Supporting On Demand Business Applications with the IBM Problem Determination Tools (APA, DT, DT with Advanced Facilities, FA, File Export, FM, WS)

Chapter 2. Overview of the Problem Determination and Deployment Tools 27

2.5.2 Maximize flexibility with the File Manager base component

The File Manager base component helps speed the application-development process by

identifying the structure of your records and displaying each field according to its data type.

This component supports QSAM, VSAM, PDS, HFS, and indexed access method (IAM) data

sets, including support for double-byte character set (DBCS) data in these data sets. You can

edit entire files (regardless of size) and sort data during an edit or browse session. You can

use the separately available IBM CICS VSAM Copy tool in conjunction with File Manager

capabilities to produce ad hoc copies of VSAM data sets for testing purposes without

affecting CICS activity.

Using templates, you can select the records you want based on field values, find and change

data in individual fields, display fields with headings showing name, data type, and length —

and then print or copy only the fields you must have. You can quickly and easily work with

files containing multiple record structures and copy data between fields of different data types

and lengths.

In the base component, you can generate templates from a copybook that contains either

COBOL data-description entries or PL/I DECLARE statements, or you can define your own

fields in a dynamic template. You can then add record-selection criteria and other formatting

information, and save the templates for reuse with different data sets that have the same

record structure, or for reuse with different File Manager utilities. For example, while browsing

through data sets, you can create, refine, and save a template that displays records meeting

certain criteria, such as records with particular field values. Later, you can reuse that template

in the File Manager copy utility to extract the records that meet those criteria and copy them

to another data set.

The base component processes most record identification and selection criteria internally,

while providing fast access to Restructured Extended Executor (REXX) for complex criteria

statements. The copy and print utilities use the IBM DFSORT™ utility for supported data sets

Important: IBM File Manager for z/OS Version 6.1 software at a glance:

򐂰 Hardware requirements

– zSeries system

– Any hardware that runs IBM z/OS Version 1.4 software or later

򐂰 Software requirements

– z/OS Version 1.4 or later

򐂰 Additional requirements (one of the following)

– IBM Enterprise COBOL for z/OS and OS/390 Version 3.3

– IBM Enterprise COBOL for z/OS and OS/390 Version 3.2

– IBM Enterprise COBOL for z/OS and OS/390 Version 3.1

򐂰 For DB2 component (one of the following)

– IBM DB2 Universal Database for z/OS Version 8

– IBM DB2 Universal Database for OS/390 and z/OS Version 7

– IBM DB2 Universal Database for OS/390 Version 6

򐂰 For IMS component (one of the following)

–IMS Version 9

–IMS Version 8

–IMS Version 7