IBM Mainframe Forum

What is the difference between sysprint and sysout in jcl?

They're different DD names, used by default for different programs as required by those programs.

Would you pls provide an example for that ie can you specify where exactly they are used?
would yo please give a good description about them.

They are just 'print' ddnames and you use them when the program requires them which will be documented in the manual for the program. programs/utilities write their messages to them. User reports for programs written by you would go to your own user-defined ddnames. Sometimes you need SYSPRINT and SYSOUT for your own programs - SYSPRINT is required by PL/1 programs and SYSOUT by COBOL programs.

We cannot specify exactly when they are used because there is no one answer to that question. System utilities, such as IEBGENER, tend to use SYSPRINT but any program can use it, or SYSOUT, or PRINTOUT, or whatever DD name they want to for output.

You've already gotten the best possible description for them from MrSpock.

THANK YOU VERY MUCH

In JCL, SYSPRINT is always a DD name. A DD name is just one to 8 characters that are used to identify a particular DD statement, the character string is chosen by the programmer when he writes a program. Many programs use SYSPRINT to indicate the data set is intended to be printed, SYSPUNCH to indicate the data set is to be punched on a card punch machine. The major sort programs (IBM's DFSORT, Syncsort, and CA-SORT) all use SYSOUT to specify a message data set.

SYSOUT can be a DD name; it is also a JCL parameter that provides up to 3 sub-parameters. The first sub-parameter is an output class. Back in the 1960s, output class A generally sent the output to a printer, and output class B generally sent the output to a card punch machine. Originally, the second sub-parameter specified the name of a program used when writing output to a printer or card punch, but it has been hi-jacked for other purposes since then. Writer program name INTRDR, for example, now generally indicates the output data is intended for the JES2 or JES3 "internal reader," which allows a program to submit another job. The third sub-parameter specifies a form name, which in turn relates to the paper used when printing output, or the particular card stock used when punching output.