DISP=(initial disposition,action at termination,action on abterm)

DISP is short for disposition, and it is used to establish the status of the file at both job start and job end. It has no relevance in respect of processing mode, i.e. INPUT, OUTPUT, or UPDATE, but that can be influenced by the LABEL parameter.

• The initial disposition of the file
  • NEW - Default initial disposition. Implies exclusive use.
  • OLD - Data set already exists. Implies exclusive use.
  • SHR - Data set already exists. Other jobs have access to file.
  • MOD - Append data to the file. Implies exclusive use.

• Disposition on normal completion of the job step
  • DELETE - Default if NEW. May uncatalogue as well as delete if UNIT & VOL not present.
  • KEEP - Default if OLD or SHR. If disk, maintain the VTOC entry.
  • PASS - Pass data set forward for a subsequent step.
  • CATLG - If disk, maintain the VTOC entry and update the catalogue.
  • UNCATLG - KEEP, but uncatalogue the data set.

• Disposition on Abnormal termination disposition
  • DELETE - May uncatalogue as well as delete if UNIT & VOL not present.
  • KEEP - If disk, maintain the VTOC entry.
  • CATLG - If disk, maintain the VTOC entry and update the catalogue.
  • UNCATLG - KEEP, but uncatalogue the data set.

The default action if no abnormal termination value is coded, is to obey the normal completion request. Abnormal terminations includes System Abends, User Abends, and Program Interrupts. Non-zero condition codes are considered normal completion by the system.

	Initial Status		Action at Normal Competion		Action at ABTERM
	NEW		DELETE		DELETE
	OLD		KEEP		KEEP
DISP=(	SHR	,	PASS	,	CATLG	)
	MOD		CATLG		UNCATLG
			UNCATLG

The values listed in the table above can be mixed as required, provided syntax and logic rules are not contravened.

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