BDAM data sets

CICS® supports access to keyed and nonkeyed BDAM data sets. BDAM support uses the physical nature of a record on a DASD device.

BDAM data sets consist of unblocked records with the following format:

Keyed BDAM files have a physical key identifying the BDAM record. The count area contains the physical key length, the physical data length, and the record's data location.

CICS can define a further structure on top of BDAM data sets, introducing the concept of blocked-data sets:

The data portion of the physical record is viewed as a block containing logical records. CICS supports the retrieval of logical records from the data part of the physical record. CICS also supports unblocked records (where the structure reverts to the original BDAM concept of one logical record per physical record).

To retrieve data from a physical record in a BDAM file under CICS, a record identification field (RIDFLD) has to be defined to specify how the physical record should be retrieved. This can be done using the physical key, by relative address, or by absolute address.

If the data set is defined to CICS as being blocked, individual records within the block can be retrieved (deblocked) in two addressing modes: by key or by relative record.

Deblocking by key uses the key of the logical record (that is, the key contained in the logical record) to identify which record is required from the block. Deblocking by relative record uses the record number in the block, relative to zero, of the record to be retrieved.

You specify the key or relative record number used for deblocking in a subfield of the RIDFLD option used when accessing CICS BDAM files. The addressing mode for CICS BDAM files is set in the FCT using the RELTYPE keyword.

For more details about record identification and BDAM record access, see Understanding file control.