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DD Statement - in-stream data sets notes

This page describes how DD statements can be used to allocate in-stream data sets.

The information opposite reflects most of what needs to be known.

If DATA is used rather than an asterisk, then a delimiter will be required to indicate end-of-file on input.

DD Statement - in-stream data set narrative

This is an odd type of resource allocation as it means that the data forming the data set associated with the ddname actually follows the DD statement itself and this is indicated by the asterisk (*).

In one sense this breaks the rules, as normally an asterisk indicates a refer back to a previous point in the JCL, but here it does not, as it implies that the next record is a data record.

In this type of data set allocation the data which follows the DD Statement MUST NOT contain // in columns 1 and 2, otherwise it will be treated as JCL and trigger end-of-file on the input.