Using the CREATE NAMEDEF Command

Specifically, a namedef is a 1- to 16-character string that represents one of the following:
  • File name and file type
  • Directory ID
  • File mode letter
To associate a namedef with the name of a real file or directory, you issue the CREATE NAMEDEF command prior to running the program. When the program runs, CMS does the operations on the file or directory the namedef represents. Now by using namedefs, you can run a program to process different files, directories, or file mode letters without changing the code and recompiling the program. For more information on using namedefs, see Using a Namedef. For more information on the CREATE NAMEDEF command, see the z/VM: CMS Commands and Utilities Reference.