Location in the JCL

A DD DATA statement begins an in-stream data set.

In-stream Data for Cataloged or In-stream Procedures: A cataloged procedure can contain a DD DATA statement.

An in-stream procedure can contain a DD DATA statement.

When you call an in-stream procedure, you can add input stream data to an in-stream procedure step by placing one or more DD * or DD DATA statements in the calling step. You can alternatively include in-stream data directly within the in-stream or cataloged procedure.

Multiple in-stream data sets for a step: You can code more than one DD * or DD DATA statement in a job step in order to include several distinct groups of data for the processing program. Precede each group with a DD * or DD DATA statement and follow each group with a delimiter statement.

Omitted data delimiters: If you omit a DD statement before input data, the system provides a DD * statement with the ddname of SYSIN and ends the data when it reads a JCL statement or runs out of records. If you omit a delimiter after input data, the system ends the data when it reads a JCL statement or runs out of records.