Selection data set syntax

You must follow these general rules when creating a selection data set:

Entries must be entered between columns 1 and 72 inclusive.
A comment is a string of characters preceded by /* (forward slash and asterisk) and followed by */ (asterisk and backslash) symbols.
A separator consists of a comma, one or more blanks, or a comment.
INCLUDE, EXCLUDE, ACCOMPANY, ACCOMPANYEXCLUDE, ALLOCATE, and ALLOCATEEXCLUDE keywords are separated from one another by one or more separators.
One or more blanks can optionally precede and follow each parenthesis in the pair.
Continuation characters are not necessary but can be optionally specified by a hyphen (-) or plus (+) as the rightmost nonblank character, optionally preceded by one or more blanks. This follows the syntax conventions for TSO CLIST.
INCLUDE, EXCLUDE, ACCOMPANY, ACCOMPANYEXCLUDE, ALLOCATE, and ALLOCATEEXCLUDE keywords can be specified in any sequence, but they can be specified only once within a selection data set.
All keywords are optional. You must, however, specify at least one INCLUDE, ALLOCATE, or ACCOMPANY keyword.
Data set names specified in the INCLUDE list cannot be specified in the ALLOCATE or ACCOMPANY lists.
If the same fully qualified data set name is specified in both the INCLUDE list and the EXCLUDE list, the data set is not selected for processing, because EXCLUDE takes precedence over INCLUDE.
If the same fully qualified data set name is specified in both the ACCOMPANY list and the ACCOMPANYEXCLUDE list, the data set is not selected for processing, because ACCOMPANYEXCLUDE takes precedence over ACCOMPANY.

If the same fully qualified data set name is specified in both the ALLOCATE list and the ALLOCATEEXCLUDE list, the data set is not selected for processing, because ALLOCATEEXCLUDE takes precedence over ALLOCATE.
Fully qualified names are supported.
PDS member names are not supported.
Fully or partially qualified data set aliases are not supported.
Relative GDG names are supported when the GDG name is a fully qualified data set name without placeholders.
Partially qualified relative GDG names are supported in the INCLUDE statement, but not in the EXCLUDE, ALLOCATE, ALLOCATEEXCLUDE, ACCOMPANY, or ACCOMPANYEXCLUDE statements.

The following is an example of a partially qualified relative GDG name: INCLUDE(USERHLQ.*.GDG.*(-1))

The statement above causes aggregate backup to back up all the minus-one generation data sets that are cataloged and match the specified filtering criteria. No other generations of the data set are backed up unless specifically requested by another data set filter or a fully qualified data set name.

Rule: You cannot specify positive generation (+nnn) numbers. Most positive generation numbers refer to data sets that are not yet created. In addition, the integer value within the parentheses must conform to MVS™ constraints and must be expressed in three digits or less.
With the exception of relative GDG names (described above), partially qualified data set names are supported in the INCLUDE, EXCLUDE, ACCOMPANY, ACCOMPANYEXCLUDE, ALLOCATE, and ALLOCATEEXCLUDE lists. Use the following examples of partially qualified data set names as guidelines for the use of ** (double asterisk) and * (single asterisk):
PAY1.**

Specifies all data sets whose first or only qualifier is PAY1

USER2.**.LIST

Specifies all data sets whose first and last qualifiers are USER2 and LIST, respectively, including USER2.LIST

PAY1.*

Specifies all data sets with two qualifiers, whose first qualifier is PAY1

PAY1.*.LOAD

Specifies all data sets with three qualifiers and whose first and last qualifiers are PAY1 and LOAD respectively

PAY1.UT*.LIST

Specifies all data sets with three qualifiers, whose first and last qualifiers are PAY1 and LIST, respectively, and whose second qualifier begins with UT

When used with other qualifiers, the double asterisk (**) indicates either the nonexistence of leading, trailing, or middle qualifiers, or the fact that they play no role in the selection process.

The single asterisk (*) is used in place of exactly one qualifier. It can also be used to indicate that only part of a qualifier has been specified.

The ignore character % (percent sign) is a placeholder character. Each % represents exactly one character in the data set name. Any character in that position in the name is ignored. Use the following examples as guidelines for the use of ignore character:
PAY1.PY001.I%%

This matches a data set name of PAY1.PY001.IRA.

PAY1.PY001.B%%%S

This matches a data set name of PAY1.PY001.BONUS.

ABARS supports both VSAM and non-VSAM data sets in the selection data set. ABARS allows VSAM base cluster names or VSAM component names in the selection lists. If VSAM component names are specified in the selection data set, ABACKUP processing determines the correct base cluster name that is associated with the component name and backs up the base cluster. If multiple VSAM component names are associated with the same base cluster name, the base cluster is backed up only once.

If a VSAM component name is encountered, ABACKUP processing backs up the associated base cluster and all components that are associated with that base cluster. When ABACKUP is invoking DFSMSdss, it passes DFSMSdss the base cluster name and requests SPHERE processing.

Note: If you are working with an ALLOCATE list, only the base cluster components will be processed.

When a VSAM data set is backed up from the INCLUDE list, all of its associations are backed up, including its components (base cluster, data, and index). However, when a VSAM data set is backed up from the ALLOCATE list, only the base cluster is backed up. This occurs because DFSMSdss dump processing moves actual data for a data set that is backed up from the INCLUDE list. No data (only allocation information that is necessary to allocate the data set at the recovery site) is moved for data sets backed up from the ALLOCATE list. In each instance, all information that is needed to restore the VSAM data set is backed up regardless in which list it appears. For a discussion of different data set types that ABARS supports in the INCLUDE and ALLOCATE lists, refer to the table called &odq;Availability Management—Data Mover Support&cdq; in the z/OS DFSMShsm Implementation and Customization Guide.

Because of the way that ABARS handles VSAM components and because migrated VSAM data sets are cataloged as non-VSAM, the results of data set filtering can vary, depending on whether the data set is migrated and whether the VERIFY or EXECUTE keywords are specified in the ABACKUP command.

For example, if you have the following statements in your selection data set:

INCLUDE(hlq.TEST.CLUSTER.**)
EXCLUDE(hlq.TEST.CLUSTER)

Then you could still back up the base cluster because the data and index components have not been excluded.

These statements work if the VSAM data set is not migrated. However, if the data set is migrated, the data component is located (ABARS does not know at the time it is VSAM) and the base cluster is backed up.

To ensure that all components of the above VSAM cluster are excluded, either exclude using a matching generic data set name; for example,

EXCLUDE(hlq.TEST.CLUSTER.**)

or exclude all fully qualified component names; for example,

EXCLUDE(hlq.TEST.CLUSTER.DATA,hlq.TEST.CLUSTER.INDEX)

Selection data set syntax

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