
140 Introduction to the New Mainframe: z/VSE Basics
5.1 What is a data set?
Along with other IBM mainframe operating systems, z/VSE manages data by
means of
data sets. The term data set refers to a file that contains one or more
records. Any named group of records is called a data set. Data sets can hold
information such as medical records or insurance records, to be used by a
program running on the system. Data sets are also used to store information
needed by applications or the operating system itself, such as source programs,
macro libraries, or system variables or parameters. For data sets that contain
readable text, you can print them or ...