Basics of Running COBOL / JCL and Checking Output on IBM Mainframe

This tutorial shows you the basics of submitting a COBOL program via a JCL job card as well as reviewing the associated output in the SDSF output queue on an IBM zOS Mainframe.

[@brendenoreilly974]

This brings me back. I haven't seen these screens in 20 years.

[@m5a1stuart83]

21 years for me

[@eyeofthepyramid2596]

I'm seeing it fucking daily

[@adailyllama4786]

@@eyeofthepyramid2596 angry....

[@Dufustoo]

Thank you! 30+ years of my career as MVS sysprog was working with TSO and ISPF.

[@anilreddy3467]

Sir,How to reset to default settings in z/os

[@starpawsy]

Wow. This takes me back to like 1984. Wow !

[@zoltankaparthy9095]

JCL is an art as much as a science. Good JCL is amazingly powerful for runs in large systems which pass data on downstream.

[@rty1955]

I wrote COBOL for many decades even before COBOL F. COBOL F introduced the PERFORM statement! How many of you can write COBOL code without the use of a PERFORM statement. I have given up COBOL for assembly and have done that for over 4 decades. I could do things in assembler that COBOL programmers could not imagine. I even got COBOL to dynamically call another COBOL program! IBM said it couldnt be done, but I did it.

[@toxicwxste]

Without a PERFORM action, how were you able to invoke dynamic procedures, let alone call another program?

[@TheRealNewBlackMusic]

Hey u remind me of a fellow consultant named Ken. Is that you😊

[@TheOnlineScrub]

I am currently taking a class in z/OS and zSystems and this video was VERY helpful. I didn't know you could use the output queue in the SDSF menu as a method of debugging. I only wish I found this video sooner than I did, thank you for the information!

[@TheCadutch]

Wow... that takes me back a few years.. MVS/CICS/VSAM/SAP R2 and of course Cobol

[@PabloHarguindey]

Good times, sometimes I miss all that. We were so young!

[@shyn5613]

awesome video for a beginner to learn to navigate and create cobol programs on Mainframe.... nicely explained.

[@mikefordguy3364]

I was a storage administrator and coded the SMS routines mostly for out OAM storage of claim data. Also had to deal with space abends and disk restores as well as disaster recovery of course. What fun it was and it paid well but on-call was a nightmare sometimes!

[@orlandoarturoquares8217]

Thanks for take me back to my first years as programmer

[@georgeceja3721]

Was curious of how software programs looked like years ago. Great video.

[@facundogandolfo5523]

They look like this nowadays on enterprise mainframe management

[@jamesmoninger1982]

Nice job! I'm a retired mainframe guy and I wish I could get a job doing all of this again!

[@yootoobee123]

THANK YOU ! Mr. C Posey -- this was a great help for me. I've been an analyst/programmer for ~40 years, but other than a couple on conversions (from IBM machines) and a couple of years on a DEC, the majority of my experience has been on Burroughs / Unisys machines -- which are several orders of magnitude easier to use than IBM. Unfortunately I'm between jobs and have not located a position on a Unisys platform, so I've accepted a position on an IBM machine, and am now learning how to spend 3x the amount of time to do what I used to be able to do on a Unisys A-series (the Unisys MCP is "smart enough" to know how to give you a COBOL file without you having to spoon-feed it with allocation every time). So bottom line -- this was very helpful to get me going -- if doing anything on an IBM can be considered "going" Thanks again --

[@douglasdunn6054]

Hello, I'm a younger developer trying to learn more about mainframes to expand my skillset in this area. If you are interested in telling me more about your experience with Sperry/Unisys (I know next to nothing about the OS and I am curious), I'd be interested in speaking with you!

[@jimsnellen6222]

Very informative! I’d like to see more videos of working on the mainframe.

[@BrianMcGuirkBMG]

Nice. I learnt cobol in 1979 and used it until 2000.

[@atifaziz4551]

In India we are still using it.

[@zainuddinbrahim4625]

use to run cobol before,thank you for the recap bro

[@anupammishra6063]

Hi there, your Cobol instructional videos are fantastic... they are very resourceful and useful... Are there more videos from you available here on KZbin or at any other channel? I would like to go through some more of your instructional videos, if possible. Do you also have any videos on JCL, VSAM, IMS, DB2 and CICS? Appreciate your response.. Thanks,

[@kshitijadeshmukh2286]

Thanks for the video ...Can you please tell which interface you are using?

[@mitchmccluhan9323]

Great video, but for the newbies, it might be good to briefly explain what happens between creating your program and it being available to "be executed" on the mainframe. That is, the compile and link (where the object is created in a load library.

[@EnergeticWaves]

That ispf screen hasn't changed much in 35 years. Holy shit.

[@staramilusia]

Yes... It is terrify

[@freddyai9068]

Haha, eastrieve same as cobol, never changed

[@classicnosh]

Found another COBOL developer! I remember working with an AS/400 dev on our network and I asked to see some "files" and he sharply responded: They are not called "files"!

[@captnron3530]

For those that don't know what JCL stands for it is Job Control Language.

[@WayedM3]

Is it useful still in 2022 ? I just started my job as an IT and the work place have alots of Mainframes and they wanted me to know about this and teach me

[@viktorengelmann3892]

SDSF is for SDSF... DB2 is for DB2 interactive functions... SELCOPY is for SELCOPY/i for z/OS... How I love descriptions like these.

[@kray97]

Flashbacks to my very first job in Corporate America 21 years ago. I haven't seen a mainframe in decades.

[@lancesmith811]

Dave Ramsey makes COBOL videos?

[@chrishoina4395]

Very helpful, thank you for sharing this. You saved me a couple ours today!

[@RedMaster-mw6ti]

Just when I thought I could escape the matrix, here I am manually shifting values like a slave.

[@kttakacho]

ここ数年、日立のＡＳＰＥＮを使用しての仕事をしてますが、過去に何十年も使用したＩＢＭのＴＳＯを久しぶりに見ると安心感がありますね。日立は使いづらいです。

[@AgentOffice]

Looks so futuristic

[@anannya9909]

Thank you so much for sharing valuable knowledge.

[@raulrivera9164]

Thanks a lot for your Tutorial. Is very usefull!

[@lesterl9654]

In most cases, you work in files called Partitioned Data Sets. A Data Set on the mainframe is a file. Many data set types on the mainframe. OK - the Partitioned Data Set contains numerous members. Each member is a flat file. Say you have a member named PAY00001 and need to modify it. If you wanted to first preserve PAY00001, you would create a copy of it. For example, you could call it PAY0001B, then change PAY00001. If you had problems, the backup member PAY0001B is available.

[@Gabs2290]

Great vid. "At any rate, the mainframe is a hugely profitable business for IBM. Only around 4% of the firm’s revenues come from mainframe sales. But once additional hardware, storage, software and all kinds of related services have been factored in, the mainframe accounts for a quarter of IBM’s revenue and nearly half of profits, estimates Toni Sacconaghi of Berstein Research."(The Economist)

[@timrichter1980]

Are they still making good money from mainframes in 2023?

[@hotkeycaps]

I'm learning this job. Am I on the right track?

[@SamuelLuna-cl1cz]

My TI Direta channel has some shorts about mainframes, ISPF, TSO, JCL COBOL, DB2 etc.

[@peterm1984]

We are still limited here to only see 16 lines of code and 80 characters across per screen for source editing? If so, that makes this visually not any better than Client Access. Hey IBM. This is the 2010s, not the 1970s. We all have 22" wide screens on average.

[@victorvaida4272]

You can set an arbitrary screen size in your TN3270 client. Any length will work but over 80 columns is a bad idea and not very useful since most mainframe languages need source code between certain columns (usually before column 72.)

[@JukeSwish]

This is about as user friendly as a wolf deprived of her pups!

[@MurderMan11]

This is extremely useful information. Ignore all of these haters! I am at a job that I just got trying to learn this stuff! Thank you so much for the help!

[@irhsbrave11]

did you find any other helpful info?

[@scotto703]

How do I set up libraries like you have, e.g., COBOL, JCL, etc., if they don't already exist (on the Marist system)?

[@MovieBox_Production]

I have a question is ibm mainframe as400 different from mainframe cics?

[@victoralfonsoramos3734]

Hi... I am test leader automation and i searching automation tool testing for mainframe. You can recomend me any tool? Please

[@ronaldlee3537]

Back when I was a COBOL programmer, the compiler was IKFCBL00

[@DiegoAragon1009]

I'M WORKING IN BBVA THANKS FOR THIS VIDEO

[@NicolaCantisani]

My job...

[@TheRealNewBlackMusic]

i was a cobol systems analyst and developer for 30 years. we used to say 'mainframe cobol runs the world' But ibm let other technologies and beat the crap out of them. i saw so many friends and colleagues get fired and laid off and replaced with C++ java and windows server guys.

[@rmueller58]

+nublackmusic the adage is Adapt or die. I did MUMPS back in the day on old Vax/11/780s. it was displaced by Unix and Oracle. go figure.. I learned Oracle and Unix to feed my kids.

[@TheRealNewBlackMusic]

+Rex Mueller Hey i hear you rex. I tried to get into Java but i just could not get to the same proficiency level i was as a coboler. Microfocus cobol was ok but windows is a pain. hey i did a lot of mumps work also back in the day. time sure does fly.

[@ronaldmarcellana5169]

Hi Sir, duplicate your jcl and cobol program but when running them it gives me this error $HASP165 JOB HERC01D- JCL ERROR. Any idea what went wrong? Thanks in advance.

[@MurderMan11]

So I have a few questions. I connected to the mainframe and setup a folder hierarchy using FTP and the command prompt with Project: My Username, Group: Test, Type: JCLLIB, and I have a cobol file called Test.cob. So to run it I would assume that I'd do Member: TEST is that correct or no?

[@vasup152]

thank u very much .. it is super.... plz provide more vedios like this ...

[@Texasman-i8i]

Hello sir I enjoy and Lear a lot I am starting learning Cobol I just download Tk4 on MVS 3.8 Can you please tell me How can I compile to load library on TK4 MVS 3.8 And JCL to run program from the load library Do you have any video that Demonstrates that Thanks.

[@nihorothereal]

Well, nice video. But I get sooooo many questions at almost each activity you do. What are those two lines that you just had for a short while on? Whad did you press to get to this or that view/screen/place/program? Where are we now? How do I look around what I have? Etc. etc. Is there any intro video? Like this is a file, this is how you move it, edit it, delete it, recover it. What makes a file executable, what is JCL, what else you can write instead of COBOL here and why do I have to write it there? I get that it is old stuff, historical stuff and not yet much userfriendly OS, but it is so unintuitive, we need some really basic intro. Like those computer courses for elders - this is a mouse, this is a text file, this is Enter key. That ridiculous level, as the learning curve is very very flat, taking very long time to understand and remember anything.

[@EXTIQUE]

CoBol=Computer business language has been around since the early 60's. thats what the IBM 3017 mainframes ran on. and it was one of the languages my 1978 TANDY MODEL 2 ran. been around since the early 60's.

[@Canim000]

*Common Buisness oriented Language,.. just sayin

[@wjesscia8174]

UPer , which tool [support Windows] can connect to Z/OS, CAN U help me?

[@Wilfridosandovalgarcia]

Thanks very special memory of cobol this!

[@Satan666Benni]

Hello I have the program TN3270Plus and would like to know how to set the lines in the settings. thanks for helpful information

[@gerjaison]

For curious sake, which banks and the likes still use COBOL?

[@IdgaradLyracant]

All of them. Core customer transactions are MF to MF usually through something like MQ or drop file landing zones.

[@hyperthreaded]

2:04 I guess you're lucky "youtube" has less than 8 characters.

[@morbo3000]

@MichaelKingsfordGray Wrong. Since the reign of Alfred the Great, "fewer" and "less" have been used interchangeably. It was only after the 18th century writer Robert Baker expressed his personal opinion on how the two words should be differentiated that grammar pendants like yourself have twisted that preference to be a rule.

[@ranjithabg3457]

How to give access to others to view the joblog?

[@bernisemg]

if you have an example of uploading wsdl in z/os to be consumed in soapUI will be appreciated.

[@Acyett]

COBOL IS NOT DEAD!!!

[@MrLeovaras75]

@atube4view how did you do that? I learned computer programming, which included COBOL, PASCAL and D-base III +, several years ago. Now you got my attention 🙂

[@allmertalex]

I googled z/OS and found this video. As fascinating as it is to watch it seems very convoluted, I have no idea what you're doing most of the time. I have experience with Unix derived systems, Windows NT derived systems and DOS. This though, is completely alien to me.

[@victorvaida4272]

This is a real computer.

[@user-tm1ix7xi1n]

I really want to learn this language but looks like a very difficult one. But they pay you a decent amount of money. I've heard that for simple upgrade companies are willing to pay more than $100 an hour.

[@ebol69]

great work, when you submit member to JCL and it returns maxcc=99, what does it mean ???

[@siavn777]

thank you very much : ) ..can you up more videos??

[@chrisbell7646]

Is there any way the average joe can cheaply access a mainframe for purposes of training?

[@rah1420usa]

You can download an image of Hercules and IPL an MVS image on your laptop. Probably more powerful than the mainframe too. :D

[@anuragawasthi959]

Amazing Zos for mainframe

[@horizonviewcondo6561]

haven't seen JCL since Noah invited me on his yacht

[@Kolian1274]

Can you tel me how can I practice like you on my computer where can I get compiler and ISPF

[@TinyTeaKettle]

If you want to practice on your local machine you don't need JCL or the ISPF. Just install an open source compiler like gnu cobol, compile and run your programs (cobc -x -free myprog.cob -o myprog).

[@NavyGunner1980]

How do you use RETURN-CODE GLOBAL PICTURE to return a value other than 0 or 1?

[@lemontfourde8358]

how can I make an iphone app with COBOL?

[@gddecker]

Mainframes are back. Thousands of companies and research institutions around the world are desperate for COBOL programmers as the baby boomers reach retirement age. If you want a job that lasts a long time with great pay and benefits, learn COBOL.

[@EnergeticWaves]

This is a joke right.

[@justinmcmillan2341]

I wish. I'm a Cobol guru from the 70's - 80's - 90's but I can't get a job :-(

[@lalocabron1]

that's really true! i getting knowledge because of my new IT job. and i am planning to start a career as a COBOL programmer.

[@simoneinbeigi]

I've heard that for years, but nothing has changed. I went another path and choose Java EE instead of COBOL, the pay is a lot better, the projects are more interesting, people are younger and have more energy. Once you have left the Mainframe, you will never go back, I can promise you that.

[@edmundc628]

Baloney.

[@1977divers]

please tell me where can I get tandem cobol videos? Thanks

[@PhilFeedback]

Thanks for posting this video

[@sharifmusa714]

i need to trying learn this

[@i5-4670k]

stuck on deciding between COBOL and C++.. COBOL sounds cooler so i think that will be it.

[@ViktorEngelmann]

Must have been a joke...

[@ViktorEngelmann]

Look up "Cobol plays major role in U.S. government breaches" - the only reason why COBOL is (falsely) considered "reliable" is because COBOL programs usually run in offline-scenarios. For example it is near impossible to write an SQL query without SQL-Injection vulnerability in COBOL.

[@ViktorEngelmann]

And it makes sense - why spend expensive time on security when a) there are only 5 computers in the world b) most attack-vectors haven't been invented c) networks don't even exist yet and d) all users of your program are your employees whom you can fire for bad inputs?

[@nlopez0959]

If your goal is to be more employable - learn both!

[@ViktorEngelmann]

@MichaelKingsfordGray since you obviously didn't look up "Cobol plays major role in U.S. government breaches", let me summarize: COBOL-programs have been proven to be 5 times more vulnerable than programs written in other languages. For example, in COBOL it is almost impossible to issue an SQL query without an SQL-Injection vulnerability (as I said before). So much for who is being ignorant about the safety of COBOL.

[@zainuddinbrahim4625]

what about cobol security aspect? any way to hardened it?

[@elenasakman]

Thank you!

[@LowercaseKev]

Glas i watched this since i am learning mainframe for work. I hear that one you get the hang of the navigation of ispf it gets better. Its really alot like ms word as far as functionality. Yu know copy paste find cut.

[@MrSayandeep]

please explain how to use MQSeries in Mainframes

[@alexklein278]

I have a cobol course upcomming at university I'm scared

[@DanielMarcoAguilarHernandez]

Alex Klein hows it going?

[@subscriber6181]

They still teach that?

[@alexklein278]

@@subscriber6181 my university does at least Cobol is in very high demand in banking

[@elenasakman]

what university?

[@sokham4523]

how to setup environment?

[@gerjaison]

It's cheaper for them to maintain existing code than rebuild is it? Wouldn't the older system lack GUI support? Or GUI isn't relevant in their functionality?

[@IdgaradLyracant]

For most work GUI is moot, your are making subtle changes to part of a large batch activity. It is the UNIX philosophy in action, small tiny tools that are chained together.

[@therealxunil2]

wait, cobol is still used for serious work? Last time I saw screens like this was in 1990 on VM and/or DOS/VSE. Can't remember which. Also don't want to!

[@tivrfoa]

how can I get an account there to practice? is there a client for Linux or just Windows?

[@AgentOffice]

Can we see the machine

[@knavk1]

Could you please also post video how to check bugs or errors in JCL ( Specifically using JES2/JES3 step name)?

[@hapkidbrasil]

Hi, can you help me ? I would like to know how to transfer a program to file txt using excell macro because I don't have ftp resource. Do you know ?

[@wildwest1832]

Call it what you like, but the reliability of the OS and hardware is something windows/PC can only dream of. PC has frameworks that get tossed out every other month.

[@mauricioluisvega8342]

KC02289.MGMT3310.COBOL(KZbin) Does this exist or is it created at that time?

[@victorvaida4272]

ISPF Option 2 will create a new PDS member if the member specified for editing does not exist.

[@JJMza]

Can you work on a backup copy of the mainframe without messing up the original (live)? Or an I not getting the concept here?

[@IdgaradLyracant]

Most often you are segmented into DEV, INTEG, ACPT, DRESS, and PROD. Until you prompt code up the chain you can continue to make changes usually until a code freeze period comes along.

[@herosdiefreemen]

I imagine there was a lot of reading and digging, but also a lot of depending on each other--especially the senior IT people. Speaking of which, I don't suppose you could help me setup a Hercules emulator on Linux...

[@vimalns1970]

WHAT IS THE ABBREVATION OF SAR?

[@ingmarmerkel2729]

OMG good old times....

[@melissarainchild]

Not the good OLD times, you paycheck is probably generated on a system like this :)

[@beesybee8921]

Similar to DOS and pascal basic programming

[@MrMrSaldana]

im really good at call of duty on my computers and i have a really good gpu...doing this should be a breeze huh??

[@contentedbuddha]

Sorry, I don’t see the allure of COBOL and the Mainframe except for historical reasons.

[@sharronneedles6721]

I'm trying to build a multi use mainframe for use on mathematical equations that will take me too long to do can anyone tell me where I can get advise on this?

[@wagnerribeiro9366]

Hi would you like to exchange Cobol programs?

[@miguelbogota3910]

I am with Geoffrey, Mainframes are back and COBOL is a strong language, secure for a selected group of programmers. more than 50% of commercial applications around the world are COBOL. why modern IDEs as visual studio deal with COBOL ? its not funny, its a serious language

[@einsteinwallah2]

is there a publicly available mainframe?

[@comkver]

IBM just opened up one for learning: www-01.ibm.com/events/wwe/ast/mtm/cobolvscode.nsf/enrollall?openform takes about 30 minutes to get an email

[@johndoe1909]

I can live with cobol. For the purpose cobol is actually quite good. But the development environment presented here is insane.

[@allanrichardson1468]

That's the way it was. Before TSO was introduced, with the 3270 series of terminals, you had to use a keypunch (a typewriter-like keyboard and card punch built into a desk) to punch your program on cards, punch the JCL to compile or execute it on cards, then submit the cards to an operator and wait for the cards and printout to come back. The system shown here is the ultimate.

[@johndoe1909]

Yes. I recollect that I worked in a similar fashion on an old honewell and bull machine once up on a time. Those where the days. Today I am only drawing squares in archimate....

[@elenasakman]

yes... Cobol itself is not the difficult part

[@xphreakyphilx]

Why, not use C or C++?