VSAM is an access method that arranges records in data sets by
an index key, relative record number or relative byte addressing.
VSAM is used for direct or sequential access to either fixed-length
or variable-length records on DASD. See the manual DFSMS Using
Data Sets for more information on VSAM data sets.
Basic VSAM problem determination functions
For problem determination with VSAM data sets,
the following items are used:
- IDCAMS LISTCAT ALL COMMAND
- IDCAMS EXAMINE DATATEST INDEXTEST for VSAM data sets with an index
component
- SMF type 60 through 66 records contain information about VSAM
data sets, including definition, deletion, altering of VSAM data sets
- System dumps produced by VSAM in certain conditions with no customer
request
- System dumps produced as a result of issuing the command F CATALOG,VDUMPON
to generate a dump when certain conditions occur
- EREP reports in some cases where a call to media manager produced
an unexpected result.