JCL Interview Questions and Answers

Ques 16. Explain the difference between JCL and JES.

JCL (Job Control Language) is a scripting language used to define and control jobs, while JES (Job Entry Subsystem) is the component responsible for managing the execution of jobs on an IBM mainframe.

Ques 17. What is the significance of the CONDCODE parameter in JCL?

The CONDCODE parameter is used to specify a return code for a job step. It allows for conditional execution based on the specified return code.

Example:

//STEP4 EXEC PGM=GHI,CONDCODE=8

Ques 18. How do you specify a positional parameter in a JCL procedure?

A positional parameter in a JCL procedure is specified using an ampersand (&) followed by the parameter number, such as &1, &2, etc.

Example:

//PROC1 PROC PARAM1=&1, PARAM2=&2

Ques 19. Explain the function of the SPACE parameter in JCL.

The SPACE parameter is used to specify the amount of space allocated for a dataset. It includes primary, secondary, and directory space values.

Example:

//OUTPUT DD DSN=OUT.FILE,SPACE=(CYL,(10,5),RLSE)

Ques 20. What is the purpose of the MSGLEVEL parameter in JCL?

The MSGLEVEL parameter is used to control the amount of system messages written to the job log. It can be set to options like (1,1), (1,2), (2,2), etc.

Example:

//JOBNAME JOB ...,MSGLEVEL=(1,2)