I don't see what the issue is. It simply says that if you code a DSN as a symbol and it is not resolved, then the symbol name itself becomes the temporary DSN
I'm not clear on why anyone would care about this behavior? Sent from my iPhone > On Jun 10, 2018, at 2:15 PM, Paul Gilmartin > <0000000433f07816-dmarc-requ...@listserv.ua.edu> wrote: > >> On Sat, 9 Jun 2018 16:13:34 -0700, Gerhard Adam wrote: >> >> This is the JCL Reference for z/OS 2.3 (page 183) >> >> Note: >> 1. In general, the system treats a single ampersand (&) followed by a >> character string of 1 to 8 characters as a symbolic parameter. (See “Using >> system symbols and JCL symbols” on page 38.) However, if you code a data set >> name as a symbolic parameter (by coding DSNAME=&xxxxxxxx), and do not assign >> a value to or nullify the symbolic parameter, the system will process it as >> a temporary data set name. > Yes. Thanks. And the previous page, Op. cit. 182: > > Data set name for temporary data set > ... > When you use DSNAME for a temporary data set, code the name as two ampersands > (&&) followed by a character string 1 to 8 characters in length: > o The first character following the ampersands must be alphabetic or > national.. > o The remaining characters must be alphanumeric or national. > The more I think about this, the less I like it. The Ref. gives a couple > examples > in lieu of a formal rule, leaving it to the clever reader to infer that rule. > There's > been much stumbling toward that ojective in this thread with statements such > as, "This seems to work, but I can't tell why." > > Rather, I'd omit the "Note:" as quoted. That information appears elswhere > the Ref. > and needn't appear redundantly here. Rather, page 182 should say: > > Data set name for temporary data set > ... > When you use DSNAME for a temporary data set, the equivalent JCL after symbol > substitution (as described on page 45, "Determining equivalent JCL") should be > a single ampersand (&) followed by a character string 1 to 8 characters in > length: > o The first character following the ampersands must be alphabetic or national. > o The remaining characters must be alphanumeric or national. > > This covers cases not currently described such as: > // SET TEMP='Who cares, anyway?' > // SET TTT='&TEMP' > //SYSUT2 DD DSN=&TTT,... > > -- gil > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, > send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN
