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Specifying the selection criteria options

Selection Criteria Options screen

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The Selection Criteria Options screen allows you to control the selection of records based on a starting record key, RBA or RRN, and record counts. File-AID reads and selects records in a file based on the values you specify on this screen. File-AID then compares the selected records to any formatted and unformatted selection criteria to determine if any of the selected records match the selection criteria.

In this example, you limit the number of selected matching records to 12.

Steps:

  1. Type a value of 12 in the Number of records to select field.
    The value you specify in this field sets the limit for the total number of records that File-AID selects from the data set. Valid values are ALL (the default), 0 (means all), and 1 through 999999.
  2. Type FMT in the COMMAND field.
    The FMT primary command invokes the Formatted Selection Criteria screen.
  3. Press Enter. File-AID displays the EMPLOYEE record layout as illustrated in Formatted Selection Criteria Screen.

More about selection criteria options

  • If no command is issued, both END or ENTER produce the same result: you are returned to the selection criteria menu.
  • The "Starting record key" field enables you to specify a random starting point for File-AID to begin selecting records. You can specify this field for VSAM KSDS and keyed BDAM files. All records before the starting record key are not selected, regardless of matching formatted or unformatted field selection criteria.
  • The "Starting RBA or RRN" field enables you to specify a random starting point for record selection in a VSAM or BDAM data set. All records before the specified starting RBA or RRN are not selected, regardless of matching formatted or unformatted field selection criteria.
  • The "Initial records to skip" field tells File-AID how many records to skip before processing the data set. Valid values are 0 through 999999. A value of 0 (zero) tells File-AID to process all records in the data set.

  • The Subsequent Selection Interval: "Records to select" field tells File-AID how many records to retrieve from the data set per interval. Valid values are 1 through 999999. The default value is 1. File-AID applies all field selection criteria after it retrieves each record.

    The Subsequent Selection Interval: "Records to skip" field tells File-AID how many records to skip after it reaches the value you specified in the "Records to select" field. A value greater than 0 (zero) establishes the selection interval. Valid values are 0 through 999999. A value of 0 (zero) tells File-AID to ignore the "Interval Records to select" value.

  • The "Number of records to search" field tells File-AID the maximum number of records to read from the data set. This parameter can prevent excessive I/O processing when searching large files. Valid values are ALL and 0 through 999999. The default for the field is ALL. Both ALL and 0 (zero) indicate to search the entire file.
  • The "Number of records to select" field tells File-AID the maximum number of records to select if the records match the selection criteria. Valid values are ALL and 0 through 999999. The default for the field is ALL. Both ALL and 0 (zero) indicate no limit on the number of records selected. You may establish your own default value for these fields by using option 0.2 (Selection Criteria Parameters).
  • The "SEQ/VSAM processing direction" field indicates the direction in which File-AID is to read the file (sequential or VSAM). Valid values are F (forward) and B (backward). If you specify a value of B when processing a file other than a sequential or VSAM file, File-AID ignores the value and starts processing at the beginning of the file.

 

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BMC Compuware File-AID/MVS 21.01