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The Daily Insight

What is jcl in mainframe testing

Author

Lily Fisher

Published Feb 15, 2026

What is mainframe JCL?

Job Control Language (JCL) is a name for scripting languages used on IBM mainframe operating systems to instruct the system on how to run a batch job or start a subsystem.

What does JCL mean?

job control language JCL (job control language) is a language for describing jobs (units of work) to the MVS, OS/390, and VSE operating systems, which run on IBM’s S/390 mainframe computers.

How do I view JCL in mainframe?

Procedure
  1. Allocate a data set to contain your JCL. Use ISPF (or equivalent function) to allocate a data set named userid . …
  2. Edit the JCL data set and add the necessary JCL. …
  3. Submit the JCL to the system as a job. …
  4. View and understand the output from the job. …
  5. Make changes to your JCL. …
  6. View and understand your final output.

What are JCL statements?

JCL (Job Control Language) statements control the flow of a complete job. They determine which programs run, the sequence in which each program runs, and which files are accessed, copied, or created.

Why do we need JCL?

JCL identifies the program to be executed, the inputs that are required and location of the input/output and informs the Operating System through Job control Statements. In mainframe environment, programs can be executed in batch and online modes. JCL is used for submitting a program for execution in batch mode.

What is JCL proc?

The JCL Procedures are set of statements inside a JCL grouped together to perform a particular function. Usually, the fixed part of the JCL is coded in a procedure. The varying part of the Job is coded within the JCL. You can use a procedure to achieve parallel execution of a program using multiple input files.

How do you end a JCL?

The JCL NULL statement is used to mark the end of a JCL.

What are the three types of JCL statements?

All jobs require the three main types of JCL statements: JOB, EXEC, and DD.

What are the types of procedures in JCL?

JCL – Procedures or PROC
  • The JOB statement and JES2/JES3 Control statements.
  • The JOBCAT and JOBLIB statement.
  • An instream procedure (an internal PROC/PEND pair)
  • SYSIN DD *, DATA statements.

How many steps can a JCL have?

JCL contains maximum 255 steps.

What is JCL override?

JCL/PROC override is useful when a proc parameters, data sets needs to be modified while executing it. Adding parameters, Nullifying the existing parameters or Overriding the parameters of a PROC are the common overrides that can be done via a JOB.

What is a JCL class?

JCL CLASS Parameter is a Keyword Parameter and CLASS Parameter defines an input CLASS in of a schedule JOB. It is used to tell the operating system about the nature of the job which we are submitting.

What is step name in JCL?

A step name is a one- through eight-character name that identifies the job step so that other JCL statements or the operating system can refer to it. The parameter field contains the positional parameter PGM, which identifies the program to be run (PROGRAM1).

What is space parameter in JCL?

SPACE Parameter in JCL is an Optional Keyword parameter that indicates the OS, the amount of memory allocation needed for a dataset while creating it and indicates the allocation units that the requested memory to be provided in. … Instruct the system on the specific tracks that needs to be allocated to a data set.

What is unit parameter in JCL?

UNIT Parameter

UNIT Parameter is an optional Keyword parameter which is used to specify the location of the dataset. The Syntax of UNIT Parameter: UNIT=(device_name,[count]) Here, [count] is optional.

What is S222 Abend in JCL?

If a job abends with S122 and S322 means it’s Looping. If it is S222 it’s Cancelled by an operator.

What is RD parameter in JCL?

RD parameter is coded in the JOB or EXEC statement and it helps in automated JOB/STEP restart and can hold one of the four values: R, RNC, NR or NC. RD=R allows automated restarts and considers the checkpoint coded in the CHKPT parameter of the DD statement.

What is Referback JCL?

A backward reference is a reference to an earlier statement in the job or in a cataloged or in-stream procedure called by a job step. This is a way to reduce or simplify the coding in JCL. The information that is referred back should be in the same JOB.

What is Soc4 and soc7?

Soc4 means subscript being out of range.soc7 means uninaialized numeric field.for soc7 if we are doing numeric opretion which field is defined as non-numeric.

What is S806 abend in JCL?

you will get this abend code S806 when you are calling to subprogram in your main program dynamically but load module is not getting at the time of run..

How do I sort a file in JCL?

Below code is to sort the record in input file based on employee name(starting position-1,Length-6). CH – Represents charater. A – Represents order the record in Ascending. In the above example, CH- means character.

Syntax:
NameDescription
A/DSpecifies the sorting order, A- Ascending, B- Descending

What is linkage section in Cobol?

LINKAGE SECTION defines the data items to receive the data from called program to the current program by using CALL. LINKAGE SECTION also defines the data items to receive the data from JCL through PARM operand. … The data items should match the PIC clause declaration in both calling and called programs.

What is S0C4 error in JCL?

S0C4 Abend is a protection exception when a virtual address cannot be mapped with a physical address. When S0C4 Abend occurs. An Invalid address referenced due to subscript error. In a group Move the length of the receiving field was defined incorrectly.

What is SOC1 Abend in JCL?

SOC1 is basically Protection error . It can occur due to bad memory area access by a program. Possible situation for this error may be : 1) Bad reference of memory. 2) Wrong LRECL in program as respect to JCL (this could also be reason ..