Defining and using data set aliases

You can define aliases for remote data sets and use them in the same way that you use ISPF data set aliases.

A data set alias contains a reference to the data set for which it is created. Data set aliases are displayed in the Remote Systems view ¹ with a distinct icon so that you can easily identify them as aliases and with the original data set name in brackets beside the alias name.

Data set aliases have properties that are separate from and can be different from the properties of the referenced data set. When an alias named HLQ.TEST.JCL references HLQ.TEST.COBOL, for example, the default extension of all members in HLQ.TEST.JCL is jcl, while the default extension of the members in HLQ.TEST.COBOL is cbl.

Note: The Remote Systems view supports access to data set aliases that contain symbolic names. However, defining a new symbolic name is not supported in z/OS® Explorer.

To define an alias for a remote data set:

From the Remote Systems view, select the data set for which you want to define an alias.²
Click New > Define Alias.
In the Define Alias window, select or type a high-level qualifier in the list.
In the Alias Name field, type an alias name for the data set and click OK.

There are a few differences between the actions you can perform on data set aliases and the actions you can perform on data sets:

The rename action is disabled for aliases.
When you delete an alias, the referenced data set is not deleted. Only the alias is deleted.

For more information about actions you can perform on aliases, see the related links.

¹ For IDz users, data set aliases are also displayed in z/OS Projects view.

² For IDz users, you can also do the same task from the z/OS Projects view.

³ For IDz users, the MVS Files subsystem Properties view also displays the following information:

Property Group Name: The name of the property group that is associated with the subsystem.
Property Group Overrides: Whether any values in the property group were overridden: Yes or No.