Job

Enhanced Definition

A unit of work submitted to the system for batch processing, defined by JCL statements. A job contains one or more job steps that execute sequentially. In the z/OS environment, a Job is a discrete unit of work, typically consisting of one or more sequential steps, defined by Job Control Language (JCL) statements. It represents a complete task or application program execution submitted to the operating system for processing. Jobs are the fundamental mechanism for executing batch programs, system utilities, and long-running processes on the mainframe.

Key Characteristics

- Self-contained unit of work
- Defined by JCL
- Contains one or more job steps
- Assigned job name and number
- Independent execution
Job Components:
- JOB Statement: Defines job properties
- EXEC Statements: Define job steps
- DD Statements: Define datasets
- In-stream Data: Embedded data
- Comments: Documentation
Job Attributes:
- Job Name: 1-8 character identifier
- Job Number: Assigned by JES (JOBnnnnn)
- Class: Job classification for scheduling
- Priority: Execution priority
- MSGCLASS: Output destination class
Job Status:
- INPUT: Queued, waiting for execution
- ACTIVE: Currently executing
- OUTPUT: Execution complete, output pending
- PURGED: Removed from system
Job Accounting:
- CPU time used
- I/O operations
- Lines printed
- Memory usage
- Elapsed time