Destination Name - Target identifier

Enhanced Definition

A `destination name` or `target identifier` in mainframe systems is a symbolic or explicit name used to specify the intended recipient or endpoint for data, messages, job output, or control flow. It acts as an address that directs where information or processing should be sent within the z/OS environment or across interconnected systems.

Key Characteristics

- Symbolic or Explicit: Can be a user-defined symbolic name (e.g., DEPTPRT, SALES.TDQ) or an explicit system-defined name (e.g., a specific printer ID, a fully qualified queue name).
- Routing Mechanism: Utilized by subsystems like JES, CICS, or IBM MQ to determine the correct path or queue for data delivery, ensuring information reaches its intended endpoint.
- System-Wide or Subsystem-Specific: Can be defined globally for the operating system (e.g., JES DEST names for SYSOUT) or locally within a specific subsystem (e.g., CICS Transient Data Queue names, IBM MQ queue names).
- Resource Identification: Identifies a specific resource such as a printer, a terminal, a data queue, a program, or another system or application.
- Configurable: Typically defined and managed through system definitions (e.g., JES initialization parameters, CICS CSD entries, IBM MQ object definitions) or dynamically at runtime by applications.

Use Cases

- JCL SYSOUT Routing: Directing job output (SYSOUT datasets) to specific printers, remote locations, or held output queues using the DEST= parameter on DD statements or OUTPUT statements in JCL.
- CICS Transient Data Queues (TDQs): Specifying the name of a TDQ for CICS applications to write sequential data to (e.g., for logging, batch updates, or inter-transaction communication) or read from.
- IBM MQ Message Routing: Identifying the target queue name and optionally queue manager name where an application sends a message, ensuring it reaches the correct recipient application or service.
- IMS Message Switching: In an IMS environment, a destination name can be a logical terminal (LTERM) or a transaction code, directing messages to a specific terminal or another transaction for processing.