Optional Parameters

ALIAS|NOALIAS
specifies whether any aliases are defined for the imported catalog. ALIAS causes the IMPORT command to retrieve the aliases that were exported and define them for the catalog being imported. The default, NOALIAS, will result in no aliases being imported.
If ALIAS is specified, and the catalog
  • exists but is empty, any aliases that exist in the system for that catalog are not deleted. Any aliases that exist on the portable data set are defined for the imported catalog if the aliases do not exist on the system. Any duplicate aliases will produce a duplicate alias message. IMPORT will print the list of aliases that were defined for the imported catalog.
  • exists and is not empty, the catalog is deleted and redefined from the portable data set. Any aliases that exist in the system are not deleted. Aliases on the portable data set are not defined but a list of the alias names from the portable data set are printed.
  • does not exist, the catalog is defined along with its aliases from the portable data set. The catalog will then be loaded from the portable data set.

Hint: Before restoring the catalog, you might want to run LISTCAT to determine the status of the catalog and its aliases.

Abbreviations: ALS or NALS

CATALOG(catname)
specifies the name of the catalog in which the imported object is to be cataloged. This parameter is ignored if the imported object is a catalog data set.
catname
is the name of the catalog or an ALIAS of the catalog into which to define the entry being imported.

Abbreviation: CAT

ERASE|NOERASE
specifies whether the component of the cluster or alternate index is to be erased (that is, overwritten with binary zeros). Use this parameter when you are importing the object into the system from which it was previously exported with the TEMPORARY option. This parameter overrides whatever was specified when the object was defined or last altered.
ERASE
overwrites the component with binary zeros when the cluster or alternate index is deleted. If ERASE is specified, the volume that contains the data component must be mounted.

If the cluster is protected by a RACF® generic or discrete profile and the cluster is cataloged in a catalog, use RACF commands to specify an ERASE attribute as part of this profile so that the component is automatically erased upon deletion.

Abbreviation: ERAS

NOERASE
specifies that the component is not to be overwritten with binary zeros when the cluster or alternate index is deleted.

NOERASE resets only the indicator in the catalog entry that was created from a prior DEFINE or ALTER command. If the cluster is protected by a RACF generic or discrete profile that specifies the ERASE attribute and if the cluster is cataloged in a catalog, it is erased upon deletion. Use RACF commands to alter the ERASE attribute in a profile.

Abbreviation: NERAS

INTOEMPTY
specifies that you are importing from the portable data set into an empty data set. If this parameter is not specified, an attempt to import into an empty data set is unsuccessful. If you import into an empty SMS-managed data set or catalog, the SMS class specifications in effect are not changed. MANAGEMENTCLASS and STORAGECLASS from the portable data set will not be used, but they will be checked to see if they do exist on the current system. If they do not exist on the current system, you must use the OBJECTS parameter to override the values.

The RACF profiles associated with the empty non-SMS-managed data set are retained.

You can use INTOEMPTY to import a previously SMS-managed data set into a predefined empty non-SMS-managed data set.

When importing into an empty data set, the SAVRAC|NOSAVRAC parameter applies only to the paths imported and successfully defined over the empty data set. If the define of an exported path is unsuccessful because a catalog entry with the same name already exists, the path on the portable data set is ignored.

Abbreviation: IEMPTY

LOCK|UNLOCK
controls the setting of the catalog lock attribute, and therefore checks access to a catalog. LOCK or UNLOCK can be specified only when entryname identifies a catalog. If the LOCK|UNLOCK parameter is not specified, the catalog being imported will be unlocked. Before you lock a catalog, review the information on locking catalogs in z/OS DFSMS Managing Catalogs. Locking a catalog makes it inaccessible to all users without read authority to RACF FACILITY class profile IGG.CATLOCK (including users sharing the catalog on other systems).
LOCK
specifies that the catalog being imported is to be locked. Nonexisting catalogs are defined as locked. Existing unlocked catalogs are locked. Locking the catalog restricts catalog access to authorized personnel. Specification of this parameter requires read authority to the profile name, IGG.CATLOCK, with class type FACILITY. Catalogs are usually locked only during catalog recovery operations.
UNLOCK
specifies that the catalog being imported is to be unlocked. Nonexisting catalogs are defined as unlocked. Existing locked catalogs are unlocked. If LOCK|UNLOCK is not specified, the catalog is unlocked.
OBJECTS
((entryname
[FILE(ddname)]
[MANAGEMENTCLASS(class)]
[NEWNAME(newname)]
[STORAGECLASS(class)]
[VOLUMES(volser[ volser...])])
[(entryname...)...])
specifies the new or changed attributes for the cluster, alternate index, any associated paths, or user catalog to be imported. Access method services matches each entryname you specify against the name of each object on the portable data set. When a match is found, the information specified by OBJECTS overrides the information on the portable data set.
If you specify NEWNAME when importing a catalog, an error message is issued and processing ends.
entryname
specifies the name of the data component, index component, cluster, alternate index, path, or user catalog for which attributes are being specified. The entryname must appear on the portable data set; otherwise, the parameter list is ignored.

Abbreviation: OBJ

FILE(ddname)
specifies the name of a DD statement that identifies the volumes allocated to the data and index components of a key-sequenced cluster, an alternate index, or user catalog. This parameter is used when the data and index components reside on different device types. FILE can be coded twice within the OBJECTS parameter: once in the parameter set for the index component and once in a second parameter set for the data component. If you do not specify FILE, the required volumes are dynamically allocated. The volumes must be mounted as permanently resident and reserved.
MANAGEMENTCLASS(class)
specifies a 1-to-8 character management class name to be associated with the data set or catalog being imported. It must be associated with the entry name of the CLUSTER or the alternate index.

Abbreviation: MGMTCLAS

NEWNAME(newname)
specifies the new name of an imported cluster or alternate index or its components, or an associated path. If you use NEWNAME, only the name specified as entryname is changed.

Restriction: The NEWNAME parameter is not valid when importing a catalog.

If you are specifying a new name for a cluster or alternate index that was exported with the TEMPORARY option and it is being imported back into the original system, you must also rename each of its components. If you are specifying NEWNAME for an SMS-managed cluster or alternate index, you must also rename each of its components, so that each component orients to the same user catalog.

Abbreviation: NEWNM

ORDERED|UNORDERED
ORDERED|UNORDERED is no longer supported; if it is specified, it will be ignored and no error message will be issued.
STORAGECLASS(class)
specifies a 1-to-8 character storage class name to be associated with the data set or catalog being imported. It must be associated with the entry name of the CLUSTER or the alternate index.

Abbreviation: STORCLAS

VOLUMES(volser[ volser...])
specifies either the volumes on which the cluster, alternate index, or user catalog is to reside, or the volume on which the user catalog resides. If VOLUMES is not coded, the original volume is the receiving volume.

SMS might not use candidate volumes for which you request specific volsers. In some cases, a user-specified volser for an SMS-managed data set can result in an error. To avoid candidate volume problems with SMS, you can request that SMS choose the specific volser used for a candidate volume. To do this, you can code an * for each volser that you request. If, however, you request both specified and unspecified volsers in the same command, you must enter the specified volsers first in the command syntax. The default is one volume. For SMS-managed data sets, you can specify up to 59 volume serial numbers.

Catalogs can only be on one volume, so only one volume should be specified when importing a user catalog.

If you use VOLUMES, you can specify the cluster or alternate index name, the data component name or the index component name as entryname with the following results:
  • If VOLUMES is specified with the cluster or alternate index name, the specified volume list is defined for the data component. For a key-sequenced cluster or alternate index, the specified volume list is also defined for the index component.
  • If VOLUMES is specified with the data component name, the specified volume list is defined for the data component. Any specification of VOLUMES with the cluster or alternate index name is overridden.
  • For a key-sequenced cluster or alternate index, if VOLUMES is specified with the index component name, the specified volume list is defined for the index component. Any specification of VOLUMES with the cluster or alternate index name is overridden.
If a guaranteed space storage class is assigned to the data sets (cluster) and volume serial numbers are specified, space is allocated on all specified volumes if the following conditions are met:
  • All volumes specified are in the same storage group.
  • The storage group to which these volumes belong is in the list of storage groups selected by the ACS routines for this allocation.

For clusters or alternate indexes, if multiple volumes are specified, they must be of the same device type. By repeating the OBJECTS parameter set for each component and including VOLUMES in each parameter set, you can have the data and index components on different volumes. Although the index and data components can reside on different device types, each volume of a multivolume component must be of the same type.

If the receiving volume is different from that which originally contained the cluster or alternate index, the job might end because of allocation problems. Each space allocation quantity is recorded in a catalog entry as an amount of cylinders or tracks even if RECORDS was specified in the DEFINE command.

When a cluster or alternate index is imported, the number of cylinders or tracks in the catalog entry is not modified, even though the object might be imported to reside on a device type other than that it was exported from. If an object is exported from a smaller DASD and imported to a larger DASD, more space is allocated than the object needs. Conversely, if an attempt is made to import an object that previously resided on a larger DASD to a smaller DASD, it might be unsuccessful.

You can avoid space allocation problems by defining an empty cluster or alternate index and identifying it as the target for the object being imported as described below:
  • Use the DEFINE command to define a new entry for the cluster or alternate index in the catalog to which it is to be moved. If space was allocated in RECORDS, you can specify the same quantity; if it was allocated in TRACKS or CYLINDERS, you must adjust the quantity for the new device type. If an entry already exists in the catalog for the object, you must delete that entry or use a different name in the DEFINE command.
  • Use the IMPORT command to load the portable data set into the newly defined cluster or alternate index. When IMPORT encounters an empty target data set, the exported catalog information is bypassed and only the data records are processed.

Abbreviation: VOL

PURGE|NOPURGE
specifies whether the original cluster, alternate index, or catalog is to be deleted and replaced, regardless of the retention time specified in the TO or FOR parameter. Use this parameter when you are importing the object into the original system from which it was exported with the TEMPORARY option.
PURGE
specifies that the object is to be deleted even if the retention period has not expired.

Abbreviation: PRG

NOPURGE
specifies that the object is not to be deleted unless the retention period has expired.

Abbreviation: NPRG

SAVRAC|NOSAVRAC
specifies, for a RACF-protected object, whether existing profiles are to be used or whether new profiles are to be created. This option applies only to discrete profiles. Generic profiles are not affected.

Exception: The SAVRAC|NOSAVRAC parameters are ignored if the INTOEMPTY parameter has been specified and the target data set exists and is empty.

SAVRAC
specifies that RACF data set profiles that already exist for objects being imported from the portable data set are to be used. Typically, you would specify this option when replacing a data set with a portable copy made with an EXPORT TEMPORARY operation. SAVRAC causes the existing profiles to be saved and used, rather than letting the system delete old profiles and create new, default profiles.

The profiles will actually be redefined by extracting information from existing profiles and adding caller attributes. You should ensure these added attributes are acceptable.

The ownership creation group and access list are altered by the caller of the SAVRAC option.

Requirement: Ensure that valid profiles do exist for clusters being imported when SAVRAC is specified. If this is not done, an invalid and improper profile might be "saved" and used inappropriately.

NOSAVRAC
specifies that new RACF data set profiles are to be created. This is usually the situation when importing a permanently exported cluster.

If the automatic data set protection option has been specified for you or if the exported cluster had a RACF indication in the catalog when it was exported, a profile is defined for the imported clusters.

If you import into a catalog containing a component with a duplicate name that is marked as having been temporarily exported, it, and any associated profiles, is deleted before the portable data set is imported.

RLSTARGET(NO|YES|QUIESCE)
Specifies how the target dataset will be open.
NO
indicates the target data set will be opened using Non-Shared Resources (NSR).

Abbreviation: N

Default: NO

YES
indicates that the target data set will be opened using Record Level Sharing (RLS) and the data set will have consistent read integrity.

Abbreviation: Y

QUIESCE
indicates that the source data set is quiesced before AMS calls VSAM for RLS OPEN. VSAM switches the data set out of RLS mode and ultimately open it in nonRLS mode.

Abbreviation: Q

Abbreviation: RLST

Parent topic: IMPORT Parameters