RACF® controls data set access by identifying and verifying authorized users and by preventing unauthorized users from accessing data. RACF uses the information in a data set profile to determine whether a user is authorized to access the data set.
RACF has two types of RACF data set profiles: generic and discrete. The generic data set profile describes one or more data sets that have a similar name structure. For example, all data sets with the high-level name qualifier ‘JJJ’ can be described in a single generic data set profile. The discrete data set profile describes a specific data set on a particular volume.