Skip to content

Path Name Syntax

You can access z/OS data sets, Unix files, JES files, and ZMF components from any program or batch file, or from the Windows command line using ChangeMan ZDD path names.

UNC Path Name Syntax

Path names are specified in UNC format, where the path name is preceded by a double backslash, followed by the server name. The other components in the path name mirror what you see in the File Explorer tree view. UNC path names cannot exceed 260 characters in length.

\\MyServer\...

Extended Path Name Syntax

You can also use an extended path name syntax, which supports path names of any length (up to 32,767 characters). It is possible to have very long Unix path names that exceed the limit for UNC path names.

In the extended path name syntax, the server name is preceded by "\\?\ZOS\".

\\?\ZOS\MyServer\...

The extended path name syntax can also be slightly faster than UNC path names, because it explicitly identifies the path name as a ZDD Network path, and it bypasses UNC name resolution.

Some programs, however, may not accept the extended path name syntax. Windows API functions, however, do accept this syntax.

Alternate Server Connections

It is possible to have several user IDs logged on to a single server at the same time using alternate connections. Each server can have up to 255 alternate connections.

An alternate connection is specified by appending the connection ID (1 – 255) to the server name, separated by a colon (“:”). It can also be specified by appending the connection ID enclosed in parentheses. The default connection ID is 0, and does not need to be specified.

\\MyServer:3\MyChangeMan\...

\\MyServer(3)\MyChangeMan\...

-- or extended syntax:

\\?\ZOS\MyServer:3\MyChangeMan\...

\\?\ZOS\MyServer(3)\MyChangeMan\...

The File Explorer user interface only displays the default connection. Alternate connections are available only using path names.

User-defined Folder Names

When accessing files using a path name, you can omit the user-defined folder name. The root folder ("DataSets", "Jobs", or "Unix"), however, must always be specified in order to distinguish between data set names, job names, and Unix path names.

Note

If a data set or job folder is specified, the data set or job being opened must match the filters for that folder.

Unix Examples

Following are examples of how Unix path names can be specified either by going through a user-defined folder, or by omitting the folder name and specifying the actual Unix directory path.

Both of the following path names could be used to access the “taxes.java” file from the command line or from a program:

\\Server1\Unix\u\mystuff\source\taxes.java

\\Server1\Unix\!MyStuff\source\taxes.java

The first example shows the full path name on the mainframe server.

The second example shows the path name using the user-defined folder !MyStuff in ChangeMan ZDD (the target directory for the !MyStuff folder is /u/mystuff).

Data Set Examples

Following are examples of how data sets can be accessed using UNC syntax (the folder name is optional):

\\server\DataSets\data.set.name or

\\server\DataSets\folder\data.set.name

\\server\DataSets\data.set.name\member or

\\server\DataSets\folder\data.set.name\member

Job Examples

Following are examples of how job output can be accessed using UNC syntax:

\\server\Jobs\jobname.jobid\dsid.jobstep.procstep.ddname.list

\\server\Jobs\jobname.jobid\.SYSOUT.list

\\server\Jobs\.JCL.cntl

In the example above: jobid is a unique job id assigned by JES (such as JOB02173), and

dsid is a unique spool data set id assigned by JES (such as D0000012). Every job has the following special files:

  • .SYSOUT.list - Used to access all of the job output as a single file.

  • .JCL.cntl - Contains the JCL input stream for the job. Requires SerNet 7.1.1+.

Servers or Root Folders Mapped to Drive Letters

When an entire server is mapped to a drive letter, data sets and job output can be accessed as follows:

  • Z:\DataSets\data.set.name

  • Z:\DataSets\data.set.name\member

  • Z:\Jobs\jobname.jobid\dsid.jobstep.procstep.ddname.list

  • Z:\Jobs\jobname.jobid\.SYSOUT.list

  • Z:\Unix\u\temp\temp.txt

When one of the root folders, DataSets, Jobs, or Unix, is mapped to a drive letter, the path name is shortened to:

  • D:\data.set.name

  • D:\data.set.name\member

  • J:\jobname.jobid\dsid.jobstep.procstep.ddname.list

  • J:\jobname.jobid\.SYSOUT.list

  • U:\u\temp\temp.txt

Back to top