The file name and the user ID are entered in the file catalog (separately). The path name is the name for a BS2000 file, including the catalog ID and the user ID. It uniquely identifies a permanent or temporary file, a file generation, or a file generation group.
Format
pathname = :catid:$userid.filename
The maximum total length is 54 characters.
catid
Catalog ID; identifier of the pubset in which the file is cataloged. Length: 1 to 4 characters.
Default catalog ID: the catalog ID assigned to the user ID in the user catalog, i.e. the ID of the pubset on which the user's files are created by default.
A catalog ID must always be enclosed between colons (:catid:).
userid
User ID. Length: max. 8 characters.
Default user ID: normally the user ID of the current job, i.e. the one specified in the SET-LOGON-PARAMETERS command; For “secondary read”, a default user ID at the system level can be used: all files which are to be accessible to all users are cataloged under this user ID (see section "System default user ID" and "Access via the system default user ID").
When referring to a file, the user ID must always be preceded by a “$” character and terminated with a period ($userid.).
filename
A fully qualified file name defined by the user; its length is dependent on the typeof file:
for permanent files max. 41 characters
for temporary user files max. 31 characters (including the prefix)
for file generation groups max. 34 characters
If the catalog ID consists of more than one character, the maximum possible length is reduced if the total length of the catalog ID (including colons) and that of the user ID (including the “$” character and period) exceeds 13 characters (:catid:$userid.).