It is true that MVS does not have a universal convention analogous to the UNIX STDIN/STDOUT/STDERR one, but such conventions are not absent from its components. Things written in PL/I, for example, do have SYSIN, SYSPRINT, and the LE message file option available to them.
What it is reasonable to expect is or should be contextual. Neither DFSORT nor SYNCHSORT would, for example, be of much use if they did not support alternate ddname sets, and both of them of course do so; IBM's batch utilities are expected to and do have SYSIN and SYSPRINT; etc., etc. These things said, it is not reasonable to expect an arbitrary program written in 1989 to support the use of alternate ddname sets; but I do not think Scott had any such expectation. John Gilmore, Ashland, MA 01721 - USA ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to [email protected] with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN
