Which of the following is true:
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Under no circumstances must a DD statement precede an EXEC statement
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The OPERATION JOB can be coded in position 4.
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An OPERATION can be coded beyond position 72, as long as it starts before position 72
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A JCL OPERATION must be followed and preceded by at least one blank.
In JCL, operation names (JOB, EXEC, DD) must be separated by at least one space from other parameters. This is a fundamental JCL syntax rule. Option A is incorrect because DD statements must come after EXEC statements in job steps. Option B is wrong because JOB is coded in positions 1-3, not 4. Option C is false because JCL statements cannot extend beyond position 72 in the standard column layout.
JCL requires that any operation (operator) field be separated from surrounding fields by at least one blank on both sides — this is how the parser knows where one field ends and the next begins. Violating this spacing rule causes a JCL syntax error, so the blank-delimiter rule is a hard requirement, unlike the other statements listed.