An access method defines the technique that is used to store and retrieve data. Access methods have their own data set structures to organize data, macros to define and process data sets, and utility programs to process data sets.
Access methods are identified primarily by the data set organization. For example, use the basic sequential access method (BSAM) or queued sequential access method (QSAM) with sequential data sets. However, there are times when an access method identified with one organization can be used to process a data set organized in a different manner. For example, a sequential data set (not extended-format data set) created using BSAM can be processed by the basic direct access method (BDAM), and vice versa. Another example is UNIX files, which you can process using BSAM, QSAM, basic partitioned access method (BPAM), or virtual storage access method (VSAM).