VSAM Fundamentals

Audience

This course is for IT professionals requiring an understanding of basic VSAM structures and the capabilities of the Access Method Services utility, IDCAMS.

Prerequisites

Knowledge of how to use TSO/E ISPF to edit and run work is required. Attending our TSO/ISPF course is recommended.

Duration

3 days. Hands on.

Course Objectives

This is a workshop with a mix of theory and practical session. Delegates are given the opportunity to practice data set creation and perform other functions from the IDCAMS repertoire. At the completion of this course, students will know and understand the structure of VSAM data sets, how to create them, how to manage them and how to list and interpret catalogue information. All students will be able to:

• Explain why VSAM is important to a number of sub-systems and products.
• Explain the general syntax and structure of the statements used by the IDCAMS utility.
• Explain the terms associated with VSAM data sets, including data set types.
• Create data sets of each type.
• List the catalogue for acquiring varying amounts of information.
• Create and populate an alternate index.
• Manipulate data sets in terms of archiving, changing attributes, copying, printing and renaming.
• Explain the impact of different buffer assignments, and resolve conflicts between batch and online use.

Course Content

Introduction to VSAM

An overview of VSAM

• Data organisation
• Data set organisations
• VSAM organisations
• VSAM and the Catalog
• The VSAM Utility program - IDCAMS

VSAM Building Blocks

• VSAM Data set structures
• Control Interval Format
• Control Area Format

VSAM Clusters

• VSAM processing
• Entry Sequenced Data sets (ESDS)
• Key Sequenced Data sets (KSDS)
• Relative Record Data sets (RRDS)
• Linear Data sets (LDS)
• Spanned and non-spanned records

IDCAMS Syntax

• IDCAMS JCL Requirements
• IDCAMS Command Syntax
• Conditional execution

MVS Catalogs

• Catalog Structure
• Catalog Information
• Catalog Alias Mechanism

AMS Commands

• DEFINE CLUSTER
  • format and parameters
• LISTCAT
  • format and group information
• Other commandsPerformance, security and integrity related parameters
  • ALTER, DELETE, PRINT and REPRO

Alternate Indexes

• AIX processing
• DEFINE AIX
• DEFINE PATH
• BLDINDEX