A READ_DIRINFO request allows you to retrieve directory information from the structure and store it in the storage areas specified by BUFLIST or BUFFER. You can specify that all directory entries be processed (CRITERIA=ALL) or only those directory entries that contain changed or locked-for-cast-out data (CRITERIA=CHANGED). You can further filter the selection of entries for processing by specifying NAME and optionally NAMEMASK.

You can request that all directory entry information be returned for the specified data items (DIRINFOFMT=DIRENTRYLIST) or only a subset of the information be returned (DIRINFOFMT=NAMELIST).

If the request completes prematurely because it exceeds the model-dependent time-out criteria or the specified buffer area (BUFLIST or BUFFER) is full, a restart token (RESTOKEN) or an extended restart token (EXTRESTOKEN) is returned in the answer area. The token can be specified on the next READ_DIRINFO request to resume processing with the next directory entry to be processed. Resumed requests are processed identically whether using the RESTOKEN or EXTRESTOKEN to specify the starting location.