Scenario questions simulate the conference room or video call where an interviewer says, “A payroll report finished RC zero but finance says federal tax totals are two hundred thousand dollars high—walk me through what you do.” There is no menu of answers. Strong candidates clarify scope, form hypotheses, prioritize low-risk checks, and describe validation before production fix. This page presents realistic Easytrieve scenarios across reporting, feeds, performance, migration, and online screens—each with a model response framework you can practice aloud. Adapt timing to your panel: some want deep dive on one scenario; others rotate three short ones. Always mention change control and operations communication when production is involved.
Weekly store sales report ran successfully. District subtotals tie, but grand total exceeds finance control file by three percent. No abend. Promotion yesterday changed only a TITLE macro—or so the ticket says.
Ask whether input record count matches prior week and whether extract job changed. Compare SYSPRINT control totals to finance file. If counts match but dollars differ, suspect field overlay or wrong amount field in accumulation—verify macro LIST even if ticket says TITLE only. Reproduce on subset in test. Inspect AFTER-BREAK and grand total accumulators for double counting returns. Compare packed decimal definitions. Roll back macro if expansion shifted offsets. Add macro LIST diff to promotion checklist going forward.
Job historically sixty minutes; today one hundred forty minutes after business acquired new stores. CPU moderate, EXCP very high, sort messages show large WORK dataset growth.
Confirm volume doubled input only—not duplicate file append bug. Classify I/O and sort bound. Short term: presort extract in dedicated DFSORT step if not already; tune BUFNO on largest sequential read after storage review; ensure DISPLAY not added in loop. Medium term: split report from transform if single step does both passes. Long term: capacity review before next acquisition. Document baseline metrics in tuning ticket.
| Signal | Likely cause | First check |
|---|---|---|
| High EXCP | I/O bound | Extra file passes, BUFNO |
| High CPU | Logic or sort | DISPLAY, expressions |
| Large SORT WORK | Sort bound | Keys, presort |
| 878 abend | Storage | BUFNO, WORK, VFM |
| RC=0 wrong data | Logic/macro | Counts, LIST diff |
Nightly vendor file has five percent invalid store numbers after store closure project. Business wants maximum valid data processed; audit requires invalid rows retained.
Design validation PERFORM: lookup store master, set reason code, WRITE EXCEP-FILE, increment CNT-INVALID. Continue processing valid rows. SYSPRINT summary and optional threshold alert if invalid rate exceeds SLA. Do not silently drop. Schedule exception rework job. Reference validation framework pattern. Discuss whether store master lag caused spike—data fix versus code fix.
123456789JOB INPUT VENDOR-FILE PERFORM VALIDATE-STORE IF RECORD-OK PERFORM PROCESS-SALE WRITE CLEAN-FILE ELSE PERFORM WRITE-EXCEPTION END-IF END
Function-mode compile fails on hundreds of programs defining field SET after 11.6 upgrade.
Recognize reserved word conflict. Plan automated rename to FL-SET or WS-SET with source scan. Pilot one application, regression test, batch rename tool in Endevor or REXX scan. Update standards prohibiting ambiguous names. Phased compile waves; compatibility mode interim if deadline pressure— with executive acceptance of debt. Communicate to all teams owning libraries.
Online customer inquiry shows previous customer after F8 forward. Operators report intermittent.
Review SCREEN flow: BEFORE-SCREEN should GET next record; AFTER-SCREEN handles F8. Check RESET attributes clearing flags needed across iterations. Verify GET EOF handling does not redisplay old buffer. CICS conversational requirements if CALL involved. Reproduce with trace in test CICS region. Forbidden GOTO SCREEN in BEFORE-SCREEN if recent edit introduced it.
PERSNL macro promoted Friday; multiple payroll jobs abend S0C7 Saturday.
S0C7 indicates data exception—often packed decimal garbage from wrong offset. Immediate rollback macro library member. Compare LIST before and after promotion. Identify missing regression compile on one caller still using old load with new layout mismatch—or all recompiled with wrong offset change. Fix macro, expand regression matrix to full caller tier, add packed field alignment check in review checklist. Post-incident: no Friday macro promo without full regression.
Interviewer asks you to design from scratch a daily exception report for duplicate invoice numbers in an AP extract—whiteboard only.
FILE for AP extract via macro; JOB INPUT read loop; maintain internal table or sort by invoice number; detect duplicate with prior key compare or SORT DUP processing; WRITE exception file and REPORT listing; SYSPRINT counts; PERFORM modules VALIDATE, CHECK-DUP, LOG; TITLE macro for standard header; schedule after AP extract JCL; test cases: no dup, one dup pair, many dups. Mention change control and ops runbook entry.
Scenario questions are story problems in math class. The teacher tells a messy story and you show the steps to find the answer—not just the final number. Say what you would check first, what you would fix, and how you would know the fix worked.
1. Scenario: totals off after macro change. First action:
2. Scenario: job over window with high EXCP. Likely focus:
3. Scenario: 5% invalid store codes in feed. Best approach:
4. Scenario: DEFINE SET fails compile in 11.6. Fix:
5. Scenario: report subtotals wrong but detail lines look fine. Check: