On 11/30/2006 12:38 PM, Charles Mills wrote:
Walt, thanks. I would respectfully suggest that the JCL Ref is wrong and
should be changed.
Yes, in both cases, the program in question is "the last step that needs the
DS" but that's kind of an imprecise and circular definition. I would submit
that the phrase in the JCL Ref, which I quote here exactly, is wrong: "Note:
Specifying FREE will not release the enqueue on the data set until the last
step that requires the data set completes processing." The whole point of
FREE is that it releases the allocation BEFORE the completion of processing.
I would suggest that the following phrase may not be perfect, but it is at
least closer (and I assume IBM has wordsmiths that could make it perfect if
they chose): "Coding FREE=CLOSE has no effect except when it is coded on all
DD statements (or the only DD statement) in the last jobstep that refers to
the dataset." That fits exactly with your example below.
I understand and appreciate your pointing out the other factor which I had
not considered: FREE=CLOSE in any event releases the *allocation* (the DD
statement has "gone away") even if the ENQ is not released due to other
allocations that may be in effect.
But saying "FREE=CLOSE has no effect" is just wrong. It always releases
the allocation, and conditionally releases the ENQ. The text you quoted
is correct. It simply does not address the situation you were wanting
an answer for. That does not make it incorrect, though you could argue
it is incomplete as it missed an aspect that was important to you.
Feel free to submit a Reader's Comment, but please keep the above in
mind if you suggest a specific change. It might be better to tell them
the situation they did not cover, and let them figure our how to add doc
for that one.
Walt
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