Path name considerations

An absolute path name is a sequence that begins with a slash for the root, followed by one or more directory names separated with slashes, and ends with a directory name or a file name. The search for the file begins at the root and continues through the elements in the path name until it gets to the final name.

DFSMSdss uses a concatenation of the specified WORKINGDIRECTORY path and each path in the INCLUDE statement to generate an absolute path. The generated path name has the following constraints:
  1. Path names should be specified within single quotes.
  2. The absolute path can be up to 1023 characters in length. The length includes all directory names, separating slashes, and file name. This does not include the surrounding quotes.
  3. File names are limited to 255 characters in length.
  4. All valid path names, including path names that do not conform to the portable character set are supported.
  5. The following DFSMSdss special characters need to be preceded by an escape character (\) in order to be specified as a path name character. Not escaping the following characters can result in undesired behavior:
    1. Single quote (‘) – this character is used as a delimiter to determine the beginning and ending of a path name.
    2. Spaces – this character is used as a delimiter for command word separation.
    3. Semicolon (;) – this character is used for command termination.
    4. Backslash (\) – this character is used as an escape character.
    5. Asterisk – this character is a typical wildcard designator.