Switch Operations Facility › SOF Command Interface › Assign Names to Switches and Ports

Assign Names to Switches and Ports

Switches and ports may be assigned a descriptive 24-character device name using the SOF command WRITENAME. Names assigned to switches are stored in the SOF checkpoint data set. Names assigned to ports are stored in the switch itself. Port names that have been assigned using a mechanism other than SOF (such as an ESCON director shared console) and saved in a switch are used and can be modified by SOF.

Use the full name assigned to a specific switch or port to specify a switch or a port on any command.

You can also use a generic name template containing the following wildcard characters anywhere in the template:

• '*' to match one or more characters in a name.
• '?' to match a single character in a name.

Examples: Generic Name Template with Wildcards

• Template NAME* matches names NAMEX and NAMEXZ and NAMEXYZ.
• Template NAME? matches names NAMEX but not NAMEXZ or NAMEXYZ.
• Template NAME?Z matches names NAMEXZ but not NAMEX or NAMEXYZ.
• Template NAME*Z matches names NAMEXZ and NAMEXYZ but not NAMEX.

Where specification of a single switch or port number is expected, a generic name template must match only one name. Where a specification of multiple switches or ports is accepted, a generic name template will cause all of the switches or ports with matching names to be selected for processing.