Dynamic allocation records
To prepare for dynamic allocation of data sets, you must provide the necessary allocation information in one or more allocation records in the REGISET.
You create and update these records with the AR/CTL ISPF interface. Each allocation record contains a complete set of parameters, such as the data set name, that AR/CTL uses when allocating the data set.
The record identifier (ID) of dynamic allocation records contains these qualifiers related to the application program execution, listed in order from least specific to most specific:
- MVSID
- ARCID (or IMSID)
- ASB name (or PSB name)
- job name
- job step name
- procedure step name
- program name
The qualifiers in the record ID contain wildcard characters, specific characters, or both, as explained in Working-with-REGISET-records. A dynamic allocation record applies to a particular application program execution if each qualifier in the record ID matches its respective qualifier of the execution, exactly or by a wildcard match.
During job step execution, AR/CTL uses the necessary elements from the complete set of allocation values from the most specific record that applies to the job step. Unlike the way AR/CTL processes options records, it does not merge the values from the various allocation records that may apply to the job step.
For more information about using the ISPF interface to create and change dynamic allocation records, see Working-with-allocation-records.