Attribute Syntax

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Each entry in the attribute file has the format:

ATTRIBUTE-NAME=value

The following rules and restrictions apply:

  • A line can contain multiple entries separated by commas.

  • Attribute names can be entered in mixed upper and lowercase.

  • Spaces between attribute names, values and separators are ignored.

  • Spaces in the attribute names are not allowed.

  • Commas and equal signs are not allowed in value notations.

  • Lines starting with an asterisk (*) are treated as comment lines. Within a line, characters following an * or # sign are also treated as comments.

  • The CLASS keyword must be the first keyword in a service definition.

  • Multiple services can be included in a single service definition section. The attribute settings will apply to all services defined in the section.

  • Attributes specified after the service definition (CLASS, SERVER, SERVICE keywords) overwrite the default characteristics for the service.

  • Attribute values can contain variables of the form ${variable name} or $variable name:

    • Due to variations in EBCDIC codepages, braces should only be used on ASCII (Linux or Windows) platforms or EBCDIC platforms using the IBM-1047 (US) codepage.

    • The variable name can contain only alphanumeric characters and the underscore (_) character.

    • The first non-alphanumeric or underscore character terminates the variable name.

    • Under Linux and Windows, the string ${variable name} is replaced with the value of the corresponding environment variable.

    • Under z/OS, variable values are read from a file defined by the DD name ETBVARS. The syntax of this file is the same as the attribute file.

    • If a variable has no value: if the variable name is enclosed in braces, error 00210594 is given, otherwise $variable name will be used as the variable value.

    • If you encounter problems with braces (and this is quite possible in a z/OS environment), we suggest you omit the braces.