Selection parameters

The following figure allows you to specify defaults for creating and maintaining selection criteria. To display the Selection Criteria Parameters Screen, enter a 2 in the OPTION field on the Parameter Selection Menu or as described in Selecting-screens.

Selection Criteria Parameters screen

File-AID ------------------- Selection Criteria Parameters -------------------
COMMAND ===>

Specify Selection Criteria Option Defaults:
                                           Record selection will continue until
    Number of records to search   ===> ALL    you have read this many records
    Number of records to select   ===> ALL    or selected this many records

Specify Processing Direction Used by Browse, Edit, Copy, Print, Search/Update:
    Seq/VSAM processing direction ===> F   (F = forward; B = backward)

Specify Unformatted Selection Criteria Defaults:
    Relational Operator           ===> EQ (Enter any valid relational operator)
    Logical connector             ===> AND (AND or OR)

Specify Selection Criteria Option Defaults:

Record selection continues until File-AID reaches one of the following limits:

Number of records to search

Specify a limit for the number of records File-AID reads and checks for matches to selection criteria. The default for this parameter is ALL. Possible values are any number from 0 (zero) through 999999. 0 (zero) or ALL searches the entire file.

This parameter can prevent excessive I/O processing when searching large files. If a data set that is Direct Access, or a VSAM KSDS is processed randomly (a KEY, RBA, or RRN have been entered), this count begins with the first record retrieved randomly. This parameter corresponds to the File-AID/Batch “IN” parameter.

Number of records to select

Specify a limit for the total number of records for File-AID/MVS to retrieve from the data set. Possible values are any number from 0 (zero) through 999999. The default is ALL. Use the 0 (zero) or ALL value to retrieve all selected records.

When record information is requested with Search/Update (option 3.6), the additional record information line(s) are not counted as selected records. If a partitioned data set containing JCL is processed logically, the value in the Number of records to select option is the number of logical JCL statements that are selected.

Number of records to select corresponds to the File-AID/Batch “OUT” parameter. A value that exceeds the number of records in the file does not cause an error.

Specify Processing Direction Used by Browse, Edit, Copy, Print, Search/Update:

Seq/VSAM processing direction

Specify a processing direction for File-AID to read Sequential or VSAM files. Possible values are F (forward) and B (backward). The default is F (forward).

This field specifies whether File-AID starts reading a Sequential or VSAM file at the beginning or the end. File-AID ignores the B value in this field when used with data sets of other access methods.

Important

For an online Edit (F.2), backwards processing forces the use of the update-in-place edit method and its associated restrictions. See Update-In-Place Restrictions.

Specify Unformatted Selection Criteria Defaults:

Relational Operator

Specify a default relational operator to appear on all record selection screens. Possible values are:

Conditional operators:
EQ, =	Equal to
NE, ¬=, !=	Not equal to
GT, >	Greater than
GE, >=	Greater than or equal to
LT, <	Less than
LE, <=	Less than or equal to
CO	Contains; scans a range of record positions for the presence of the data value. CO works on an equal condition. It reads from the Position value until the data string is matched, the Length value is exceeded, or the end of the record is reached.
NC	Not contains; scans a range of record positions for the absence of the data value. NC works on a not equal condition. It reads from the Position value until the Length value is exceeded or the end of the record is reached.
BT	Between; the value is greater than or equal to the first endpoint and less than or equal to the last endpoint.
NB	Not between; the value is less than the first endpoint or greater than the last endpoint.
VA	Valid character, text, numeric, or packed data based on the specified data type. VA operator will treat character and text as numeric. For a numeric data type, you must specify a length.
NV	Not valid character, text, numeric, or packed data based on the specified data type. NV operator will treat character and text as numeric. For a numeric data type, you must specify a length.
VU	Valid unsigned display numeric data based on the specified data type where the last digit must not contain a sign. VU operator will treat character and text as numeric. For a numeric data type, you must specify a length. VU cannot be used on packed data.
NU	Not valid unsigned display numeric data based on the specified data type where the last digit must not contain a sign. NU operator will treat character and text as numeric. For a numeric data type, you must specify a length. NU cannot be used on packed data.

Bit relational operators used with the M (mask) data type:
EQ	Bits are all ones
MX	Bits are mixed, ones and zeros
NE	Bits are all zeros
NO	Bits are not all ones.

File-AID is distributed with a default value of EQ (equal) for relational operator.

Important

The CO (field COntains) relational operator is a good default to use if you are working with text (such as program source) and use the 3.6 Search/Update function to do frequent scans across all members of a PDS.

Logical connector

Specify a logical connector for selection criteria. AND or OR are valid entries. The default is AND.