RECFM specifies the characteristics of the records in the data set as fixed-length (F), variable-length (V), ASCII variable-length (D), or undefined-length (U). Blocked records are specified as FB, VB, or DB. Spanned records are specified as VS, VBS, DS, or DBS. You can also specify the records as fixed-length standard by using FS or FBS. You can request track overflow for records other than standard format by adding a T to the RECFM parameter (for example, by coding FBT). Track overflow is ignored for PDSEs.

The type of print control can be specified to be in ANSI format-A, or in machine code format-M. See Using Optional Control Characters and z/OS DFSMS Macro Instructions for Data Sets for information about control characters.