IBM mainframe utility programs

This article discusses support programs included in or available for OS/360 and successors. IBM categorizes some of these programs as utilities

and others as service aids; the boundaries are not always consistent or obvious. Many, but not all, of these programs match the types in utility software.

The following lists describe programs associated with OS/360 and successors. No DOS, TPF or VM utilities are included.

History/Common JCL

Many of these programs were designed by IBM users, through the group SHARE, and then modified or extended by IBM from versions originally written by a user.

These programs are usually invoked via Job Control Language (JCL). They tend to use common JCL DD identifiers (in the OS, now z/OS operating systems) for their data sets:

Dataset utilities

IDCAMS

IDCAMS ("Access Method Services") generates and modifies Virtual Storage Access Method (VSAM) and Non-VSAM datasets. IDCAMS was introduced along with VSAM in OS/VS; the "Access Method" reference derives from the initial "VSAM replaces all other access methods" mindset of OS/VS. IDCAMS probably has the most functionality of all the utility programs, performing many functions, for both VSAM and non-VSAM files.

The following example illustrates the use of IDCAMS to copy a dataset to disk. The dataset has 80-byte records, and the system will choose the block size for the output:

//XXXXXXXW JOB XXXXXXX,AAAA,CLASS=G,MSGCLASS=1,NOTIFY=&SYSUID
//STEP001 EXEC PGM=IDCAMS
//SYSIN DD *
REPRO INFILE(FILE01) OUTFILE(FILE02)
/*
//FILE01 DD DSN=PROD.FILE1.INPUT,disp=shr .....
//FILE02 DD DSN=PROD.FILE2.OUTPUT,
// DISP=(NEW,CATLG,DELETE),
// UNIT=DASD,
// SPACE=(TRK,(100,10),RLSE),
// DCB=(RECFM=FB,BLKSIZE=0,LRECL=80)
//SYSPRINT DD SYSOUT=*
//SYSOUT DD SYSOUT=*
//SYSUDUMP DD SYSOUT=*

//*

In the example above, SYSIN control cards are coming from an in-stream file, but you can instead point to any sequential file or a PDS member containing control cards or a temporary data-set, if you wish.
Example of using SYSIN files would be something like this:

//SYSIN DD DSN=PROD.MYFILE.REPRO,DISP=SHR

or this:

//SYSIN DD DSN=PROD.MYLIB.CNTLLIB(REPRO),
// DISP=SHR

IEBCOMPR

IEBCOMPR compares records in sequential or partitioned data sets.

The IEBCOMPR utility is used to compare two sequential or partitioned datasets. This data set comparison is performed at the logical record level. Therefore, IEBCOMPR is commonly used to verify that a backup copy of a data set is correct (exact match to the original).

During processing, IEBCOMPR compares each record from each data set, one by one. If the records are unequal, IEBCOMPR lists the following information in the SYSOUT:
* The record and block numbers in question.
* The names of the DD statements in which the inconsistency occurred.
* The unequal records.

When comparing sequential data sets, IEBCOMPR considers the data sets equal if the following conditions are met:
:* The data sets contain the same number of records.
:* The corresponding records and keys are identical.

For partitioned data sets, IEBCOMPR considers the data sets equal if the following conditions are met:
:* The directory entries for the two partitioned data sets match - that is, the names are the same, and the number of entries are equal.
:* The corresponding members contain the same number of records.
:* The corresponding records and keys are identical.

If ten unequal comparisons are encountered during processing, IECOMPR terminates with the appropriate message.

//XXXXXXXW JOB XXXXXXX,AAAA.A.A,CLASS=G,MSGCLASS=1,NOTIFY=XXXXX
//STEP01 EXEC PGM=IEBCOMPR,ACCT=PJ00000000
// INCLUDE MEMBER=@BATCHS
//*SYSIN DD DUMMY
//SYSIN DD *
COMPARE TYPORG=PO
/*
//SYSUT1 DD DSN=XXXXXXX.OLDFILE,UNIT=DASD,DISP=SHR
//SYSUT2 DD DSN=XXXXXXX.NEWFILE,UNIT=DASD,DISP=SHR
//SYSUT# DD

Note: IEBCOMPR is not a very flexible or user-friendly compare program. It can't restrict the comparison to only certain columns, it can't ignore differences in white space, it doesn't tell you where in the record the difference occurs, and it halts after 10 differences. On the other hand, it is fast, and it is present on all IBM mainframes. So it is very useful when an exact match is expected, such as comparing load modules that have not been reblocked, or checking that a copy worked properly. For comparisons of programs or reports, the ISPF SuperC (ISRSUPC) compare program is often used instead.

IEBCOPY

IEBCOPY copies, compresses and merges partitioned data sets. It can also select or exclude specified members during the copy operation, and rename or replace members.

Some of the tasks that IEBCOPY can perform include the following:
* Creating an unload of a partitioned data set (PDS) to a PS dataset, for backup or transmission.
* Copying a PDS in place to reclaim the unused space from deleted members; also called compressing a PDS.
* Copying selected members to another PDS.
* Renaming selected members of a PDS.
* Merging multiple partitioned data sets into a single PDS.
* Altering, copying and reblocking load modules.
* Members that are already present in another PDS will not get replaced unless the R option is specified.

For the IEBCOPY utility, the required job control statements for a copy are as follows:

//stepname EXEC PGM=IEBCOPY
//SYSPRINT DD SYSOUT=class
//MYDD1 DD DSN=xxxx.ppp.psps,DISP=SHR
//MYDD2 DD DSN=xxxx.ppp.pssp,DISP=SHR
//SYSIN DD *
COPY INDD=MYDD1,OUTDD=MYDD2
SELECT MEMBER=(MEM1,MEM2,MEM3)/ EXCLUDE MEMBER=(SF,DF,SA)

The MYDD1 and MYDD2 DD statements are names chosen by the user for the partitioned input and output data sets, respectively; The defaults are SYSUT1 and SYSUT2. You can use any valid DDNAME for these two DD statements. These DDNAMEs are specified in the utility control statements to tell IEBCOPY the name of the input and output data sets. You only need one DD statement for a PDS to be compressed.

IEBDG

IEBDG ('Data Generator') creates test datasets consisting of patterned data. Control statements define the fields of the records to be created, including position, length, format, and initialization to be performed. IEBDG can use an existing dataset as input and change fields as specified in the control statements, for example replacing a name field by random alphabetic text. The contents of each field may be varied for each record, for example by rotating the characters in an alphanumeric field left or right for each subsequent record.

Example:

//XXXXXXXW JOB XXXXXXX,AAAA,CLASS=G,MSGCLASS=1,NOTIFY=&SYSUID
//**********************************************************************
//* CREATION OF A DATASET To BE USED LATER ON
//**********************************************************************
//CRSTEP EXEC PGM=IEFBR14
//DDCREA DD DSN=&SYSUID..MVSUT.SEQOUT,DISP=(NEW,CATLG)
//**********************************************************************
//* CREATION OF THE TESTDATA
//**********************************************************************
//STEP1 EXEC PGM=IEBDG
//SYSPRINT DD SYSOUT=*
//SEQOUT DD DSN=&SYSUID..MVSUT.SEQOUT,DISP=OLD
//SYSIN DD DATA
DSD OUTPUT=(SEQOUT)
FD NAME=FIELD1,LENGTH=30,STARTLOC=1,FORMAT=AL,ACTION=TL
FD NAME=FIELD2,LENGTH=30,STARTLOC=31,FORMAT=AL,ACTION=TR
FD NAME=FIELD3,LENGTH=10,STARTLOC=71,PICTURE=10, X
P'1234567890',INDEX=1
CREATE QUANTITY=500,NAME=(FIELD1,FIELD2,FIELD3),FILL=X'FF'
END
/*
//**********************************************************************
//* PRINTING THE TEST DATA TO SYSOUT
//**********************************************************************
//STEP2 EXEC PGM=IEBGENER
//SYSPRINT DD SYSOUT=*
//SYSUT1 DD DSN=*.STEP1.SEQOUT,DISP=SHR
//SYSIN DD DUMMY
//SYSUT2 DD SYSOUT=*
//**********************************************************************
//* DELETE THE CREATED DATASET, EVEN IF PREVIOUS STEPS ABENDED
//**********************************************************************
//DLSTEP EXEC PGM=IEFBR14,COND=EVEN
//DDDEL DD DSN=&SYSUID..MVSUT.SEQOUT,DISP=(OLD,DELETE,DELETE)
//

IEBEDIT

IEBEDIT selectively copies portions of JCL.

An example of an IEBEDIT program:

//IEBEDITJ JOB ACCT,'',CLASS=P,MSGCLASS=T,MSGLEVEL=(1,1),NOTIFY=&SYSUID
//STEP0001 EXEC PGM=IEBEDIT
//SYSPRINT DD SYSOUT=*
//SYSUT1 DD DSN=xxxxx.yyyyy.zzzzz,DISP=SHR
//SYSUT2 DD SYSOUT=(*,INTRDR)
//SYSIN DD *
EDIT TYPE=INCLUDE,STEPNAME=(STEP10,STEP5,STEP15)
/*
//

In this example, data set xxxxx.yyyyy.zzzzz should contain job(s) (which should include steps named STEP5, STEP10, and STEP15). This IEBEDIT routine copies the selected steps of the job onto the SYSUT2 output file (in this example, the internal reader).

The syntax of the EDIT statement is:

abelEDIT TART=jobname
TYPE=
STEPNAME=(namelist)
NOPRINT

START=jobname specifies the name of the input job to which the EDIT statement applies. Each EDIT statement must apply to a separate job. If START is specified without TYPE and STEPNAME, the JOB statement and all job steps for the specified job are included in the output.

Default: If START is omitted and only one EDIT statement is provided, the first job encountered in the input data set is processed. If START is omitted from an EDIT statement other than the first statement, processing continues with the next JOB statement found in the input data set.

TYPE= specifies the contents of the output data set. These values can be coded:

POSITION specifies that the output is to consist of a JOB statement, the job step specified in the STEPNAME parameter, and all steps that follow that job step. All job steps preceding the specified step are omitted from the operation. POSITION is the default.

INCLUDE specifies that the output data set is to contain a JOB statement and all job steps specified in the STEPNAME parameter.

EXCLUDE specifies that the output data set is to contain a JOB statement and all job steps belonging to the job except those steps specified in the STEPNAME parameter.

STEPNAME=(namelist) specifies the names of the job steps that you want to process.

namelist can be a single job step name, a list of step names separated by commas, or a sequential range of steps separated by a hyphen (for example, STEPA-STEPE). Any combination of these may be used in one namelist. If more than one step name is specified, the entire namelist must be enclosed in parentheses.

When coded with TYPE=POSITION, STEPNAME specifies the first job step to be placed in the output data set. Job steps preceding this step are not copied to the output data set.

When coded with TYPE=INCLUDE or TYPE=EXCLUDE, STEPNAME specifies the names of job steps that are to be included in or excluded from the operation. For example, STEPNAME=(STEPA,STEPF-STEPL,STEPZ) indicates that job steps STEPA, STEPF through STEPL, and STEPZ are to be included in or excluded from the operation.

If STEPNAME is omitted, the entire input job whose name is specified on the EDIT statement is copied. If no job name is specified, the first job encountered is processed.

NOPRINT specifies that the message data set is not to include a listing of the output data set.

Default: The resultant output is listed in the message data set.

See here for more info

IEBGENER

IEBGENER copies records from a sequential dataset, or creates a partitioned dataset.

Some of the tasks that IEBGENER can perform include the following:
* Creating a backup of a Data set (IBM mainframe), sequential data set or a member of a PDS.
* Changing the physical block size or logical record length of a sequential data set.
* Creating an edited data set.
* Printing a sequential data set or a member of a PDS.
* Creating partitioned output data set from sequential input data set.

An example of an IEBGENER program to copy one dataset to another:

//IEBGENER JOB ACCT,'DATA COPY',MSGCLASS=J,CLASS=A
//STEP010 EXEC PGM=IEBGENER
//SYSUT1 DD DSN=xxxxx.yyyyy.zzzzz,DISP=SHR
//SYSUT2 DD DSN=aaaaa.bbbbb.ccccc,DISP=(,CATLG),
// UNIT=SYSDA,SPACE=(TRK,(5,5),RLSE),
// DCB=(RECFM=FB,LRECL=1440)
//SYSPRINT DD SYSOUT=*
//SYSIN DD DUMMY

For straight copy tasks, the sort program can often do these faster than IEBGENER. Thus many mainframe shops make use of an option that automatically routes such tasks to the sort ICEGENER program instead of IEBGENER.

On some systems it is possible to send email from a batch job by directing