I think Gil's question was more of a "why is the symbolic string limited to 44 characters?" I could have a symbol of &PAYROLL that resolves to a single character. If I have several of these in a symbolic string I could easily run out of the 44 character limit pre-resolution and still end up with a perfectly valid 44 max character dataset name.
We have some symbols that perform exactly like that at my shop. Rex -----Original Message----- From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List <IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU> On Behalf Of Jay Maynard Sent: Tuesday, March 29, 2022 1:15 PM To: IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU Subject: Re: [EXTERNAL] Re: IDCAMS ALIAS vs a symbolic link? The maximum length of a dataset name has been 44 characters since the very earliest days of System/360. On Tue, Mar 29, 2022 at 1:06 PM Paul Gilmartin < 0000000433f07816-dmarc-requ...@listserv.ua.edu> wrote: > On Tue, 29 Mar 2022 17:48:20 +0000, Pommier, Rex wrote: > > ... > > ... The symbolic string must not exceed 44 characters, including > > all > name segments and periods. > > > Thanks. I see it in: < > https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.ibm.com/docs/en/zos/2.1.0?topi > c=systems-extended-alias-support__;!!KjMRP1Ixj6eLE0Fj!-uL7D3ikH6Tk4XGu > URdmdrS9UKjKhUEnYC2G_Bb8Um8TRMM86KGL7TJNWwoxhn4gtQ$ > >. > > I wonder why IBM chose that number. It seems unduly restrictive; > ill-considered. > > -- > gil > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send > email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN > -- Jay Maynard ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN ---------------------------------------------------------------------- The information contained in this message is confidential, protected from disclosure and may be legally privileged. If the reader of this message is not the intended recipient or an employee or agent responsible for delivering this message to the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any disclosure, distribution, copying, or any action taken or action omitted in reliance on it, is strictly prohibited and may be unlawful. If you have received this communication in error, please notify us immediately by replying to this message and destroy the material in its entirety, whether in electronic or hard copy format. Thank you. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN
