Mainframe Interview Questions

A Field that DL/I uses to maintain the segments in the ascending order is called the key field

Mainframe Testing is similar to client-server applications testing, but you have to know how to operate basic TSO and ISPF commands and menus, view mainframe files, look at and use SDSF or other output tool, log on CICS and transactions, use FTP or another transfer protocol, submit the batch job - it's for QA testing of mainframe applications.

The CICS translator converts the EXEC CICS commands into call statements for a specific programming language. There are CICS translators for Assembler, COBOL, and PL/1.

Return Code in JCL can b obtained by the use of COND paramater...it is used to know the return codes of previous steps.

INTRA PARTITION TD QUEUE : It is a goup of sequential records which are produced by the same and / or different transaction within a CICS region. These Qs are stored in only one physical file (VSAM) in a CICS region, which is prepared by the system programmer. Once a record is read from a queue, the record will be logically removed from the queue.

EXTRA PARTITION TD QUEUE:  It is a group of sequential record which interface between the transaction s of the CICS region and the systems outside of CICS region. Each of there TDQs is a separate physical file, and it may be on the disk, tap, printer or plotter.

Use IDCAMS REPRO to load the flat file into the VSAM file.

SPUFI stands for SQL processing using file input. It is the DB2 interactive menu-driven tool used by developers to create database objects.

Key Fields - (PROCOPT=K)

- Used to sequence the database and can't be changed

- It is the field within a segment, used to identify the occurrence of the segment

- Used to maintain the IMS segments in ascending sequence.

Search Fields - (PROCOPT=G)

- Used to search for a segment, without the segment being sequenced on that field

- A segment need not have a key or search field.

Both types of fields can be used to search the database.