When converting/interpreting, DSN=&BIX could be processed to accept what would otherwise be an undefined symbol. Anywhere else, including DSN=FOO.&BIX or SPACE=&BIX could fail if &BIX is not defined
> -----Original Message----- > From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List <[email protected]> On > Behalf Of Paul Gilmartin > Sent: Thursday, December 02, 2021 3:53 PM > To: [email protected] > Subject: Re: Trying to use long parm= in started task > > On Thu, 2 Dec 2021 23:01:27 +0000, Gibney, Dave wrote: > > >DSN=&TEMPDSN could be treated as an exception. Any other undefined > symbols could be identified and flagged as an error. > > > That profits little: > o You need more than one. A programmer may have several temp DSNs > active > in a step. So, &TMPDS01, &TMPDS02, ..., &TMPDS99 might suffice. > o But you're requiring the user to change JCL to use the special form. The > user > might as well change to &&. > o You're introducing reserved symbols, undesirable when needless. > > I prefer mnemonics such as &&SYSEXEC for a library created with > IEBGENER > from instream and used in a later IRXJCL step. > > Don't prolong peeling the Band-Aid. "If it were done when ’tis done, then > ’twere well > It were done quickly". > > -- gil > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, > send email to [email protected] with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to [email protected] with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN
