Automatic JCL Update: JCL and AutoEdit Facility

In the production environment, JCL must often be manually modified prior to submission of a job, as in the following cases:

• changing a parameter or a date card
• supplying tape numbers in JCL procedures
• eliminating steps under different run conditions, for example, when end of month processing differs from normal daily run

Manual modification of the JCL is inconvenient at best, and it can be error-prone and lead to serious problems. The JCL and AutoEdit facility offers an automated alternative to manual JCL update.

The JCL and AutoEdit facility permits AutoEdit terms, such as AutoEdit variables, functions, and control statements, to be specified in the JCL in place of values that change from job submission to job submission. AutoEdit terms are prefixed by %%, which distinguishes them from non-AutoEdit terms. For example, the term %%ODAY is recognized as an AutoEdit term.

The values of user-defined variables that have been defined as Sysplex-wide, using the XAE facility, remain both in memory and in a Coupling facility. These values can be used for additional triggering of the same job or other Control-M jobs, in the same computer or in different computers of the same Sysplex.

At time of job submission, AutoEdit terms in the JCL are resolved to their actual values.

The inclusion of AutoEdit terms into the job stream and job scheduling definitions can eliminate the need to change JCL once it is defined. AutoEdit usage can be further simplified and enhanced through the Parameter Prompting facility, which is described in M4: Parameter Prompting Facilities and Parameter Prompting Facilities.

The JCL and the AutoEdit facility is described in detail in JCL and AutoEdit Facility.