Common format of ETO descriptor statements

Each descriptor statement must be 80 characters in length.

All statements are translated to uppercase. The basic format of each of the descriptor types is shown in the following table.

Table 1. Descriptor type formats
Column number Contains Considerations
01 The descriptor type indicator:

L (logon)
M (MSC)
U (user)
D (MFS device)

 If an asterisk (*) is in column 01, the record is considered a comment record and is ignored.
03-10 The descriptor name
  • All descriptor names must be 1-8 alphanumeric characters.
  • The first character for logon and user descriptors must be alphabetic (A-Z, #, $, or @).
  • Duplicate descriptor names are allowed if they are grouped, because more parameters might be required than can exist in an 80-byte record.
  • For MSC descriptors, this column contains the link name.
12-72 Parameters for each descriptor
  • Parameters vary by type.
  • They are delineated by blanks.
  • They are typically in the same format as the equivalent parameters specified in the stage 1 input deck.
73-80 Can contain sequence numbers IMS ignores these columns.