On Tue, 17 Feb 2026 18:00:28 -0000, Jonathan Scott 
<[email protected]> wrote:

>HLASM itself and various related tools are written using macros which 
>rely on using the length attribute to associate a value with a flag byte,

As application software, HLASM can completely follow the L' standard. Those of 
us writing system software don't have that luxury ( 4 data areas volumes don't 
support L' flags). You can't have a standard that is only valid half the time.  
 

> which eliminates a very common source of errors, 
> especially as option flags may move to different bytes from one release to 
> another 

The solution to the problem only changes the problem. Will those people working 
on system software notice when they should have coded L'  versus when not to 
code it. There are solutions to this but you must fully understand the problem. 
Which of the following follows the standard and works correctly?
TCBCSTEP, L'TCBCSTEP, USRACTV, L'USRACTV, TM C'A', TM x'C1', TM b'11000001'

During a code review, which are most likely to be questioned?

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