For complete analysis and reporting, Record Selection and Validation needs the set of all SMF records (of all types), from all systems having access to the catalog being recovered, from the time just preceding the backup time until just after the specified recovery stop time. (The minimum input requirement is actually the set of all SMF type 61, 65 and 66 records for the catalog being recovered, covering the interval from the time of the backup through the last catalog update.)

The input data sets containing the SMF records should be concatenated in date/time sequence (oldest first) but keeping the data sets for each system together if possible. It is not necessary to sort the records in strict date/time order (unless they have already been sorted in some other way). Likewise it is not necessary to keep all of the records for one system together. We suggest that you do, only because any messages for that system would be presented consecutively. If your procedures normally sort the SMF records from multiple systems together in date/time sequence (ascending), that input too, is acceptable to the Record Selection and Validation program.