CLIST

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CLIST (Command List) (pronounced "C-List") is a procedural programming language for TSO in MVS systems. It originated in OS/360^[1] Release 20 and has assumed a secondary role since the availability of Rexx in TSO/E Version 2. In its basic form, a CLIST program is a list of commands to be executed in strict sequence (like a DOS batch file (*.bat) file). OS/VS2 R3.6 (MVS) added If-Then-Else logic and loop constructs to CLIST.^[2] The term CLIST is also used for command lists written by users of NetView.^[3]

CLIST is an interpreted language. That is, the computer must translate a CLIST every time the program is executed. CLISTs therefore tend to be slower than programs written in compiled languages such as COBOL, FORTRAN, or PL/1. (A program written in a compiled language is translated once to create a "load module" or executable.)

CLIST can read/write MVS files and read/write from/to a TSO terminal. It can read parameters from the caller and also features a function to hold global variables and pass them between CLISTs. A CLIST can also call an MVS application program (written in COBOL or PL/I, for example). CLISTs can be run in background^[ii][iii]. CLISTs can display TSO I/O screens and menus by using ISPF dialog services.

Compare the function of CLIST with that provided by REXX.

 PROC 0
 WRITE HELLO WORLD!

   /********************************************************************/
   /*  MULTI-LINGUAL "HELLO WORLD" PROGRAM.                            */
   /*                                                                  */
   /*  THIS CLIST, STORED AS USERID.TSO.CLIST(TEST), CAN BE INVOKED    */
   /*  FROM THE ISPF COMMAND LINE AS SHOWN IN THE FOLLOWING EXAMPLE:   */
   /*                                                                  */
   /*     COMMAND ===> TSO TEST SPANISH                                */
   /*                                                                  */
   /********************************************************************/
   PROC 1 LANGUAGE
     IF &LANGUAGE = SPANISH THEN +
        WRITE HOLA, MUNDO
     ELSE IF &LANGUAGE = FRENCH THEN +
        WRITE BONJOUR, MONDE
     ELSE +
        WRITE HELLO, WORLD
   EXIT

1. ^ "Command Procedure Statements" (PDF). IBM System/360 Operating System: Time Sharing Option - Command Language Reference (PDF). Systems Reference Library (Fifth ed.). IBM. April 1973. pp. 245–249. GC28-6732-3. Retrieved September 29, 2025.
2. ^ "Command Procedure" (PDF). OS/VS2 TSO - Command Language Reference (PDF). Systems (Fourth ed.). IBM. January 1976. pp. 271–324. GC28-0646-3. Retrieved September 29, 2025.
3. ^ "z/OS TSO/E CLISTs". z/OS 2.1.0. IBM. 14 June 2013. Retrieved 12 May 2016.

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