When only the required name is defined

A model application program name, including wildcard characters, can be a maximum of eight characters in length. A question mark (?) can be used anywhere in the model application program name. An asterisk (*) can be used in the second to eighth characters of the model application program name. Model application program names must be unique across all resources known to VTAM® (including model CDRSCs).

There is no defined limit on the number of dynamic application programs that can be created from one application program model definition, nor is there a defined limit on the number of model definitions that you can define.

Model definitions can be defined in any number of application program major nodes. Those model definitions can appear in an application major node along with conventionally defined APPL definition statements. The model definitions and conventionally defined APPL definition statements can appear in any order.

Table 1 shows examples of model application program names.

Table 1. Sample model application program names
Model application program name	Names that could match
APPL*	Any name that begins with "APPL," followed by zero to four additional valid characters in length. Examples: APPL APPL1 APPL1A APPL01A APPL1234
?*APPL	Any name that begins with at least one valid character, plus zero to three additional valid characters in length, followed by "APPL." Examples: A1APPL A1AAPPL A01AAPPL A123APPL
AP?L	Any four-character name that begins with "AP," followed by one valid character in length, and ends with "L." Examples: AP1L APPL AP$L AP0L
APPL?	Any five-character name that begins with "APPL," followed by one valid character in length. Examples: APPL1 APPLS APPL3 APPL0
A*APPL	Any name that begins with "A," followed by zero to three valid characters in length, and ends with "APPL." Examples: AAPPL A1APPL A01APPL A$12APPL A123APPL

Note: You cannot specify a wildcard name that begins with an asterisk (*) because VTAM interprets this as a comment line. To achieve the effect of a wildcard name that begins with an asterisk, code two APPL definition statements:

One whose name begins with ?* and ends with zero to six valid characters in length
One whose name is the same as the zero to six characters

For example, *APPL would match any name that ended with APPL and began with zero to four valid characters in length. ?*APPL matches any name that begins with one to four valid characters in length, but it does not match a name that begins with zero to four characters in length, namely APPL. To allow for the possibility that an application program with a name ending in APPL and beginning with zero to four valid characters in length could open its ACB, you would have to code the following two APPL definition statements:

?*APPL  APPL  AUTH=(PASS,ACQ),EAS=5,…
 
APPL    APPL  AUTH=(PASS,ACQ),EAS=5,…