Report Facility batch JCL dataset allocation overwritten with VBA/246/6233

Products

• Report Facility

Issue/Introduction

While testing the Report Facility (PRF) batch reporting feature the SYSPRT01 dataset was coded with a LRECL of 133.
However when the job was executed, the file that was created was created with a LRECL of 246. What is overriding the JCL?

Resolution

PRF was originally designed to print reports to the SYSOUT queue and do so under an FBA/241/241 print to the SYSPRINT DD.

Although this was very limiting, PRF was changed to allow for multiple DDs each with different attributes based on the forms that were being executed.
At the same time the need for a more dynamic process was also born. This is reflected in the SYSPRTDD subcommand.

In a pure, "submit to batch" process in the online, the forms are analyzed to see what report attributes are the same. PRF counts these up and then takes the batch model and generates the JCL to
produce x number of SYSPRTxx DDnames modeled after the SYSPRT01 DD name found in the model. ALL of these DDs are produced as VBA/246/6233, again assuming to SYSOUT.

In the more recent past, PRF was enhanced to provide the user with a means to write to a dataset coded in the JCL. In this case, the FORMAT subcommand was introduced to instruct
PRF to write the report as FB with no ASA characters and to pick up the size attributes from the definition of the form. So the attributes were then FB/formsize/formsize*20.

PRF always sets the output attributes regardless of what is coded in the JCL.