z/OS file names

Format (z/OS)

Meaning

':S:first-qual>.filename'
or
:S:filename

Specification for PS dataset
:S:

prefix for identifying a PS data set (no restrictions)

first-qual

“first level qualifier”
Specification of login name;
Available characters: A...Z, 0...9, $, #, @;
max. 7 characters; must not start with a digit or alias name (max. 8 characters)

filename

partially qualified file name
can be split up into several subnames using dots:
name₁[.name₂[...]]
name_i is up to 8 characters long; available characters:
A...Z, 0...9, $, #, @; must not start with a digit
The partially qualified file name can be up to 36 characters long
Fully qualified name
The fully qualified file name (first-qual.filename) can be up to 44 characters long.

':S:first-qual.
gengroup.Gmmmm.Vnn'
or
:S:gen-group.Gmmmm.Vnn

Specification for absolute file generation
:S:

prefix for identifying a PS data set (no restrictions)

first-qual

See “Specification for PS dataset” for syntax

gen-group

See filename in “Specification for PS dataset” for syntax
Exception: partially qualified file name, up to 27 characters;
fully qualified file name up to 35 characters

Gmmmm.Vnn

absolute file generation
mmmm absolute generation number (0000 - 9999)
nn version number (00 - 99)

':S:first-qual.
gen-group(rel-gen-no)'
or
:S:gen-group(rel-gen-no)

Specification for relative file generation
:S:

prefix for identifying a PS data set (no restrictions)

first-qual

See “Specification for PS dataset” for syntax

gen-group

See gen-group in “Specification for absolute file generation” for syntax

rel-gen-no

relative generation number

0 +/-m

= =

current generation 1 - 99 for partially qualified specification (without first-qual and quotation marks) 1 - 255 for fully qualified specification (with first-qual and quotation marks)

':prefix':first-qual.

filename(membername)'
or
:prefix:filename
(membername)

Specification for PO or PDSE member
:prefix:

prefix for identifying the file organization (no restrictions);
can have the following values:
:O: for PO
:E: for PDSE
:L: for PO or PDSE

first-qual

Syntax see “Specification for PS dataset”

filename

Partially qualified file name of PO or PDSE dataset
Syntax see filename in “Specification for PS dataset”

membername

Name of PO or PDSE member
max. 8 characters long, available characters: A...Z, 0...9,
$, #, @; must not start with a digit

“:V:first-qual.filename”
or
:V:filename

Specification for VSAM file of type "entry-sequenced"
:V:

Optional prefix for designation of a VSAM file of
"entry-sequenced"

first-qual

Syntax see "Specification for PS data set"

filename

Partially-qualified file name of VSAM file
Syntax see filename in "Specification for PS data set"

':prefix:

first-qual.filename'
or

:prefix:filename

Specification for a complete PO or PDSE data set
:prefix:

prefix for identifying the file organization (no restrictions);
can have the following values:
:O: for PO
:E: for PDSE
:L: for PO or PDSE

first-qual

See "Specification for PS data set" for syntax

filename

partially-qualified file name of PO or PDSE data set
See filename in "Specification for PS data set" for syntax
Exception: maximum length of partially-qualified file name is 34 characters, fully-qualified file name is 42 characters.
Thus the maximum permitted file name length is, for both partly and fully qualified specifications, 2 characters shorter than for a PS data set. This is because the name of a temporary data set required to transfer a complete PO or PDSE data set is formed by adding ".U", see manual "openFT (z/OS) - Command Interface".

openEdition files

The file names comply with the POSIX conventions.

Format with z/OS	Meaning
filename	Components of an openEdition filename. String up to 255 characters in length. This comprises either one or two periods or alphanumeric characters and special characters. The character / is not permitted.
pathname	openEdition file name Input format: [.]/[part1/.../partn] where partn is a POSIX file name; up to 512 characters. If the name starts with /, it is interpreted as an absolute path name. If the name starts with ./, it is a “relative” path name and is relative to the directory for the user ID, e.g. /u/userid in lowercase characters/.