The profile class exists in data space storage, but the profile updates might not become effective until the SETROPTS command is issued with the REFRESH operand. Only BASE, SESSION, and ICSF segment information is stored in data space storage.

If only these segments are updated, refresh when you want the changes to become active. If an RALTER command is issued for a profile that is changing only segments that are not in data space storage, no action is required. When there is a mix of segments that are stored in data space storage and the RACF® database RACLIST REFRESH the class immediately because the copy of the segments in storage and the segments in the database might not match, and this mismatch might cause unexpected results.

For some classes, selected profile data is kept in storage. Changes to these profiles might not be active until a refresh is done. A SETROPTS RACLIST(classname) REFRESH ensures that profile data is consistent. An example of this type of class is PTKTDATA.