURN ends the task and returns control to CICS.
• If the program was invoked by a LINK, a plain RETURN sends control back to the program that issued the LINK.
• If the program was invoked by an XCTL, a plain RETURN sends control to the program at the next higher logical level.
• To continue a pseudo-conversational program, use RETURN with TRANSID and COMMAREA:-
  EXEC CICS RETURN TRANSID('PRGA') COMMAREA(CA-AREA) END-EXEC.
• The TRANSID names the transaction to run when the user presses an attention key.
• The COMMAREA data is saved and passed to the next execution through DFHCOMMAREA.

Syntax of the RETURN command

• EXEC CICS RETURN [TRANSID(trans-id)] [COMMAREA(data-name)] [CHANNEL(channel-name)] END-EXEC.
• TRANSID must be a 1 to 4 character transaction id defined in the PCT.
• COMMAREA names the data area passed to the next execution of the program.
• Use either COMMAREA or CHANNEL, not both.