In RPG, prototyped calls are also known as free-form calls. Free-form call refers to the call syntax where the arguments for the call are specified using free-form syntax, much like the arguments for built-in functions. It contrasts with fixed-form call, where the arguments are placed in separate specifications. There are two ways to make a free-form call, depending on whether there is a return value that is to be used. If there is no return value, use the CALLP operation. If there is one, and you want to use the value that is returned, then place the prototyped procedure within an expression, for example, with EVAL. If you use CALLP to a procedure that returns a value, the return value is ignored.
You can optionally code parentheses on procedure calls that do not have any parameters. This makes it easier to distinguish procedure calls from scalar variable names.
For information on passing prototyped parameters, see Passing Prototyped Parameters.