OK, I'll admit that I'm sort of goofing off on this one. I was curious about the initial format of a never used page dataset. It appears to be quite simple except for one thing. What I have determined is:
1) The entire dataset is formatted into 4K physical block. This makes sense. 2) Every block on the first track is identical and contains: C9D3D9D7 C1C7C4E2 01000000 00000000 BDA44D94 9A07ED00 00000000 00000000 *ILRPAGDS.........u(m............* 3) The 8 bytes at offset 16 vary, but not depending on the size of the dataset. 4) Every block on every track after the first track is identical and is binary zeros. The question is about point 3. Does anybody know what that value is? My "best guess" is that it is the output from an STCK. If so, does anybody know what it is used for by ASM? I have noticed that it changes while the dataset is active. Once the dataset is in use, it appears that all blocks are used for page frames, except the first block. This appears to have information in it such as the CPUID, the SYSNAME, the LPARNAME, another two timestamps (at +24 and +32), and maybe more that is not blindingly obvious. My initial curiousity about this was due to an old problem about defining a page dataset in an alternate catalog where the HLQ of the new page dataset was not in the standard catalog search order. As we all know, this results in the page dataset not be usable. So, in my idiocy, I thought this would be a neat function in ZZSA. The ability to format a page dataset from a stand alone utility. Granted, most people would just do things the right way. But what about the possibility of a FlexES user who has "goofed up" and no longer has an IPLable system due to this problem. Oh well, just "shooting the bull", I guess. -- John McKown Senior Systems Programmer UICI Insurance Center Information Technology This message (including any attachments) contains confidential information intended for a specific individual and purpose, and its' content is protected by law. If you are not the intended recipient, you should delete this message and are hereby notified that any disclosure, copying, or distribution of this transmission, or taking any action based on it, is strictly prohibited. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: GET IBM-MAIN INFO Search the archives at http://bama.ua.edu/archives/ibm-main.html
