VSAM was invented (shortly) before I got into this biz, so I cannot speak to its roots, but I've always supposed that AVGREC (average record) was supplied for the benefit of application designers who did not want to calculate gearhead values like xxxO-bytes or--even worse--disk-dependent values like tracks or cylinders. (This was lonnng before we had standardized on 3390 architecture.) It might also simplify upgrading a cluster if the record size changes.
Once documented, this parameter would be more trouble to remove than it's worth. Don't like it? Don't use it. But also don't carry it forward in any new extension. . . . J.O.Skip Robinson Southern California Edison Company Electric Dragon Team Paddler SHARE MVS Program Co-Manager 323-715-0595 Mobile 626-302-7535 Office [email protected] -----Original Message----- From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Paul Gilmartin Sent: Thursday, August 11, 2016 11:23 PM To: [email protected] Subject: (External):Re: RFE to add new sizes to AVGREC and IDCAMS Define On Fri, 12 Aug 2016 07:17:49 +0200, Peter Hunkeler wrote: >>I'd be happier with dispensing with AVGREC entirely and being allowed to code: > SPACE=(1,(1M,1000K)) * SI (decimal) prefixes, please. > >Ohh, no. Please not another new syntax. The >Early-morning-after-heavy-New-Years-Eve-party design of AVGREC is stupid >enough. > If the new one were more intuitive, it could displace the old one, preserved only for legacy compaibility. >The first subparameter of SPACE= specifies the *unit*: number of bytes (aka >block), tracks (TRK), or cylinders (CYL). I will never understand how IBM >could think AVGREC is the way to go. > Most plausible is that someone discovered an unused entry in the Converter's symbol table and repurposed it rather than inventing a new one. Any alternative makes even less sense. >Why not just add KB, MB, GB, TB, ... to TRK and CYL as space unit >specification? SPACE=(GB,(1,3)) gives you 1GB primary and 3GB secondary. >Simple to understand and remember. > Retain forms such as the equivalent SPACE=(1000000,(1000,3000)) for legacy compatibility and in case the finer granularity is needed. But any redesign should make AVGREC superfluous. What's the etymology of "AVGREC"? -- gil ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to [email protected] with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN
