Capturing DCL output in symbol

I am working on a DCL script where I want to capture output from a
command in a symbol for manipulation later in the script.

I have it working by using the /OUTPUT qualifier on the command to put
the output (just 1 line in this case) into a temporary file, then later
use READ to put the contents of the temporary file into a symbol.

I was wondering if I could use PIPE to do the same thing without having
to create and later clean up the temporary file, but so far I have been
unable to fine a way to get READ inside a PIPE to set a symbol that's
accessible outside the PIPE command.

READ's help says that it creates the symbol in the local symbol table,
but is there anyway to get READ to set a global symbol?
--
David Meyer
Takarazuka, Japan
papa@sdf.org