What do you mean by abends in JCL?

In JCL, an abend (abnormal end) refers to the unexpected termination of a job or job step due to errors or system issues. Abends can result from various causes, such as program errors, insufficient resources, invalid data, or system malfunctions. Abends are typically identified by specific error codes or messages that help diagnose and resolve the underlying issues.

Write different JCL abend codes?

Here are some common JCL abend codes:

• S0C1: Operation Exception (e.g., invalid machine instruction)
• S0C4: Protection Exception (e.g., storage violation)
• S0C7: Data Exception (e.g., invalid data in computation)
• S222: Job cancelled by user or operator
• S322: Job or step time limit exceeded
• S806: Program not found
• S837: Space allocation failed due to lack of space
• S913: Authorization failure (e.g., security violation)
• SB37: End of volume reached, no more space
• SD37: Primary disk space exceeded, no secondary allocation defined

What is S0C1 error?
What is an Operation Exception error?

This failure usually occurs when it refers to an invalid storage location, as might occur in a load module with unresolved external references or when a branch is to an address outside of a program. Possible Causes for SOC1 -

• Subscript error.
• Tried to read a file that was not open.
• AMODE is set as 24, but a branch was attempted to a 31-bit or (on z/OS) a 64-bit address.
• Tried to read a file that was not open.
• Misspelled DDNAME followed by attempted I/O to same file.
• There was an error in the parameters passed to subroutines.
• During the link edit process, the calling program was not included. 
• An attempted I/O followed the missing DD card to the same file.
• The recording mode was wrong, or the density was incorrect.
• Bad load module, possibly a bad object.
• Executing a program with an unresolved external reference. 
• Mixing compile options RES and NORES in different modules.
• An uncontrolled loop moved data on top of instructions. 
• COBOL – Subroutine prog ID was the same as the entry name tried to call within the COBOL sort I/O procedure.
• COBOL – Tried to call a subroutine, but it did not find it.
• COBOL – Incomplete DCB for the SORTIN file.
• COBOL – Using the sort verb, DDNAME was not SORTOUT when using the "giving" option.
• COBOL – Executing sort-using after opening the SORTIN file.

What is a S0C4 error?
What is a Protection exception error?

An S0C4 error in JCL indicates a Protection Exception, which occurs due to an invalid memory address access. This error can be caused by -

• Addressing memory outside the program's allocated range.
• COBOL – An invalid address referenced due to a subscript error or a bad parameter being passed.
• COBOL – In group move, receiving record variable length is defined incorrectly.
• COBOL – Tried moving variable length record, which was larger than the target field size.
• COBOL – Tried to read or write a file that was not open.
• COBOL – Used DD DUMMY with logic that moves high values to FD.
• COBOL – Tried to call within COBOL during the SORT I/O procedure.
• COBOL – Tried to “GOBACK” in the SORT output procedure.
• COBOL – The linkage area is not in sync with the calling and called program.
• COBOL – Missing Select statement (during compile).
• The block size and record size were coded as equal for variable-length records.
• Tried moving variable length records larger than the target field size.
• An uncontrolled loop moved data on top of instructions.
 
• Referencing a field in a record of a closed file, e.g., attempting to read a file after the end of the file is reached.
• Referencing an item in Linkage-Section when there was no PARM= in the JCL. 
• Calling/called programs have different lengths for items passed in the Linkage Section with COBOL Sort.
• STOP RUN or GOBACK executed while an input or output procedure is still running.

What is S0C7 abend?
What is a data exception?

An S0C7 error in JCL indicates a Data Exception, which occurs when a program encounters invalid numeric data during arithmetic operations. This error can be caused by -

• Un-initialized index or subscript. Coding past the maximum allowed subscript.
• Fields in decimal arithmetic overlap incorrectly
• Index or subscript value incorrect and invalid data referenced.
• The decimal multiplicand has too many high-order significant digits.
• Not initialized data fields.
• Program attempting to do math on illegal data. 
• Data is not numeric, but it should be. Numeric operation on non-numeric data
• Moving ZEROS to group items whose subordinate items are packed-decimal
• Uninitialized packed-decimal fields. 
• The record description is wrong.
• The field starts or ends in the wrong place in the record.

 

What are SB37 abend?

An SB37 abend indicates that an end-of-volume condition was reached and there was no more space available for the dataset. This occurs when a dataset runs out of space on the disk and no secondary space allocation is defined or available. It signifies a space allocation failure that requires increasing the space allocation or adjusting the dataset's storage parameters.

What are SD37 abend?

An SD37 abend indicates that the primary space allocation for a dataset has been exceeded, and no secondary space allocation is defined. This occurs when a dataset needs more space than initially allocated and cannot extend further because no additional space has been specified. It signifies a space allocation issue that requires modifying the space parameters to include secondary allocations.

What are SE37 abend?

A SE37 abend indicates that a dataset has reached its maximum allowable extent limit. This occurs when a dataset requires more space. Still, it has already used the maximum number of extents allowed by the system. It signifies a space allocation problem that initially requires restructuring the dataset or allocating more space.

Frequently Asked Questions -

What are S0C1, S0C4, S0C5, S0C7 and SOCB?

---