Top 10 JCL Interview Questions and Answers 2025

Build in JCL is a job control language statement used to compile and link programs in mainframe environments.

• Build statement is used to compile and link programs in JCL.

• It specifies the program to be compiled and linked, as well as any necessary parameters.

• Example: //BUILD EXEC PGM=IEBGENER,PARM='INPUT=SYSUT1,OUTPUT=SYSUT2'

Different parameters in JCL include job name, job class, job priority, job card, job statement, job steps, and job disposition.

• Job name: Identifies the job to the operating system

• Job class: Specifies the class of resources the job requires

• Job priority: Determines the order in which jobs are executed

• Job card: Contains information about the job such as account number, job name, and programmer name

• Job statement: Defines the characteristics of the job

• Job steps: Individual tasks w...read more

Mainframes are large computers used for critical applications. JCL is a scripting language used to control mainframe operations.

• Mainframes are known for their reliability, security, and scalability.

• They are used in industries such as banking, healthcare, and government.

• JCL stands for Job Control Language and is used to define and execute mainframe jobs.

• JCL statements include job control statements, data definition statements, and utility statements.

• Examples of JCL commands in...read more

JCL (Job Control Language) is used to control batch jobs on mainframe systems. Restarting a job involves identifying the step where it failed and resubmitting the job from that step.

• JCL is used to define and control batch jobs on mainframe systems

• To restart a job, identify the step where it failed

• Modify the JCL to start from the failed step by specifying the restart parameter

• Submit the modified JCL to restart the job

JCL stands for Job Control Language. To restart a job after a failed step, we can use the RESTART parameter in JCL.

• JCL is used to control batch jobs on IBM mainframe computers.

• RESTART parameter can be used to restart a job from a specific step.

• We can also use the COND parameter to skip the failed step and continue with the next step.

• JCL also allows for conditional execution of steps based on the success or failure of previous steps.

Sort JCL utilities are used to sort data in Mainframe environment based on specific criteria.

• Use SORT utility in JCL to sort data in ascending or descending order

• Specify the key fields to sort on in the SORT statement

• Use INCLUDE and OMIT statements to filter data before sorting

• Use JOINKEYS utility to merge two or more sorted datasets based on key fields

Use the COND parameter in the JCL to prevent job abend when subscript limit is reached.

• Use COND parameter in JCL to check for subscript limit before executing subsequent steps

• Set COND parameter to check for specific return code when subscript limit is reached

• Add a condition to bypass subsequent steps if subscript limit is exceeded

GDG in JCL is a dataset organization in JCL where 0 indicates the current generation and +1 indicates the next generation.

• GDG stands for Generation Data Group in JCL

• The syntax for GDG in JCL is datasetname(0) for the current generation and datasetname(+1) for the next generation

• GDG helps in managing multiple versions of datasets efficiently

COND parameter is used in JCL to skip few steps

• COND parameter is used in JCL to specify a condition that must be met before executing a step

• If the condition is not met, the step is skipped

• The syntax for using COND parameter is: COND=(code,operator,stepname)

• For example, COND=(0,NE,STEP1) will skip the step if the return code of the previous step is not 0

Use JCL to extract 5th row from a PS file

• Use the SORT utility in JCL to extract the 5th row from the PS file

• Specify the starting position and length of the record in the SORT statement

• Use the OUTFIL statement to write the extracted row to an output file