FDRABRCM PURGE SCRATCH Statement

PURGE SCRATCH statement syntax

PURGE	SCRATCH
	,BKDATE=[yyddd|yyyyddd]|BKDAYS=nnnn
	,DSG=dsg|DSN=dsn
	,SELTERR=NO|YES
	,SIMULATE
	,VOL=vol|VOLG=volg

PURGE SCRATCH statement

PURGE SCRATCH examines entries in the ABR scratch catalog and uncatalogs those that it considers obsolete. By default it checks all entries in the scratch catalog but you may limit it to checking only certain data sets by specifying the DSN= and/or DSG= operands. You may also limit it to checking only data sets that were scratched from certain DASD volumes with the VOL= or VOLG= operands.

Entries in the ABR scratch catalog point to one or more backup entries in the ABR catalog, defining the location of the backups of those scratched data sets. By default, PURGE SCRATCH considers a scratch entry obsolete if all of the backups it points to are no longer cataloged, meaning that they have expired and are no longer available. If you specify the BKDATE= or BKDAYS= operand, PURGE SCRATCH also purge scratches entries whose backups still exist as long as the most recent backup was taken before the date specified.

Unless you have special needs, no operands are usually required. Without other operands, PURGE SCRATCH scans the entire scratch catalog and purges all entries whose backups have expired. Run PURGE SCRATCH on a regular schedule but usually not more often than once a week.

PURGE SCRATCH statement operands

Specifies that any ABR backups pointed to by scratch catalog entries are considered to be expired if they were created on or before the Julian date (year plus day number) specified; they are also considered expired if they are no longer cataloged. The date may be in the form “yyyyddd” (for example, 2020123) or “yyddd” (for example, 20123). If the 2-digit year is used “yyddd”, year numbers less than 70 are assumed to be in the 21st century, for example, 20015=2020.015. For readability, a period may be inserted between the year and day (for example, 2020.123).

nnnn

Specifies that any ABR backups pointed to by scratch catalog entries are considered to be expired if they were created on or before the date calculated by subtracting BKDAYS= from today's date; they are also considered expired if they are no longer cataloged.

If neither BKDATE= nor BKDAYS= is specified, ABR backups pointed to by scratch catalog entries are considered expired only if they are no longer cataloged.

Specifies one or more data set names (DSN=) or data set name prefixes (DSG=), up to 44 characters in length. Multiple names or prefixes may be specified in parentheses, separated by commas. Only scratch catalog entries whose name matches are examined.

There is a special form of the DSG= operand. Leading periods “.” after DSG= indicates that the search argument begins after one or more index levels. Each period indicates that one or more index level is to be bypassed. For example, DSG=..ABC selects data sets whose third index level starts with ABC.

Default: If neither DSN= nor DSG= is specified, the data set name does not participate in entry selection. Both DSN= and DSG= may be specified on the same PURGE statement; each scratch catalog entry is compared to the combined list. Since the catalog is a keyed file ordered by data set name, specifying DSN= or DSG= (except the special form) speeds up processing.

If DSN=, DSG=, VOL=, or VOLG= were specified, but one or more of the values specified for those operands did not match any entries in the scratch catalog, SELTERR= controls whether this causes FDRABRCM to end with a non-zero return code. Specify NO if you want the step to end normally even though there were some unmatched selection criteria.

Default: YES.

SIMULATE

Specifies that FDRABRCM is to report on all the scratch catalog names selected, but is not to actually purge any. This is used to verify that your PURGE statement has the desired results.

Default: PURGE processing is attempted.

Specifies a DASD volume serial number (VOL=) or volume serial prefix (VOLG=). Data sets found in the ABR scratch catalog that were scratched from that volume or volumes are considered for purge. Multiple volume serial numbers may be specified in parentheses separated by commas.

Default: If neither VOL= nor VOLG= is specified, entries are considered regardless of the DASD volume from which they were scratched. Both VOL= and VOLG= may be specified on the same PURGE statement; each scratch catalog entry is compared to the combined list.