DLM can have a quoted string value for using non-alphanumeric/national characters, and ISPF edit allows one to enter non-printable hex characters into that two-byte quoted string pretty easily, so theoretically you can use any 2-byte hex value you want for DLM.
But for arbitrary input (e.g., a GOFF-format assembler object output file) , as Gil pointed out there is no way to tell a priori what 2-byte value to use which does not occur in the data stream. Allowing a 4-byte (or more) DLM value would improve the odds against a mistaken EOF signal, though not of course eliminate them. I'd vote for a 64-byte limit myself, but even that may be short-sighted. Peter -----Original Message----- From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Charles Mills Sent: Wednesday, January 06, 2016 2:33 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: Sort for not there? It's more like 39**2 than 65535, right? Only uppercase alphamerics? Agreed. JCL is kind of sad in many areas where it surely would not take a lot of resources to relieve some constraints (such as this one). The ability to specify hex (non-alphameric) DLM= values would improve things considerably here, with nada in the way of upward compatibility issues. Charles -----Original Message----- From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Paul Gilmartin Sent: Wednesday, January 06, 2016 11:04 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Sort for not there? (hyperspaced from ASSEMBLER-LIST) On 2016-01-06, at 11:45, John McKown wrote: >> >> //DD1 DD *,DLM=AA > > True. I've used $$ quite a bit myself. But in the _general_ case, how > can you guarantee that whatever characters you select will _not_ occur > as the first two characters in the "sample" data? > Well, the Pigeonhole Principle guarantees that if the data don't exceed 65,535 lines a suitable value must exist. But how to find it? I might take this to IBM-MAIN; someone is apt to jump in with a DFSORT/ICETOOL solution. Hmmm. Count occurences of each initial digraph and select any zero value. But are zeroes counted? Why isn't DLM allowed to be longer? If it were a few dozen characters, there's be a guaranteed value for any plausible size data set. I suppose one could concatenate SYSINs with a different DLM for each, until the concatenation limit was encountered. I hate JCL! It ain't 1965 no more; we shouldn't be burdened with resource constraints designed for 1965. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to [email protected] with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN 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 [email protected] with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN
