VSAM CATALOG, DEFAULT AND WORK FILE DATABASE field

The values in the VSAM CATALOG, DEFAULT AND WORK FILE DATABASE field specify storage management properties. These properties apply to temporary data sets, the default storage group and sample storage group, and the VSAM catalog (if a new one is created).

Table 1. Acceptable values and defaults for field columns
Column VOL/SER DATA CLASS MGMT CLASS STOR CLASS
Acceptable values: Blank or a valid z/OS® volume serial number Blank or a valid SMS data class name Blank or a valid SMS management class name Blank or a valid SMS storage class name
Default: Blank Blank Blank Blank
Update: None None None None
DSNZPxxx: None None None None

The CREATE STOGROUP statements for the default storage group and sample storage groups are tailored to include or exclude the VOLUMES, DATACLAS, MGMTCLAS, and STORCLAS parameters according to whether you specify arguments for them in this field.

  • If a column is not blank, the corresponding parameter is included, with the value as its argument.
  • If a column is blank, the corresponding parameter is excluded.
  • If all columns are blank, the VOLUMES parameter is included, with the asterisk as its argument.

A blank value in a column directs the CLIST to remove the corresponding storage-management-related parameters from all JCL, AMS, ALLOC, and DDL statements that are used to create data sets and storage groups that are associated with the field. A non-blank value is used by the CLIST to customize the corresponding storage-management-related parameters in all JCL, AMS, ALLOC, and DDL statements that are used to create data sets and storage groups that are associated with the field.

Recommendation: To help performance and recovery, avoid dependency on a single storage device by using an SMS scheme that uses more than one volume serial number.

For migration, this field has no effect on the VSAM catalog or the default storage group because these objects are provided by the previous release of Db2.