System variables

The system variables are described with type and pool information in the following tables. The variables are also discussed with the ISPF service to which they apply.

Commonly used system variables that a dialog can access are listed below. They are grouped by topic.

The first column gives the name of the variable. The second column indicates in which pool the variable resides. The following abbreviations are used:

func: Function pool
shr: Shared pool
prof: Profile pool
any: Any pool.

The third column indicates the variable's type. The following abbreviations are used:

in: Input variable, set by a dialog to provide information to ISPF
out: Output variable, set by ISPF to provide information to dialogs
non: Non-modifiable output variable
i/o: Both an input and an output variable.

The fourth column gives the length of the variable.

The fifth column gives a brief description of the variable.

Numeric system variables set by ISPF are right-justified and padded with zeros on the left, if necessary. If a program function uses the VCOPY service to access the variable, the value will be in character string format rather than in fixed binary format.