IEBGENER
The classic utility for copying a sequential dataset, and for creating one from data supplied in the JCL.
Also written GENER
IEBGENER copies sequential data from one place to another. It is one of the oldest utilities on the platform and still appears throughout existing JCL.
Its typical use is simple: read the dataset on the input DD statement, write it to the output one. It can also do more, reformatting records as it copies by rearranging and editing fields, though that capability is used less often now that sort utilities do it more easily.
A very common pattern is creating a small dataset from data typed directly into the JCL: a parameter file, a list of codes, a short test file. The data sits inline in the job and the utility writes it out to a real dataset.
Many sites now prefer a sort utility for the same work, because it is faster on large volumes and its control statements are more capable. IEBGENER remains worth recognising because decades of JCL uses it, and because for a straightforward copy it is perfectly adequate.
Related terms
- Utility programA supplied program that performs a standard job such as copying, sorting, comparing or managing datasets, driven by control statements.
- Sequential datasetThe simplest kind of dataset: records stored one after another and normally read from start to finish.
- DD statementThe JCL statement that connects a name inside a program to a real dataset outside it.
- DFSORTThe standard sort utility, used far beyond sorting to select, merge, reformat and summarise records at speed.
- JCLJob Control Language: the language used to tell the mainframe what programs to run, in what order, and with what files.