II14517: ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON LISTCAT LEVEL PROCESSING FOR Z/OS 1.8 AND HIGHER RELEASES

APAR status

• INTRAN

Error description

• This info apar expands upon the information in info apar
  II14250.
                                                                 .
    IDCAMS LISTCAT LEVEL processing on z/OS 1.8 and above releases
  may produce different output than on previous releases. The
  order which GDS's are returned may vary from earlier releases
  depending on a number of factors.
                                                                 .
    The first factor is how GDS's are created. If your use of
  GDG's is is all by relative processing (i.e. (+1), (0), (-2))
  then they will be returned in the order they were created which
  should be ascending sequence.
    Use of absolute processing, deleting GDS's in the middle of
  the GDG, renaming GDS's, may cause GDS's to returned in order
  other than ascending sequence. Apars OY36050, OY39635, OY67424,
  II07276, II08285 all discuss issues with use of a mix of
  absolute and relative processing.
  .
    The second factor is whether the GDG is defined as SCRATCH or
  NOSCRATCH. For SMS managed GDG's with the NOSCRATCH attribute
  when the limit is reached, the oldest GDS is rolled out and
  recataloged as a non vsam data set. For non SMS managed GDGs the
  catalog entry is removed when the limit is reached but the GDS
  is not scratched from the volume(s) it resides on.
  .
    The third factor is the number of levels in the GDG/GDS name
  and the number of levels in the LISTCAT LEVEL command issued.
                                                                 .
    Here are some examples of the above factors. These examples
  will use the following GDG/GDS names:
                                                                 .
  A.SMS.SCRATCH.GDG  => SMS managed GDG with SCRATCH
  A.SMS.NOSCRCH.GDG  => SMS managed GDG with NOSCRATCH
  A.NSMS.SCRATCH.GDG => Non SMS managed GDG with SCRATCH
  A.NSMS.NOSCRCH.GDG => Non SMS managed GDG with NOSCRATCH
                                                                 .
    These example GDG's have a limit of 3.
                                                                 .
    After generating 4 GDS's for the above GDG's LISTCAT LEVEL
  with up to three levels specified (for example, LEVEL(A.SMS) or
  LEVEL(A) or LEVEL(A.SMS.NOSCRCH) will return the following
  information:
                                                                 .
    The GDG entry, followed by G0002V00, G0003V00 G0004V00. For
  the one GDG A.SMS.NOSCRCH.GDG the former first GDS (G0001V00)
  GDS is listed after G0004V00 as a nonvsam entry that has a
  status of ROLLED-OFF.
  
  For the GDG A.SMS.NOSCRCH.GDG:
  GDG base entry
  G0002V00
  G0003V00
  G0004V00
  G0001V00                     <= Rolled Off Entry
  
  For others:
  GDG base entry
  G0002V00
  G0003V00
  G0004V00
  .
     This processing is the same for all releases. The only
  difference on 1.8 and higher releases is the addition of the
  line indicating which catalog the entries were listed from such
  as:
    LISTING FROM CATALOG -- SYS1.EXAMPLE.USERCAT
  and the listing of any aliases that match the level(s) specified
                                                                 .
    If a LISTCAT LEVEL is issued that matches the GDG name on 1.8
  or higher releases, there is no difference in the output
  produced from that when the level is less than the full GDG name
                                                                 .
  For the GDG A.SMS.NOSCRCH.GDG:
  GDG base entry
  G0002V00
  G0003V00
  G0004V00
  G0001V00                     <= Rolled Off Entry
                                                                 .
  For others:
  GDG base entry
  G0002V00
  G0003V00
  G0004V00
                                                                 .
    If a LISTCAT LEVEL is issued that matches the full GDG Name on
  1.7 or lower systems the only output produced is that for the
  GDS's or nonvsam data sets that match the level specified. The
  The GDG base entry is not listed. For the GDG A.SMS.NOSCRCH.GDG
  the rolled off entry (the former G0001V00) is listed first
  followed by the GDS's associated with the GDG.
                                                                 .
  For the GDG A.SMS.NOSCRCH.GDG:
  G0001V00                     <= Rolled Off Entry
  G0002V00
  G0003V00
  G0004V00
                                                                 .
  For others:
  G0002V00
  G0003V00
  G0004V00
                                                                 .
    If your applications do have a dependency on the change of
  order that GDS's are returned in, which is observed in SMS
  managed GDGs with NOSCRATCH specified, then those applications
  will need to be updated to remove that dependency.
                                                                 .
     This may take time to accomplish. There are several means
  available to have LISTCAT LEVEL return GDS's in generation
  number order. These are as follows:
                                                                 .
  1. Add EXPIRATION(9999) to the LISTCAT LEVEL command
  2. Add CREATION(0) to the LISTCAT LEVEL command
  3. If running under TSO, Use TSO PROFILE PREFIX(value)
     Note that it does not matter what the value is, only that the
     TSO PREFIX is set.
  4. After application of PTFs for OA20472, change your JCL from
            //STEP01 EXEC PGM=IDCAMS
                      to
            //STEP01 EXEC PGM=IDCNOGFL
     Or change applications that invoke IDCAMS to invoke the entry
     point IDCNOGFL, rather than IDCAMS.
     Note that the alternate entry point of IDCNOGFL is included
     in the base code for z/OS 1.10 and 1.11.
                                                                 .
     Note that with any of the above options the performance
  enhancements and constraints removal in z/OS 1.8 and higher
  releases will not be in effect.
                                                                 .
     The use of option 4 should be considered a temporary solution
  for the issue of GDS's being returned in an order other than
  generation number order. This option was provided to ease the
  migration to z/OS 1.8 and higher releases and is currently
  intended to be removed in a future release. At this point no
  decision has been made as to which release this will be removed
  in To help ease migration the PTFs for apar OA22078 will provid
  the new entry point IDCNOGFL for z/OS 1.6 and 1.7. Preview
  announcements and product announcements for z/OS future release
  will include this as a statement of direction. Removal of this
  option will be included in release and migration guides.
  

Local fix

Problem summary

Problem conclusion

Temporary fix

Comments

APAR Information

• APAR is sysrouted FROM one or more of the following:

• APAR is sysrouted TO one or more of the following:

Fix information

Applicable component levels