Shell commands changed for UNIX03
z/OS® UNIX is UNIX95 conformant, with extensions to commands using formats (such as uppercase option letters) to avoid conflicts with subsequent UNIX standards. The specification of new options and changed command behavior by SUSv3 (also known as UNIX03) has resulted in conflicts with IBM's extensions.
The _UNIX03 shell variable was introduced in z/OS 1.8 as a means of controlling whether certain shell commands behave according to Single UNIX Specifications, version 3 (SUSv3). _UNIX03=YES is only needed when an option or behavior conflicts with an existing z/OS implementation, and the SUSv3 behavior is desired. Additional command changes introduced in z/OS 1.9 have behavior conflicts controlled by the _UNIX03 variable. If _UNIX03 is not set (or set to "NO"), the z/OS 1.9 commands will maintain compatibility with prior releases.
- /etc/profile
- /etc/csh.cshrc
- /etc/csh.login
- /etc/rc
Users who want the SUSv3 conformant behavior can set _UNIX03=YES in their own profile files, or in specific scripts or command invocations where it is needed.
Table 1 lists the commands that were changed for UNIX03. (It is not a complete list of changes to shell commands.) For more detail, see the specific command description.
| Command | z/OS release introduced | Affected option or behavior | _UNIX03 =YES | _UNIX03 is unset or not YES |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| awk | 1.9 | Stricter rules on a
command-line argument being treated as a variable assignment Handling of break or continue statements outside of a loop |
No effect
Displays error and halts processing |
No effect
Displays warning, exits current pattern or function, and continues processing |
| bc | 1.9 | /usr/lib/lib.b
improved cos() and sin() performance |
No effect | No effect |
| cp | 1.8 | Options added or changed:
-H | L | P -W seqparms |
-P specifies symbolic
link handling |
-P params specifies
sequential data set parameters |
| cksum | 1.10 | Output and diagnostic messages | Output defaults to space-separated: If a filename operand is not specified, the path name and its leading white space is omitted. If a read error occurs, the checksum for that file is not displayed and a diagnostic message is sent to stderr. |
Output defaults to tab-separated: If a file operand is not specified, the path name and its leading tab is omitted. If a read error occurs, cksum attempts to display the available checksum to standard output and marks the output line with FSUM6199 [read error]. |
| ed | 1.9 | Minor changes in
subcommands c, i, g, G, v, V, l (lowercase L), s |
c and i subcommands:
accept address 0 as 1 g, G, v, V subcommands: unmark changed lines l (lowercase L) subcommand writes $ as \$ s subcommand: % without prior s subcommand is an error |
c and i subcommands:
reject address 0 g, G, v, V subcommands: leave lines marked l (lowercase L), subcommand does not escape $ characters s subcommand: % without prior s subcommand is accepted |
| file | 1.9 | Options added or changed:
-d -M -i New magic file format -h handling of link to a nonexistent file |
-m magic tested before
/etc/magic magic file (byte, short, long) format are signed -h is the default Output separator char is a space |
-m magic tested
instead of /etc/magic magic file (byte, short, long) format are unsigned -h is not the default (The default is to follow symbolic links) Output separator char is a tab |
| mailx | 1.9 | Default command-mode
subcommand Followup command-mode subcommand Honors the TZ environment variable Use tilde (~) as the escape character when escape variable is unset |
Default subcommand is
next Followup overrides the record variable |
Default subcommand is
Followup does not override the record variable |
| od | 1.9 | Output of signed single-byte
values |
No effect | No effect |
| pax | 1.8 | Options added or changed:
-H -x pax (new format) -o keyword=value (new keywords) pax -r restore of access permission bits, when neither -p p or -p e is specified |
-o multiple keyword/value pairs must be separated by commas (with white space allowed before a keyword) Files are restored with permissions 0666 modified by umask. |
-o multiple keyword/value pairs may be separated by commas or spaces Files are restored with saved permissions modified by umask. |
| sed | 1.9 | Subcommand preceded by !
s subcommand with w specified y subcommand with \n in a specified set of characters |
One or more !
characters are allowed w and file must be separated by blanks \n is treated as a newline |
Only one ! character is
allowed wfile is allowed or may be separated by blanks \n is treated as a character ‘n’ |
| sum | 1.10 | Output and diagnostic messages | Output defaults to space-separated: When a read error occurs, the checksum for that file is not displayed and a diagnostic message is sent to stderr. |
Output defaults to tab-separated: When a read error occurs, sum attempts to display the available checksum to stdout and marks the output line with FSUM6199 [read error]. |
| tr | 1.9 | Option added:
-C |
-c complements the
set of binary values in binary order |
-c complements the set of
characters in LC_COLLATE order (like the new -C behavior) |
| uudecode | 1.9 | Option added:
-o outfile /dev/stdout |
No effect | No effect |
| uuencode | 1.9 | Option added:
-m /dev/stdout |
No effect | No effect |