Overview

This course is essential for all those working in technical roles within a z/OS environment. The course teaches the coding of job control statements to execute programs and access datasets and how to write and test catalogued procedures.<br><br>The course combines classroom tuition with practical exercises using various IBM utilities.<br>This definitive JCL course is regularly upgraded to reflect recent developments in z/OS. The practical sessions of this course now comprise almost 40% of the course timetable!<br><br>This course is also available for one-company, on-site presentations and for live presentation over the Internet, via the Virtual Classroom Environment service.
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Prerequisites

The ability to use TSO/ISPF and a basic knowledge of z/OS and its file structure.
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Delegates will learn how to

  • state the purpose of each z/OS job control statement
  • code JCL statements to access disk and cartridge files
  • describe and use the commonly used parameters
  • correct syntax errors in JCL statements
  • code in-stream procedures and override, nullify and add parameters
  • appreciate the implications of SMS when using z/OS JCL.
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Outline

z/OS: Structure & Components

z/OS background and history; MVS main memory and virtual storage; MVS versions; Address space layout; Common area; Private area; Main components of z/OS; z/OS processing environments: On-line, TSO, ISPF, Batch; MVS spooling; Other program products and their functions.

Introduction to z/OS Job Control Language

Basic job structure; Job stream processing; JCL output; JCL statement types; JCL statement format and coding rules; JES2 control statements; JES3 control statements; JCL error points.

The JOB Statement

The JOB statement overview; Accounting information - positional; Programmer's name - positional; Keyword parameters; Other keyword parameters; Example JOB statements.

The EXEC Statement

The EXEC statement; EXEC format - program; EXEC format - procedure; EXEC keyword parameters; Other EXEC keyword parameters; COND parameter; EVEN or ONLY; Example EXEC statements; EXEC statement summary.

Printing & In-stream Data

Print files & In-stream data; Printing: Examples, DEST, COPIES, DCB; Output statement; OUTPUT statement: Implicit, Explicit, Multiple output; Output statement parameters; Examples; OUTDISP parameter; In-stream data.

The DD Statement

The DD statement; DD parameters: DSN, DISP, UNIT and VOL; SMS considerations; DD statement summary: Existing catalogued dataset, Existing non-catalogued dataset.

The DD Statement - Working with Datasets

Dataset types; Sequential datasets; Partitioned Data Sets; VSAM datasets; BUFNO; Accessing existing datasets; Creating new non-VSAM datasets; Data Control Block parameters; SPACE parameter; Space allocation DSCBs; System Managed Storage: Disk datasets with SMS, Space allocation with SMS. DCB parameters with SMS; Creating VSAM datasets in JCL; Generation datasets; SMS GDG considerations; Stages in creating a generation dataset; Tape datasets; . LABEL parameter; DD statement summary; Creating a new dataset on disk - non-SMS; Creating a new tape dataset.

Further DD Considerations

Special ddnames; JOBLIB; STEPLIB; Dump datasets; Concatenated datasets; Temporary dataset names; Dummy datasets.

Procedures

JCL procedures; In-stream procedures; What a catalogued procedure cannot contain; Cataloguing a procedure; INCLUDE statement; Calling a procedure; Symbolic parameters; Examples of symbolic translation; Default parameters; Resolving symbolic parameters; SET statement; Modifying EXEC statement parameters; Modifying DD parameters; Concatenated data sets; Adding DD statements; Substitution prefixes; Using a standard COBOL compile/link/go procedure.

Conditional JCL Statements

The general construct; Name field; Relational-expression field; Relational-expression keywords; Comparison operators; Logical operators; NOT operator; Order of priority of operators; Parentheses; THEN and ELSE clauses; Contents of THEN and ELSE clauses; IF/THEN/ELSE/ENDIF and COND.

Common MVS Abend Codes

Problem handling; Program abends; Common MVS completion codes.

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