Question & Answer
Question
Are there any advantages to using VSAM record level sharing (RLS) with CICS Transaction Server for z/OS (CICS TS) ?
Answer
Advantages of VSAM record-level sharing (RLS) include:
- You share datasets throughout a sysplex with full data write integrity.
- Each file automatically receives 1024 strings, eliminating private string waits (FCPSSUSP orFCPSWAIT).
- Locking is performed at the record level instead of the control interval (CI), allowing updates to a single record without affecting other records.
- The lock is obtained by VSAM in structure IGWLOCK00. The SMSVSAM lock structure resides in a coupling facility (CF), so you are required to run with a CF. Since VSAM is handling the locking mechanism, FCDSRECD enqueue waits no longer occur.
- The need to use a file owning region (FOR) is eliminated. The application owning regions (AORs) can access the dataset directly. This will eliminate the FOR being a single point of failure.
- If there is a problem with one dataset, other files are not affected.
See Using VSAM record-level sharing and Setting up VSAM RLS support in the CICS TS V4.2 information center for more information.
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Product Synonym
CICS/TS CICS TS CICS Transaction Server
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Document Information
Modified date:
05 January 2026
UID
swg21162487