Well...BSAM just reads and writes blocks. QSAM involves all kinds of buffering, 
which would need to be 64 bitted. Also one has to question how much use this 
all is. In z/OS 64 bit storage is just a sort of data cache really. Programs 
that use it have to be specially written, it's not a (more or less) transparent 
thing like in Windows (just recompile with the 64 bit option!) Probably whether 
MM handles a particular file type is a relevant issue in how likely it might 
sometime be 64 bit capable.

The 32 bytes is a Media Manager thing, which is a level below the access 
method, it's nothing to do with 64 bit or not. AFAICT there's a count for 
record number in a file, I don't see any connection with data transfer since 
there's no time dependency here, also a network protocol can add all kinds of 
metadata, no need to save it in the physical file. Do you have any reference 
for this? Also user block lengths are simulated in extended files. (One of the 
more interesting items I've discovered in this area btw is the Berger/Bruni 
RedPaper on MIDAW). Anyway, there's no point I can see in adding it yourself 
since either MM does it for the datasets it handles or it would be assumed to 
be just part of the user record.


-----Ursprüngliche Nachricht-----
Von: IBM Mainframe Assembler List [mailto:[email protected]] Im 
Auftrag von Bill Fairchild
Gesendet: Donnerstag, 13. September 2012 17:28
An: [email protected]
Betreff: Re: Data spaces vs hiperspaces

Extended data sets all have an extra 32-byte "suffix" added to the end of the 
data field and 32 is added silently to the user-specified block size.  The 
suffix has info in it that is used, inter alia, to guarantee that blocks 
received over telecommunication lines for mirroring purposes that may not be 
sent or received in the same sequence that the user wrote them will be destaged 
in the correct time sequence at the secondary volume's end.  I believe this 
technology was spawned by XRC.

If you're using BSAM, you could just as easily add 32 to the blocksize and 
manage the "suffix" at the end of the buffer yourself.  There's no need for the 
access method to do only these two new extra things for you.  Either there are 
other reasons for supporting only extended data sets or else it's more of IBM's 
way of gently migrating all their customers to their newer, later, greater, and 
more profitable technology.  And if they have supported it in BSAM, I expect 
QSAM will be happening pretty soon.

Bill Fairchild
Programmer
Rocket Software
408 Chamberlain Park Lane * Franklin, TN 37069-2526 * USA
t: +1.617.614.4503 *  e: [email protected] * w: 
www.rocketsoftware.com


-----Original Message-----
From: IBM Mainframe Assembler List [mailto:[email protected]] On 
Behalf Of Paul Gilmartin
Sent: Thursday, September 13, 2012 9:40 AM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: Data spaces vs hiperspaces

On Sep 13, 2012, at 08:12, Bill Fairchild wrote:

> Try Googling for a simple sample program using EXCP.  I'm sure there must be 
> several on the CBT tape.  I think you would have to use EXCP rather than BSAM 
> since BSAM apparently only supports 64-bit buffer addresses for extended data 
> sets, and your data set may not be extended.
>
Sheesh!  They couldn't make an old-style data set a special case of an extended 
data set, and/of then couldn't treat a below-the-bar buffer as a special case 
of a 64-bit-addressable buffer?

Conway's Law.  Sigh.

What does an extended data set use in place of CCHHR?

-- gil

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