Standard ISPF naming conventions

Each component of the library name can be up to 8 alphanumeric or national characters; the first one must be alphabetic. This conforms to standard TSO data set naming conventions. For convenience, any cataloged data set (sequential or partitioned) with a three-level name can be entered in the Project, Group, and Type fields, with one level of the name in each field. If a cataloged data set with four or more levels is to be entered, multiple levels of the name may be entered in each field, with each level being separated by a period.

If both a library and a data set name are specified on the same panel, the data set name takes priority. Therefore, to specify a library, leave the Data Set Name field blank.

When the library identification appears in a title line or message, the project name, group name, and type name are separated with periods. A member name, if applicable, is enclosed in parentheses. For example:

PROJECT.GROUP.TYPE(MEMBER)

On most data entry panels that allow a library name to be specified, a Member field is available:

   Member  . . . PROJ1

Member

The name of an ISPF library or other partitioned data set member. Leaving this field blank or entering a pattern causes ISPF to display a member list. See Displaying member lists for more information.

A pattern is a partial member name that uses either an * (asterisk) or % (percent sign) as place holders:

A * symbol represents a string of characters
A % symbol represents only 1 character

ISPF matches the pattern to any like member names in the specified data set.

The ISPF library's project, group, and type must always accompany the member name, if entered. If you try to edit a member that does not exist, ISPF provides an Edit display screen with a blank data area.

Member names entered in the Member field or those enclosed in parentheses and entered in the Data Set Name field must follow standard ISPF naming conventions.

If you have a partitioned data set with members whose names do not follow ISPF naming conventions, ISPF allows limited processing, as follows:

View (option 1) allows any character string as a member name in either the Member or Data Set Name field and attempts to View or Browse the specified member.
Edit (option 2) allows an existing member with a nonstandard member name to be edited. You cannot create a member with a nonstandard member name.

ISPF cannot process member names that begin with a blank or have embedded blanks which can cause unpredictable results. Also, ISPF cannot process member names that include special characters, such as an ampersand (&). CLIST processing in both Foreground (option 4) and Batch (option 5) can result in a runtime error.