The integrated catalog facility (ICF) provides support for the
following tape configuration databases:
- Volume catalog
- A volume catalog (VOLCAT) is an ICF user catalog marked as a volume
catalog. It contains only volume and library entries. There are two
types of VOLCAT: general and specific. The TCDB may be shared by all
or some of the systems and system groups in one or more SMSplexes
that have connection to the tape library dataservers that are defined
in the TCDB. The TCDB is the collection of all VOLCATs—the general
and all the specifics.
- The general VOLCAT
- The default volume catalog contains all the library records as
well as any volume records that are not recorded in a specific VOLCAT.
Each system must have access to one and only one general VOLCAT. The
general VOLCAT must be defined before defining a tape library. The
name of the general volume catalog is hlq.VOLCAT.VGENERAL.
- A specific VOLCAT
- A volume catalog that contains a specific group of volume records
based on the first character of the volume serial number. The name
of the specific volume catalog is hlq.VOLCAT.Vx. For examples on defining
VOLCATS, see Creating the tape configuration database or z/OS DFSMS Access Method Services Commands.
Note: The
"hlq" and the
"x" in the name of the volume catalog,
hlq.VOLCAT.Vx, stand for high-level qualifier and reference to
valid character values (A–Z and 0–9) respectively. For information
on changing high-level qualifiers on VOLCATs, see
z/OS DFSMS Managing Catalogs.
The following TCDB records are used in association with tape libraries:
- Library record
- There is one library record for each tape library. The library
record resides within the general VOLCAT. Each record contains information
related to the library (for example, library name, library ID, and
device type) and is created by the ISMF tape library define option.
- Volume record
- Each volume record represents a tape volume. It can reside in
the general or the specific VOLCAT. It contains information related
to a volume (for example, volume serial number, library name, and
storage group name) and is created during cartridge entry processing.
Access method services provide users access to catalog entries
for tape libraries and tape volumes, allowing them to create, alter,
list and delete entries residing in the TCDB. However, access method
services is used mainly as a recovery tool to repair damaged catalogs
and should be used with caution whenever you create, alter, and delete
TCDB entries. Incorrect use of this recovery tool can cause database
(host, library manager, and tape management) conflicts. For example,
IDCAMS ALTER can be used to change the use attribute of a volume in
the TCDB, but it does not change the library manager’s inventory record
or the tape management system’s database. When changing a volume’s
use attribute, use CBRXLCS FUNC=CUA or ISMF volume ALTER to keep the
databases synchronized. For more information concerning recovery of
catalog entries, see Establishing recovery procedures.