z/OS system symbols

System symbols are divided into two classes: dynamic and static. Static symbols are symbols for which values are set at z/OS® initialization. They retain their values until z/OS is re-initialized (by means of an IPL) or until someone explicitly changes the values by using an operator command.

You can use the following z/OS operator command to list the set of static system symbols that your site currently uses:

D SYMBOLS

For more information about your site's static system symbols, contact your systems support department.

Dynamic system symbols are symbols for which values change over time. The following list of symbols is for z/OS 2.1. If your site uses a different version or release of z/OS, the dynamic system symbols that you can use might be different. To determine the symbols that are valid at your site, refer to the MVS™ Initialization and Tuning Reference for your z/OS version and release.

Note: System symbols do not have a short form.

System symbols

&DAY: The day of the month based on Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). Values are two decimal digits in the range 01 through 31. Use &LDAY for the local day.
&HHMMSS: The time of day. Equivalent to &HR.&MIN.&SEC. Use &LHHMMSS for the local time.
&HR: The hour of the day based on UTC. Values are two decimal digits in the range of 00 through 23. Use &LHR for the local hour.
&JDAY: The Julian day of the year based on UTC. Values are three decimal digits in the range of 001 through 366.
&MIN: The minute of the hour based on UTC. Values are two decimal digits in the range of 00 through 59.
&MON: The month of the year based on UTC. Values are two decimal digits in the range of 01 through 12.
&SEC: The second of the minute based on UTC. Values are two decimal digits in the range of 00 through 59.
&WDAY: The day of the week based on UTC. Values are SUN, MON, TUE, WED, THU, FRI, and SAT.
&YR2: The year based on UTC. Values are shown in two decimal digits in the range of 00 through 99.
&YR4: The year based on UTC. Values are shown in two decimal digits in the range of 0000 through 9999.
&YYMMDD: The date based on UTC. Equivalent to &YR2. &MON.&DAY. Use &LYYMMDD for the local date.

Note: A dynamic system symbol named &JOBNAME also exists. However, the product symbol &JOBNAME supersedes it.

In an archive mask, a dynamic system symbol for a numeric value such as a date or time should be preceded by a non-numeric character to ensure that valid data set names are generated, for example, D&LYYMMDD and T&LHHMMSS.