Using JCLNeat

When you code JCL, you can supply keywords in any order and in many ranges of columns. You can also comment this language in various ways. Many installations are not able to implement a structured format for JCL successfully; therefore, reading the JCL on listings is a tedious task for the original coder and a nightmare for support personnel.

JCLNeat standardizes the format of JCL according to the specifications of your installation.

The following terms apply to the JCLNeat component:

JCL statement

A JCL statement is a logical entity consisting of the JCL operator and its positional/keyword parameters and associated data.

A JCL statement can be (and usually is) a composite of a variable number of JCL parameters.

logical break

A logical break is a condition in the original JCL input stream that signals JCLNeat to process a new entity.

Logical break is typically signaled by an input member change or a new JOB statement, but it can also be signaled by an isolated PROC.

operator

The operator is a type of statement in process (that is, JOB, EXEC, PROC, DD, PEND, PRINTDEV, CNTL, ENDCNTL, OUTPUT, or comments).

original JCL

The original JCL is the statement lines read from the JCLNeat input stream.

reformatted JCL

The reformatted JCL is the statement lines written to the JCLNeat output stream.

JCLNeat can process original JCL from any one of the following sources:

Sequential input from statements, magnetic tape, disk, or a single partitioned data set (PDS) member.
A PDS, which allows CA JCLCheck to process the input completely or partially, with individual members specifically included or excluded.
Directly from CA Panvalet using the CA Panvalet Access Method (PAM), input is processed either completely or partially, with individual members specifically included or excluded.
Directly from CA Librarian using the FAIRVS access method, input is processed either completely or partially, with individual members specifically included or excluded.
Note: Make sure that JCL is error-free before JCLNeat reformats it.

Important! The operation of the JCLNeat component and how it performs the "neating" process is controlled by various parameters, options, and keywords. You can manually supply this information in batch, or you can use ISPF panels to input this information. This chapter covers both methods. You can use either method, but you cannot use a combination of the two.

Manual control of JCLNeat is covered in the next topic.

For information on how ISPF panels control JCLNeat, see ISPF Panels Control of JCLNeat.