For clarification, my comments were largely pasted from the docs :-) As I read it, the information, whatever it is, from the hardware is "definitive", and for the appropriate VALIDATE some Control Block(s) will be updated. There may not be a devil in the detail, but there may be some complex detail.
I can't see anything that leads to an expectation that the information in the normal course of events would be "out of step", and I would expect that the use of VALIDATE would be associated with other indications (messages, known "maintenance") such that it may be worth doing, or even needed at times (but not "just on the off-chance"). Like Elardus, I'm surprised that it is being issued in a JOB or on any regular basis. If there were a particular need for it as a general use, I'd expect it to be documented along with the DEVSERV command. I'd guess that the presence in a JOB is down to some historic hardware issue, which may or may not have caused some problem, and that even if desirable for a limited period of time (make sure a problem does not recur) that it is not now necessary. Going back through system logs for the message will probably reveal no instances where anything was updated. Presumably the VALIDATE has some impact (measured in a small amount of time, but still...) on the concurrent availability of the device for normal operation (else things would be out-of-step again). To the question of what the information is, and what the implications of that information not being accurately reflected are, I have nothing. I would very easily imagine that someone who authorises the removal of the command will want to know. You need something good from here, supported by documentation, or you have to go to the horse's mouth. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to [email protected] with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN
