SYSOUT
Output sent to the spool rather than to a dataset, where you can read it after the job finishes.
Also written SYSOUT class, print output
SYSOUT is how a job produces output you can read. Instead of writing to a dataset on disk, the step writes to the spool, and the result waits there for you to look at in SDSF.
On a DD statement it is requested with a class, a single character that tells the system what kind of output this is and how to handle it. Some classes are held for viewing, some are routed to a printer, some are picked up by other systems. Sites define what each class means.
Almost every job has several. The system writes its own messages there, showing the JCL as interpreted and what happened at each step. Programs write their reports and diagnostics there. When something fails, this is the material you read to find out why.
Because spool space is shared and finite, output does not live forever. Sites purge it on a schedule, so anything worth keeping should be written to a dataset instead.
Related terms
- SpoolThe system-managed holding area where job output waits to be read, printed or purged.
- SDSFThe tool for looking at what jobs are running, what has finished, and what output they produced.
- DD statementThe JCL statement that connects a name inside a program to a real dataset outside it.
- SYSPRINTThe conventional DD name a program uses for its messages and report output.
- JobA unit of batch work submitted to the system, made up of one or more steps that run in order.