Introduction of JCL
- JCL stands for Job Control Language.
- A Scripting language is used to communicate with the MVS operating system.
- Use JCL to run jobs on MVS operating systems.
- We can use JCL to perform a set of a task in steps or sequence
- Divided into various types of statements and parameters.
- A COBOL program will run through JCL.
- JCL provides all the resource and information such as the file names, a location of the file, associated file name, compiled module location, statements, parameters and much more.
- JCL will run in a Batch mode we will cover this topic as we progress further.
Example of a JCL
//CREATEPS JOB (345),’TUTORIALBRAIN,CLASS=A,MSGCLASS=A,MSGLEVEL=(1,1),
// NOTIFY=&SYSUID
//************************************************************
//* ALLOCATE PS DATA SET USING IEFBR14 UTILITY
//************************************************************
//STEP10 EXEC PGM=IEFBR14
//SYSPRINT DD SYSOUT=*
//SYSOUT DD SYSOUT=*
//SYSDUMP DD SYSOUT=*
//DD1 DD DSN=MATEKS.TEST.PS,
//DISP=(NEW,CATLG,DELETE),
//SPACE=(TRK,(1,1),RLSE),
//UNIT=SYSDA,
//DCB=(DSORG=PS,RECFM=FB,LRECL=80,BLKSIZE=800)
//*
We can use JCL to create a new PS file
Where, How and Why we use JCL
- JCL is the most important Scripting language used to run COBOL on Mainframe.
- JCL is very easy scripting language and it provides all the options to execute a COBOL program.
- There are multiple utilities which help in executing tasks in an easier and better way.
- All these utilities will be shown in detail in this tutorial
- It is easy to tweak changes to a JCL and hence the learning curve in JCL is easy.
- JCL runs in Batch mode. A Batch mode is a mode where the user or system submits a job(series of task) through a JCL and the JCL runs in Background allowing the user to perform any other task while the JCL is running. Hence, JCL is a widely used scripting language for COBOL because it enables multitasking in Mainframe through Batch processing.
Target audience
- This tutorial is for anyone, be in a student, a software Engineer or anyone who is serious towards mastering the JCL scripting language in Mainframe.
- If you have prior knowledge on COBOL, then it will help you to understand JCL better but this is not important and you can still learn JCL easily without any prior understanding of any programming language.
- Most of the Mainframe Developers face a problem of low-quality content on JCL lying on the Internet and this JCL tutorial will certainly help them.
Prerequisite and Requirements
- If you have a mainframe id, it is an advantage to learn JCL but it is not mandatory.
- No Previous programming language in any other language is required to learn JCL if you have experience with COBOL, it is advantageous.
- If you know basic TSO/ISPF, it will always help you to master JCL easily. Don’t worry, we have added a TSO/ISPF tutorial as well in our website, you can go through them.
What will you learn
- This JCL tutorial covers almost everything starting from Introduction, structure, syntax, all statements, parameters, procedures, GDG’s, Utilities and much more.
- In this tutorial, you will learn each topic with a lot of examples to make learning easier for students.
- We are continuously adding and improving the content of this tutorial.
- Expert Mainframe developers are monitoring this site to provide quality content.