OPEN/CLOSE message area for multiple reason or attention messages

This section does not apply to RLS processing. The MAREA and MLEN parameters are ignored by RLS processing.

During the execution of a non-RLS open or close, more than one error condition may be detected. However, the ACB error flag field can accommodate only one attention or error condition. To receive multiple error or attention conditions, specify an optional message area. VSAM uses this optional message area to accumulate error messages from an open or close.

The system can supply multiple messages if you specify nonzero values in the MAREA and MLEN parameters of the ACB. If MAREA or MLEN is either not specified or zero, no error or attention information is stored in the message area. The ACB error flag field is the only indication of error or attention conditions. If MAREA and MLEN are specified and the message area is too small to accommodate all messages, the last incoming messages are dropped. However, you will receive an indication of the number of attention conditions and messages that occurred.