A DD statement defining an options data set is required if the OPTIONS keyword has been included in the PARM field of the EXEC statement. When the OPTIONS keyword is included, some or all of the processing and attribute options are encoded in a data set instead of in the PARM field. See OPTIONS: Options option for information on how to code the options data.

The options DD statement is coded using the same ddname as specified on the OPTIONS keyword. The DSNAME parameter references an existing file containing 80-byte records. It can be a sequential data set, a member of a partitioned data set, a z/OS UNIX file sequential data set, or a concatenation of sequential data sets.