I think we can blame JCL-based rules for that – I suspect that double-quote is NOT a valid substitute for apostrophe in those SDSF commands, as such substitution is also not valid in JCL.
After all, why would anyone use a “shift apostrophe” keystroke to get double quotes when simply typing the apostrophe will do? Laziness rules. Peter From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List <IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU> On Behalf Of Glenn Knickerbocker Sent: Friday, June 14, 2024 4:26 PM To: IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU Subject: Re: As a long-time Rexx programmer On Fri, 14 Jun 2024 11:51:23 -0400, Phil Smith III <li...@akphs.com> wrote: >"If the command contains special characters or blanks, enclose it in single >quotation marks." > >Might not be the best example, but it's clear from the doc that whoever wrote >it doesn't understand that unassigned Rexx variables return their literal >values. Actually, it appears to be correct if unnecessary, and nothing to do with the REXX syntax. I'm not all that familiar with SDSF, but after a little experiment I'm guessing the quotes either were required at some point in the past or are needed on some but not all commands. I get the same results from these two commands to list my own jobs, with and without single quotes: "ISFEXEC ST GSK*" "ISFEXEC 'ST GSK*'" If I put the command in double quotes instead: 'ISFEXEC "ST GSK*"' I get an error telling me it's looking for quotes but not that kind: ISF302E """ was seen in command position 9 where one of the following was expected: /, QUOTED-STRING, UNQUOTED-STRING. So I think this instruction really is about the actual command as evaluated, not the syntax of specifying it in REXX. ¬R -- 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
