Assigning management classes

You can assign management classes through the management class ACS routine, by explicit specification or as part of a class transition. For permanent system-managed data sets, the management class ACS routine is executed only if the storage class is valid. The management class ACS routine is not executed for temporary data sets.

An object's management class is determined when you store the object. The default management class for an object is defined in the collection to which the object belongs. (The default management class for an object collection is assigned by the management class ACS routine when the first object is stored in the collection.) This can be overridden if you specify a management class when you store the object. Then, the management class ACS routine is run to assign a management class to the object. The management class of an object can be changed with the OSREQ CHANGE macro or through class transition.

You can explicitly specify a management class on the following, but a management class determined by the management class ACS routine takes precedence:

JCL DD statements
TSO/E ALLOCATE command
DFSMSdss COPY and RESTORE commands
Access method services ALLOCATE, DEFINE, and IMPORT commands
Dynamic allocation requests through ISPF/PDF data set allocation panels
OSREQ STORE and OSREQ CHANGE macro requests

End users cannot override any of the attribute values that you assign to a data set or object through the management class ACS routine except for the expiration attributes, on the condition that the retention limit is not exceeded (for data sets or objects) or set to NOLIMIT (for data sets). See Defining management class expiration attributes for information about the order of precedence for expiration attributes.

The syntax for specifying a management class on a JCL statement is:

MGMTCLAS=management-class-name

The syntax for specifying a management class on a TSO/E command is:

MGMTCLAS(management-class-name)

The syntax for specifying a management class on an access method services command is:

MGMTCLAS(-) or MANAGEMENTCLASS(management-class-name)

The syntax for specifying a management class on an OSREQ STORE or CHANGE macro is:

MGMTCLAS=management-class-area or MGMTCLAS=(management-class-area-pointer)

For information on determining management classes through ACS routines, see Defining ACS routines.