FILENAME Function: z/OS

Assigns or deassigns a fileref for an external file, a directory, or an output device.
Category: External Files
z/OS specifics: Host options, devices
See: FILENAME Function in SAS Functions and CALL Routines: Reference

Syntax

FILENAME(fileref,filename<,device <,host-options> > )

Required Arguments

fileref
in a DATA step, specifies the fileref to assign to an external file. In a DATA step, fileref can be a character expression, a string enclosed in quotation marks, or a DATA step variable whose value contains the fileref. If fileref is a literal fileref name, it must be in quotation marks. If fileref is the name of a character variable whose value is a fileref name, it must not be quoted.
In a macro (for example, in the %SYSFUNC function), fileref is the name of a macro variable (without an ampersand) whose value contains the fileref to assign to the external file. In a macro, fileref can be any expression.
filename
specifies the external file. Specifying a blank filename (' ') deassigns the fileref that was previously assigned.

Optional Arguments

device
specifies the type of device if the fileref points to an output device rather than to a physical file:
DISK
specifies a disk.
DUMMY
specifies that output to the file is discarded.
PIPE
specifies an unnamed pipe.
PLOTTER
specifies an unbuffered graphics output device.
PRINTER
specifies a printer or printer spool file.
TERMINAL
specifies the user's terminal.
TAPE
specifies a tape drive.
TEMP
creates a temporary file that exists only as long as the filename is assigned. The temporary file can be accessed only through the logical name and is available only while the logical name exists. If a physical pathname is specified, an error is returned. Files manipulated by the TEMP device can have the same attributes and behave identically to DISK files.
host-options
are host-specific options that can be specified in the FILENAME statement. These options can be categorized into several groups. For details, see the following sections:
You can specify host options in any order following the file specification and the optional device specification. When specifying more than one option, use a blank space to separate each option. Values for options can be specified with or without quotation marks. However, if a value contains one of the supported national characters ($, #, or @), the quotation marks are required.

Details

FILENAME returns 0 if the operation was successful, and a nonzero number if it was not successful.