Qualifying variables and changing the point of view
Each HLL defines a concept of name scoping to allow you, within
a single compile unit, to know what data is referenced when a name
is used (for example, if you use the same variable name in two different
procedures). Similarly, z/OS® Debugger defines
the concepts of qualifiers and point of view for the run-time environment
to allow you to reference all variables in a program, no matter how
many subroutines it contains. The assignment x = 5 does
not appear difficult for z/OS Debugger to process.
However, if you declare x in more than one subroutine,
the situation is no longer obvious. If x is not in
the currently executing compile unit, you need a way to tell z/OS Debugger how
to determine the proper x.
You also need a way to change the z/OS Debugger's point of view to allow it to reference variables it cannot currently see (that is, variables that are not within the scope of the currently executing block or compile unit, depending upon the HLL's concept of name scoping).
Refer to the following topics for more information related to the material discussed in this topic.
- Related tasks
- Qualifying variables
- Changing the point of view