CA JCLCheck Runtime Options › Processing/Evaluation Rules

Processing/Evaluation Rules

You can define options as active and inactive on three different levels (as a default, in the OPTIONS file, or in the PARM field). Due to this setup, CA JCLCheck must process and evaluate options one level at a time by applying three specific rules at each level:

• Turn on options that are defined as active (even if they have been defined as inactive at the previous level).
• Merge the options at this level with those options at previous levels.
• Turn off options that are defined as inactive (even if they have been defined as active at the current or previous level).

Important! The evaluation rules that are shown previously establish the option that is in effect for a specific JCL check. If an option and its inactive counterpart are specified on different levels, you want to make sure that you are applying the option that you need. You can test which options are in effect by running CA JCLCheck using the NOSYNTAX option, and examining the "Options in Effect" report.

Levels are processed in the following order:

1. Defaults
2. Option File
3. PARM field

The following display is an example of processing options:

        Default = RUNTIME
        OPTIONS = NORUNT
        PARM =    RUNTIME

In this example, all three rules are applied to each level in the following manner:

The Default level:

• Rule #1—The option is turned on.
• Rule #2—There is no previous level to merge the option with.
• Rule #3—No inactive counterpart exists, so the option remains active.

The OPTIONS= level:

• Rule #1—The option was not turned off at the previous level.
• The Default and OPTIONS option (RUNTIME - NORUNT) are merged.
• The option is turned off, as specified by the inactive counterpart.

The PARM= level:

• The option (now inactive) is made active. (In other words, NORUNT on the OPTIONS= level is changed to RUNTIME.)
• The options from the previous levels are merged.
• The option remains active (or turned on) because it is now active on all three levels.

The rules allow you the flexibility to change runtime options from run to run, even if undesirable option settings have been established at a default level.

Note: To view the inactive options and their active counterparts, see the Runtime Options Syntax Summary or the Description of Runtime Options.