CPF3303: Spooled file not found in job

What it means

CPF3303 is an escape message with the text "File &1 not found in job &5/&4/&3." The first value is the spooled file name. The rest is the qualified job name, written as job number, user and job name. Spooled file commands such as Copy Spooled File (CPYSPLF) and Change Spooled File Attributes (CHGSPLFA) list it as one of their errors.

A spooled file is identified by its name, the job that created it and its number within that job. The commands take these as the FILE, JOB and SPLNBR parameters. JOB(*) means the job running the command. SPLNBR can be a number or a special value such as *ONLY or *LAST. If no spooled file in that job matches, the command ends with CPF3303 and does nothing.

The spooled file name is usually the name of the printer file the program used, such as QSYSPRT or QPRINT, unless an override gave it another name. A wrong guess at that name is a common cause.

Common causes

• The program didn't produce the report. It found no data and never opened the printer file, so there is nothing to copy. This is the classic cause when CPYSPLF follows a report program in a CL program.
• The command runs in a different job from the one that created the file, but uses JOB(*). For example, the report was created in a submitted job and the copy runs in the job that submitted it.
• The spooled file was already printed and removed, deleted by a user, or cleaned up by an output queue or job log cleanup routine.
• The name is wrong, for example the printer file name is used when an override gave the spooled file a different name.
• SPLNBR names a number the job doesn't have. If *ONLY is used and the job has several spooled files with that name, the command sends CPF3340 instead.
• The system clock was set back, for example for a daylight saving change. IBM documents that from V5R2 a spooled file created with a time earlier than its job's start time may not be found by CHGSPLFA, which then sends CPF3303 even though the file is visible.

How to find the problem

1. Run DSPJOBLOG and press F1 on CPF3303 to see the file name and the full job name the command searched.
2. Run WRKSPLF for the user, or WRKJOB for that job and take the spooled files option, to see which spooled files really exist and their names and numbers.
3. Check the program that should have created the file. Look for its printer file open in the job log, and check whether it had any data to print.
4. Look for overrides (OVRPRTF) in the CL program that might rename the spooled file or send it to a different output queue.

How to fix it

• Pass the correct job, file name and number. Copy them from WRKSPLF or the job's spooled file list rather than guessing them.
• Make the report program always produce output, for example a page saying there was nothing to report, if later steps expect a file.
• Add MONMSG MSGID(CPF3303) after the spooled file command and handle the missing file on purpose, such as sending a message to the operator.
• Run the copy in the same job that created the file, or name that job explicitly on the JOB parameter.
• If the clock was set back, give the job name, file name and spooled file number explicitly on CHGSPLFA. IBM's advice is to end jobs that create spooled files before setting the clock back.

What it looks like

File QPRINT not found in job 052174/CLERK04/PAYRUN01.

DSPMSGD MSGID(CPF3303) MSGF(QSYS/QCPFMSG)

Technical reviewer: Albert Joseph, WND Software.

Last reviewed 2026-10-18 by the WND Software team. Written in our own words. For the full reference, check IBM’s documentation for your IBM i release.