Built-in variable

A built-in variable is a name that represents a value from data areas provided by the Fast Path/EP product or by IMS, such as the definition of the database, area, or a segment. Such values can be referenced by name and used in an expression as needed.

Related topic

Operands

Built-in variables that define a segment can optionally be qualified by using a segment name, as in the following:

[segment-name .]variable

An example expression that includes a segment name definition, followed by a built-in variable follows:

OUTPUT SEGMENT=SEGB,FIELDS=(SEGA.SEGMENT_CODE,3:*)

If no segment qualification is specified, a default segment is implied. The default segment is identified elsewhere, normally using the SEGMENT keyword. So if SEGA was not specified, then SEGB would be used as shown in the above example.

Built-in variables that are available for use within expressions are shown in the following table:

Important

The default for these variables is local time.

Built-in variable name	Data- type	Description	Usage availability/limitations
Common Variables
AREA_NAME	8C	Area DDname	Available for all expression types
AREA_NUMBER	1X	Area number	Available for all expression types
DBD_AREAS	2F	Number of areas defined in DBD	Available for all expression types
DBD_LEVELS	2F	Number of segment levels defined in DBD	Available for all expression types
DBD_NAME	8C	DBD member name	Available for all expression types
DBD_SEGMENTS	2F	Number of segments defined in DBD	Available for all expression types
RUNDATE¹	4X	Date that the program began execution	Available for all expression types
RUNDATETIME¹	12X	Date and time the program began execution	Available for all expression types
RUNTIME¹	4X	Time the program began execution	Available for all expression types
TODAY¹	4X	Alias of RUNDATE	Available for all expression types
Segment Definition Variable
SEGMENT_CKEY	n1C²	Concatenated key for current segment	Not available for expressions that define: Database-level header records Area-level header records Database-level trailer records Area-level trailer records
SEGMENT_CODE	1X	Segment code
SEGMENT_LEVEL	1X	Segment hierarchical level
SEGMENT_NAME	8C	Segment name
SEGMENT_LENGTH	2F	Length of segment
^{1 The DATE_TIME_FORMAT keyword does not apply to this variable.} ^{2 The maximum length for a concatenated key is computed using the DBD definition. The length specified includes a 2-byte prefix containing the current length of the character string (fixed point binary). This format matches the format used by the PL/I programming language.}

Format and example of RUNDATE, TODAY, RUNTIME, and RUNDATETIME built-in variables

Built-in variable name	Format	Example
RUNDATE	’yyyydddS’	X’2001163F’
TODAY	’yyyydddS’	X’2001163F’
RUNTIME	’hhmmssth’	X’17171254’
RUNDATETIME	’yyyydddShhmmssthmijuOFF’	X’200163F1717125400000000’

Built-in variable

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