Spool interface restrictions

There are internal limits in JES that you must consider when you are designing applications. Some apply to JES2, some to JES3 and some to both.

In particular:
  • JES2 imposes an upper limit on the total number of spool files that a single job (such as CICS) can create. If CICS exceeds this limit during its execution, subsequent SPOOLOPEN OUTPUT commands fail with the ALLOCERR condition.
  • JES3 does not impose such a limit explicitly, but for both JES2 and JES3, some control information for each file created persists for the entire execution of CICS. For this reason, creating large numbers of spool files can stress JES resources; you should consult your system programmer before designing such an application.
  • Spool files require other resources (buffers, queue elements, disk space) until they are processed. You need to consult your systems staff if you are producing large files or files that can wait a long time for processing at their destinations.
  • Code NODE('*') and USERID('*') if you want to specify the local spool file and to enable the OUTDESCR operand to override the NODE and USERID operands. Do not use NODE('*') with any other userid. If the NODE and USERID operands specify explicit identifiers, the OUTDESCR operands cannot override them.
  • Ensure that your system is defined so that data sets produced by CICS are not in HELD status in JES. CICS does not search for data sets in HELD status when the EXEC CICS SPOOLOPEN INPUT command is issued.