Data Set Naming Conventions

In addition to the rules, you can make use of certain naming conventions that will make TSO/E easier for you to use. These conventions are an offshoot of the rules. Thus a data set name that follows the naming rules might not follow the naming conventions. The conventions are:
  • Data set names consist of three qualifiers.
  • The first qualifier of each data set name is your prefix as specified in your user profile. Sometimes your prefix is your user ID.
  • The second qualifier of each data set name is your choice; it should be a meaningful name to you.
  • The third qualifier is a descriptive qualifier implying certain characteristics of the data. See the following table.
    Table 1. Descriptive Qualifiers
    Descriptive Qualifier Data Set Contents
    ASM Assembler (F) input
    CLIST TSO/E commands and CLIST statements
    CNTL JCL and SYSIN for SUBMIT command
    COBOL American National Standard COBOL statements
    DATA Uppercase text
    EXEC TSO/E commands and REXX instructions
    FORT FORTRAN (E, G, GI, H, and GOFORT) statements
    LINKLIST Output listing from linkage editor
    LIST Listings
    LOAD Load module
    LOADLIST Output listing from loader
    OBJ Object module
    OUTLIST Output listing from OUTPUT command
    PASCAL PASCAL statements
    PLI PL/I(F), PL/I Checkout, or PL/I Optimizing compiler statements
    TESTLIST Output listing from TEST command
    TEXT Uppercase and lowercase text
    VSBASIC VSBASIC statements

A data set name that consists of a prefix, a user-supplied name, and a descriptive qualifier is a fully-qualified data set name. A fully-qualified data set name looks like:

When you refer to partitioned data sets, enclose the member name in parentheses immediately following the descriptive qualifier. A fully-qualified partitioned data set name looks like:

You do not have to use the conventional descriptive qualifiers when naming a TSO/E data set. However, when a data set name adheres to the conventions, you can refer to the data set by an abbreviated version of the name, and the system supplies the rest of the name.

Example
When you allocate data set PREFIX.OLD.DATA with your prefix, you need only specify the second and third qualifiers because the system assumes your prefix as the first qualifier. 
ALLOCATE DATASET(old.data) …

You must enclose the data set name in single quotation marks if you specify a fully-qualified data set name with a prefix (leftmost qualifier) that is not your own.

Example
When specifying data set PROG.LIST that belongs to a user whose prefix is USER505, type: 
'user505.prog.list'