20 Tricky Mainframe Interview Questions Asked in Capgemini

Here are the mainframe interview questions asked in Capgemini.

Mainframe Interview Questions

#1 What is the 77 level?

It is an independent level, and you cannot add child records to it.

#2 What is the 88 level?

The usage is to classify the variable with different names. 

#3 What are Search and Search all in COBOL?

The search will do a sequential search, but Search all will do a binary search.

#4 What is perform statement?

The purpose is to read the array of data in a loop.

#5 How to execute only the 5th step?

The easiest way is to use the cond parameter in the job card.

#6 How to find the reason for SOC7?

Analyze the job logs and find the variable name as per offset. The other way is to debug the code using the debugger.

#7 What is the difference between In-stream and Cataloged procedures?

The in-stream procedure applies to that job, but the Cataloged can use in many places.

#8 What’s TIME=1440 or TIME=NOLIMIT?

It means there is no limit on the time, and the Job parameters will take precedence over the step parameters.

#9 What is Region=0K or 0M?

It can use all the available memory (there is no limit).

#10 What is the -818 error code?

It causes differences in timestamps of the Load module and DBRM.

#11 What is the DBRM?

Say, database request module, and has an equivalent host language call statements for each SQL statement.

#12 Why do we need isolation levels?

The prime purpose is to maintain data integrity.

#13 What is a segment in IMS DB?

The segment in IMS DB is the smallest piece of data that the IMS can store.

#14 What is a hierarchical database?

The segments in the database are in hierarchical order.

#15 What are DBD, PSB, and PCB?

  • DBD is a database descriptor (It contains information on segments)
  • PSB contains information on PCBs. 
  • PCB is a program communication block.

#16 What are the calls available in IMS DB?

The top database calls are GU, GN, GHU, GHN, DLET, REPL, etc.

#17 How to copy the dataset in the IDCAMS utility?

You can do it using the REPRO command.

#18 What’s an OVERLAY statement in DFSORT?

It allows replacing a piece of text with new text as you wish.

#19 What is the SB37 return code?

It is due to secondary space utilized, and no more extents are available.

#20 What’s the purpose of cursors in DB2?

The purpose of cursors logic is to read the Table data row by row for the program to process.

Author: Srini

Experienced software developer. Skills in Development, Coding, Testing and Debugging. Good Data analytic skills (Data Warehousing and BI). Also skills in Mainframe.

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