Date/time constants in JCL

You can use DATE, DATE=(abcd), DATENS=(abc), YDDD=(abc) and YDDDNS=(ab) to generate CH/ZD constants for the current data (that is, today's date) as follows:

DATE creates a constant in the form C'mm/dd/yy' which on March 15, 2005 would be C'03/15/04'.
DATE=(abcd) creates a constant in the form C'adbdc' where a, b and c can be M for mm, D for dd, Y for yy or 4 for yyyy, and d is the separator character. For example, DATE=(DM4.) creates C'dd. mm.yyyy’ which on March 15, 2005 would be C'15. 03.2005’.
DATENS=(abc) creates a constant in the form C'abc' where a, b and c can be M for mm, D for dd, Y for yy or 4 for yyyy. For example, DATE=(DMY) creates C'ddmmyy' which on March 15, 2005 would be C'150304'.
YDDD=(abc) creates a constant in the form C'acb' where a and b can be D for ddd, Y for yy or 4 for yyyy, and c is the separator character. For example, YDDD=(4D-) creates C'yyyy-ddd' which on March 15, 2005 would be C'2005-075'.

YDDDNS=(ab) creates a constant in the form C'ab' where a and b can be D for ddd, Y for yy or 4 for yyyy. For example, YDDD=(DY) creates C'dddyy' which on March 15, 2005 would be C'07504'.

You can use TIME, TIME=(abc) or TIMENS=(ab) to generate CH/ZD constants for the current time (that is, the time of the run) as follows:

TIME creates a constant in the form C'hh: mm: ss’ (24-hour time) which at 01:55:43 PM would be C'135543'.
TIME=(24c) creates a constant in the form C'hhcmmcss' (24-hour time) where c is the separator character. For example, TIME=(24.) creates C'hh. mm.ss’, which at 01:55:43 PM would be C'13. 55.43’.
TIME=(12c) creates a constant in the form C'hhcmmcss xx' (12-hour time) where c is the separator character and xx is 'am' or' pm'. For example, TIME=(12.) creates C'hh. Mm.ss xx' which at 01:55:43 PM would be C'01. 55.43 pm'.
TIMENS=(24) creates a constant in the form C'hhmmss' (24-hour time) which at 01:55:43 PM would be C'135543'.
TIMENS=(12) creates a constant in the form C'hhmmss xx' (12-hour time) where xx is 'am' or' pm' which at 01:55:43 PM would be C'015543 pm'.

You can also use DATEn and DATEn(c) to generate CH/ZD constants for the current date (that is, today's date) and TIMEn and TIMEn(c) to generate CH/ZD constants for the current time (that is, the time of the run). The separator (c) can be any character except blank. Here are tables that show the character/zoned decimal constant generated for each DATEn and DATEn(c) operand along with an example using / for c where relevant, and for each TIMEn and TIMEn(c) operand along with an example using: for c where relevant.

Operand	Constant	Type	March 15, 2005 01:55:43 PM
DATE1	C'yyyymmdd'	CH, ZD	C'20050315'
DATE1(c)	C'yyyycmmcdd'	CH	C'2005/03/15'
DATE2	C'yyyymm'	CH, ZD	C'200503'
DATE2(c)	C'yyyycmm'	CH	C'2005/03'
DATE3	C'yyyyddd'	CH, ZD	C'2005075'
DATE3(c)	C'yyyycddd'	CH	C'2005/075'
DATE4	C'yyyy-mm-dd-hh.mm.ss'	CH	C'2005-03-15-13. 55.43’

Operand	Constant	Type	01:55:43 PM
TIME1	C'hhmmss'	CH, ZD	C'135543'
TIME1(c)	C'hhcmmcss'	CH	C'13: 55:43’
TIME2	C'hhmm'	CH, ZD	C'1355'
TIME2(c)	C'hhcmm'	CH	C'13: 55’
TIME3	C'hh'	CH, ZD	C'13'

If you wanted to create two different timestamps at the start of each output record as follows:

C'TS1 IS yyyy-mm-dd hh:mm:ss, TS2 IS yyyydddhhmm '

you could use this OUTFIL statement:

   OUTFIL OUTREC=(C'TS1 IS ', DATE1 (-), X, TIME1 (:),

                 C', TS2 IS ', DATE3, TIME2, X,

                 1,80)

Packed decimal date/time constants: You can use DATEnP to generate PD constants for the current date (that is, today's date). You can use TIMEnP to generate constants for the current time (that is, the time of the run). Here are tables that show the packed decimal constant generated for each DATEnP and TIMEnP operand along with examples.

Operand	Constant	Type	March 15, 2005
DATE1P	P'yyyymmdd'	PD	P'20050315'
DATE2P	P'yyyymm'	PD	P'200503'
DATE3P	P'yyyyddd'	PD	P'2005075'

Operand	Constant	Type	01:55:43 PM
TIME1P	P'hhmmss'	PD	P'135543'
TIME2P	P'hhmm'	PD	P'1355'
TIME3P	P'hh'	PD	P'13'

If you wanted to place a P'hhmm' constant for the time of the DFSORT run in positions 21-23 of your output records, and a P'yyyymm' constant for the date of the DFSORT run in positions 55-58 of your output records, you could use the following OUTREC statement:

OUTREC FIELDS=(5:16,10,21:TIME2P, 28:37,20,55:DATE2P, 65:1,8)

SAMPLE JCL:

//STEP1 EXEC PGM=ICETOOL,

// COND=(0,NE)

//*

//TOOLMSG DD SYSOUT=*

//*

//DFSMSG DD SYSOUT=*

//*

//SORTIN DD *

//SORT1 DD DSN=ACMSTMP.RADHA.TEST1,

// DISP=(OLD, CATLG, DELETE),

// UNIT=SYSDA, SPACE=(CYL, (250,100), RLSE),