On Thu, Dec 12, 2013 at 3:29 PM, zMan <[email protected]> wrote:

> In a DB2 sample (DSNA10.SDSNSAMP(DSN8FPRC)) I find (in various places, not
> all together!):
>
> &SYSPARM START 0
> &SYSPARM.0 CSECT
> &SYSPARM.4 CSECT
> &SYSPARM.8 CSECT
> &SYSPARM.$ CSECT
> &SYSPARM.$ CSECT
>
> The module name is set via &SYSPARM at assembly time, I get that. But the
> .0 and friends confuse me -- I've never seen this before. Looking at
>
> http://pic.dhe.ibm.com/infocenter/zos/v1r12/index.jsp?topic=%2Fcom.ibm.zos.r12.asma400%2Fcsect.htmI
> find that the symbol (label) can be:
>
>    - An ordinary symbol
>    - A variable symbol that has been assigned a character string with a
>    value that is valid for an ordinary symbol
>    - A sequence symbol
>
> But then it doesn't explain what a "sequence symbol" is, and all the
> references to "sequence symbol" elsewhere seem to refer to what I've always
> called "macro labels" (the .whatever in column in that you AGO to in a
> macro).
>
> Can anyone point me at something that describes what the .0 et al. mean?
> Are they "sequence symbols", and if so, what does that mean here?
>
> Thanks in advance -- 30 years of assembler, still learning stuff!
> --
> zMan -- "I've got a mainframe and I'm not afraid to use it"
>

The period can be thought of as either a delimiter or a concatenation
operator

Example: if &SYSPARM is "ABC" then &SYSPARM.0 is "ABC0".




--
This is clearly another case of too many mad scientists, and not enough
hunchbacks.

Maranatha! <><
John McKown

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