>Rex wrote: >Actually, it does make sense (at least to me) to have this threshold set. >We've gone back more than once to rescue a developer or support person who >inadvertently >scratched a tape the day before and we were able to recover it >for them by using this "expired but not really" feature. It is really no >different from old physical tapes, >where the data on a scratch tape wasn't >really gone until the tape was physically written over. In those days, one >could jump through hoops (and security) to get the >contents brought back. >This simply maintains that capability. Without the expire hold, as soon as >the tape is scratch, the data is gone.
Back in the 70s, payroll was run in-house at the place I worked. Every 2 weeks the head of payroll would bring in a removable disk pack and stay in the computer room until the checks and reports were printed and then took everything back with him. There was a back up to reel tape. A tape label with the dataset name was printed and stuck on the reel as it was removed from the drive and stored in the computer room until expiration. The operators knew these tapes would only be used by payroll. Each tape had its serial number prominently displayed on its perimeter case. When a tape expired, the tape label was removed and it was hung on a scratch rack. A co-worker waited until the payroll backup tape expired and ran a utility to print the contents, calling for the expired tape by serial number with BLP. In order to minimize his chances of detection by nosy operators, who would stop the printer and adjust the paper feed behind the printer if they thought something interesting was being printed, he printed it in hex. I got involved because he couldn't read hex. So, taking this as an educational opportunity, I showed him how to use the green card to interpret the name field and find packed decimal fields using my record as an example. He left for greener pastures soon after. ________________________________ F Gary Weinhold Senior Application Architect DATAKINETICS | Data Performance & Optimization Phone:+1.613.523.5500 x216 Email: weinh...@dkl.com Visit us online at www.DKL.com E-mail Notification: The information contained in this email and any attachments is confidential and may be subject to copyright or other intellectual property protection. If you are not the intended recipient, you are not authorized to use or disclose this information, and we request that you notify us by reply mail or telephone and delete the original message from your mail system. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN
