There's the definition of reentrant and then there's the handling of the RENT 
option in various contexts. Don't expect the Binder to be consistent with the 
Linkage Editor, or that the behavior of load modules, program objects and Unix 
files will be consistent. But it would be nice if IBM ever disentangled the 
mess.

BTW, I consider it bad form for code to modify itself, even if it is in fact 
reentrant or refreshable.


--
Shmuel (Seymour J.) Metz
http://mason.gmu.edu/~smetz3

________________________________________
From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List <IBM-MAIN@listserv.ua.edu> on behalf of 
Paul Gilmartin <0000000433f07816-dmarc-requ...@listserv.ua.edu>
Sent: Friday, May 25, 2018 7:49 PM
To: IBM-MAIN@listserv.ua.edu
Subject: Re: How to get BPX loadhfs (BPX1LOD) to load module into writable 
memory?

On Fri, 25 May 2018 22:23:09 +0200, Peter Hunkeler wrote:

>>> What was Peter H. (informally?) quoting without citation?
> >
>>In: z/OS  IBM MVS Program Management: User's Guide and Reference
>>Version 2 Release 3  SA23-1393-30
>
>Re-read my post and you will find my citation. I admit I missed the word 
>"Reference" and I did not include the pubs number. I thought it would be 
>understood, nevertheless. It seems, not. I'm sorry for the confusion this may 
>have caused.
>
OK.  You posted from "Glossary" (which I hadn't noticed):
reenterable
    The reusability attribute that allows a program to be used concurrently by 
more
    than one task. A reenterable module can modify its own data or other shared
    resources, if appropriate serialization is in place to prevent interference 
between
    using tasks. See reusability.
>
That's how I recall the behavior from decades ago.  But it appears to be 
contradicted,
at least in spirit, by the "options reference":

On Fri, 25 May 2018 13:23:58 -0500, Paul Gilmartin wrote:

>On Tue, 22 May 2018 15:27:32 -0400, Thomas David Rivers wrote:
>
>>The BPX loadhfs function (BPX1LOD) loads an HFS executable
>>into memory.
>>
>>It seems, that sometimes, this is loaded into writable memory
>>and sometimes into read-only memory.
>>
>>There doesn't seem to be a way to indicate which is desired.. is there
>>some OS-interface that writable memory be used?
>>
>What was Peter H. (informally?) quoting without citation?
>
>In: z/OS  IBM MVS Program Management: User's Guide and Reference
>Version 2 Release 3  SA23-1393-30
>
>Chapter 6. Binder options reference
>Binder options
>REUS: Reusability options`
>RENT
>    The module is reenterable. It can be executed by more than one
>    task at a time. A task can begin executing it before a previous
>    task has completed execution. A reenterable module is ordinarily
>    expected not to modify its own code. In some cases, MVS protects
>    the reentrant module's virtual storage so that it cannot be
>    modified except by a program running in key 0. These cases
>    include programs which the system treats as having been loaded
>    from an authorized library, and also programs running under UNIX
>    unless a debugging environment has been specified.
>
>    Reenterable modules are also serially reusable.
>
>So, WAD.
>
>I dislike some things about this:
>
>o "include" is undesirably vague.  The Ref. should specify exactly
>  the cases in which ... programs are [so] treated.  A precise "are"
>  is preferable to the imprecise "include".  What other cases may
>  there be?  "[T]reats as having been ..." is likewise vague.  Provide
>  at least a citation of an explanation of what this means.
>
>o Simpler Is Better.  I see no good reason to treat "programs running
>  under UNIX" differently from other programs.
>
>o "ordinarily expected".  Is this a retreat from the earlier well-known
>  rule (cited by Peter) that a RENT program was allowed to modify its
>  own code given proper serialization?

-- gil

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