I’ll admit I have NOT used symbol substitution in the “name” part (left of the “=”) at all, only on the right (value) side, so the true answer is “I don’t know”. Never had a reason to use substitution in the “name” part.
I personally haven’t had reason to use dynamic system symbols that could change at midnight in production JCL, only in test JCL I was running during normal daytime business hours, and usually only the “date” symbols like LYYMMDD, not the “time” ones. If I had to use them in production JCL I would probably use Michael Oujesky’s solution of assigning that system dynamic symbol once to a private symbol name and then use the private symbol name everywhere else it is needed. I also have never had reason/need to use JCL continuation for the “value” part of a symbol definition, all my symbols have fairly short values. I use a LOT of symbols in my test JCL for easy flexibility of running tests varying critical application parameter values and dataset names, with multiple symbols for each different part of the standardly-named files. I can see that a symbol definition using multiple other symbols for the value could exceed column 71, but I haven’t had that need. When I get a chance I will try the new feedback process. Peter From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List <IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU> On Behalf Of Paul Gilmartin Sent: Saturday, October 7, 2023 1:45 PM To: IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU Subject: Re: JCL symbols used to define other JCL symbols [was: RE: Is SMP/E needed for installs?] On Sat, 7 Oct 2023 09:41:56 -0700, Ed Jaffe wrote: >On 9/20/2023 8:23 AM, Farley, Peter wrote: >> ... JCL symbols as part of the definition of other JCL symbols works >> flawlessly every time. > Is this true alike for substitution both in the name (left of the "=") and in the value (right of the "=")? In <https://www.ibm.com/docs/en/zos/3.1.0?topic=symbols-determining-equivalent-jcl> Substitute all symbols. ... Symbols on JCL records are treated as if they resolved simultaneously. Peter Relson (IIRC) answered my question hers that near midnight &DATE and &TIME might be resolved at a time when their values are inconsistent. This requires some explanation of "simultaneously". There ought to be a lock to prevent this. (REXX does it right.) And some explanation of the effect of resolving a symbol changing the content of column 72 from blank to non-blank or vice-versa. >Agreed 100%. We use that feature all the time for in-house JCL and also >for distributed product JCL. > >This seems like a golden opportunity to test the IBM Documentation >Feedback process. > >Give it a try and let us know if you actually get a response... > Yes. -- This message and any attachments are intended only for the use of the addressee and may contain information that is privileged and confidential. If the reader of the message is not the intended recipient or an authorized representative of the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination of this communication is strictly prohibited. If you have received this communication in error, please notify us immediately by e-mail and delete the message and any attachments from your system. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN
