On 27/2/23 06:46, Andrew Rowley wrote:
On 25/02/2023 8:03 am, Bob Bridges wrote:
Oh, I was going to mention that surely allocating datasets, either in
batch or TSO, has got to seem like one of the dumbest and most
incomprehensible things we do on the mainframe, to a foreigner.
Allocating datasets shouldn't be that hard to grasp. "Dataset" is
actually a pretty common term and generally implies a collection of
data with more structure than just a file.
From what I've seen while working with younger individuals, they tend
to find the MVS file system quite perplexing. In order to navigate it,
one must first grasp the archaic concept of CKD disk geometry, including
blocks, cylinders, blocking factors, and record formats, among other
things. And that's all before even introducing them to the intricacies
of VTOCs, catalogs, interblock gaps, spanned record formats etc.
If people have worked with databases, presumably they have encountered
the concept of defining the schema.
A dataset is simply a collections of records (similar to a database
table) where each record has a fixed length or limited variable length
and the total collection has a size limit. Any structure within the
records is up to the application. This is not an unusual construct.
What is unusual is that z/OS uses such a structured format for almost
everything, not that it exists.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions,
send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN
