You can sometimes use KEYWORD names such as IF, THEN, ELSE, SELECT, WHEN, OTHERWISE, GT, LE, etc. as variables or labels within a CLIST without a problem as long as its usage context is not ambiguous and does not infer its reserved usage. However, it is strongly recommended that you not use CLIST statement names, built-in function names, or CLIST control variable names for anything other than their intended use. Doing so might be allowable in a given context, but it could be confusing to anyone else trying to maintain such a CLIST over time. For clarity, usage of CLIST instruction or statement names, CLIST built-in function names, or CLIST built-in variable names should be avoided for any usage other than its predefined, intended use for those named entities.

SPECIAL variables and CLIST control variables are discussed in Using control variables, and listed in Table 1, Table 2, and Table 3. These include variables beginning with &SYS... and the special variables &LASTCC and &MAXCC.