Searching for compression candidates (option 1)

Implementation Assist determines whether a data set is a candidate for compression processing based on information extracted from SMF and the VTOC and on the criteria you specify using this option.

To search for compression candidates:

1. In the Implementation Assist Primary Menu enter 1 (Search for candidates) in the option select space.The panel displays the SMF Data Collection panel.

2. Type or verify values in the fields of the SMF Data Collection panel to identify the SMF data to be collected. 

   Warning

   Note

   If your SMF data is contained on more than one tape, you can add the UNIT=AFF=SMFTAPE parameter to any SMF tapes concatenated to the SMFTAPE DD statement. This parameter limits the DD statement to one tape device.

   Error

   Warning

   If the SMF data set you identified in SMF data set does not contain the data for the number of days you have selected, an error condition will occur. For example, if today is May 20 and you requested data for the last 20 days, Implementation Assist searches for data from May 1 through May 20. If the SMF tape you supplied contains January data only, the job will end normally but the database will be empty because no matching data was found.

3. Press Enter.If you selected Y for VSAM data sets or non-VSAM data sets, the panel displays the SMF Filters - Job Name Exclusion panel.

   If you selected N for VSAM data sets and non-VSAM data sets, the panel displays the Bypass SMF Confirmation pop-up window. Press Enter to continue to the VTOC Filters panel.

4. ( Optional ) Type the names of jobs that you want to exclude from SMF collection because of the way they access VSAM or non-VSAM data sets.You can use wildcard characters to identify job names.

   For example, if all of your IMS jobs--which are not DATA ACCELERATOR Compression candidates--begin with IMS, type IMS* to exclude all jobs that begin with IMS.

   To specify more than 12 job names or wildcard patterns, enter additional JOB parameters in the SMFCNTL DD statement before submitting the JCL.

5. Press Enter.The panel displays the SMF Filters - Program Exemption panel.

6. ( Optional ) Type any program names that you want to exclude from SMF collection because these programs should bypass compression and expansion processing.You can use wildcard characters to identify program names. For example, if you have specific programs that begin with PROGA, type PROGA* to exclude programs beginning with PROGA.

   If you leave these fields blank, all programs are considered during SMF collection. To specify more than 12 program names or wildcard patterns, alter the JOB parameter in the SMFCNTL DD statement before submitting the JCL.

7. Press Enter. The panel displays the VTOC Filters panel.
8. Type or verify values in the fields of the VTOC Filters panel to further limit the candidates.You can select all data sets on all volumes, or you can use wildcard characters to limit the selection to volumes or data sets having specific high-level qualifiers.
9. Press Enter.The panel displays the Candidate and Non-Candidate Report panel.
10. Type or verify values in the fields of the Candidate and Non-Candidate Report Press Enter. The panel displays the JCL in an ISPF Edit session.
11. Review and submit the JCL.This job must complete successfully with a condition code of 0 before you can continue to the next option on the Implementation Assist Primary Menu. If the job does not complete successfully, review the job log for messages indicating why the job ended unsuccessfully.
12. (Optional) Review the reports to determine whether you want to repeat option 1. Repeating the search allows you to widen or narrow the scope of the selected candidates.

    • The Candidate report lists those data sets that Implementation Assist has determined are not candidates for DATA ACCELERATOR Compression. This report helps you to determine whether additional data sets should be removed from or included in the candidate list.

      Warning

      Note

      You may find IMS databases included as candidates for compression. Because IMS databases are not supported by DATA ACCELERATOR Compression, you would want to remove these databases from the candidate list.

    • The Non-Candidate Report lists those data sets that Implementation Assist has determined are not candidates for DATA ACCELERATOR Compression processes. This report helps you to determine whether additional data sets should be removed from or included in the candidate list.
    • After reviewing the Candidate and non-Candidate Reports you can use the Trial Candidates for Compression to generate a Trial utility JCL for the DATA ACCELERATOR Compression product. Implementation Assist generates a registration list to be used as input for option 3 (Register candidates). This list contains compression statistics for the selected data sets. These statistics help you determine which compression techniques provide optimum compression for your data sets. For information on generating and running this JCL refer to Using-Trial-Candidates-for-Compression