# Define base job name

> [HTML Version](definebasejobname.htm)

**j <jobname base>**

The **-j jobname** switch forces A-Shell to use the specified job name (assuming it is available.) When passed to PolyShell, it works similarly except that PolyShell appends a numeric digit to the end to distinguish each of the child instances from each other. For example, psh -j fred will generate child instances with job names of FRED1, FRED2, etc. Otherwise, the generated job names will be of the form PSHxxx. (See the discussion of the [TRMDEF](trmdef_sp.htm.md)statements in miame.ini for information on another way to force the use of predefined jobnames.)

The –j switch understands the special macro \\\$USER, interpreting it as the login user name. The preceding backslash is required to prevent the shell from pre-processing the \$USER macro before PolyShell sees it. (Typically, shells interpret \$USER to be the _effective_ user name, not the** **_login_ user name.)