The named counter fields

The counter name

The name can be up to 16 bytes, comprising the characters A through Z, 0 through 9, $ @ # and _. Names less than 16 bytes should be padded with trailing blanks.

The current value

The next number to be assigned to a requesting application program.

The minimum value

Specifies the minimum number for a counter, and the number to which a counter is reset by the server in response to a REWIND command.

The maximum value

Specifies the maximum number that can be assigned by a counter, after which the counter must be explicitly reset by a REWIND command (or automatically by the WRAP option).

All values are stored internally as 8-byte (doubleword) binary numbers. The EXEC CICS® interface allows you to use them as either fullword signed binary numbers or doubleword unsigned binary numbers. This can give rise to overflow conditions if you define a named counter using the doubleword command (see Using the named counter EXEC interface) and request numbers from the server using the signed fullword version of the command.