Easytrieve interviews ask you to place a statement, read a listing, and say what the JCL DD has to be named. They rarely ask for a history of the product. Use the level pages to practice one band, and answer with the statement name, the section it belongs in, and the symptom when it is wrong.
| Set | They ask you to |
|---|---|
| Beginner | Name FILE, JOB, IF, PRINT, and where each goes |
| Intermediate | Build a control break, a table lookup, and a compile-and-go step |
| Senior | Read an EZTC message, a bad DD, or a PARM that hides a 6.4 program |
| Architect | Split calculation from reporting, and say how counts are signed off |
| Scenario | Take a layout and a failure and say the first change you would make |
Asked: why does department 902 print in the middle of 901's subtotal? Answer: CONTROL DEPT fires when the value changes, so the input is not in department order. SEQUENCE DEPT or an external sort has to match the control field, major to minor, or the break lands on the wrong record.
The beginner questions ask you to name the boxes. The harder ones hand you a messy pile of cards and ask which box was labeled wrong. You point at the label. You do not tell the story of how boxes were invented.
1. FILE belongs in the:
2. A control-break question is really asking about:
3. PGM= on new 11.6 JCL is:
4. An architect question about an extract is asking:
5. If you do not know a function name in an interview: