FDRAPPL Data Set Selection

Data set selection rules

The rules for data set selection in FDRAPPL are simple:

• SELECT CATDSN= statements are normally used to select the data sets to be included. The CATDSN= value can be a single data set:

A simple mask:

CATDSN=PAYROLL.** for all data sets starting with PAYROLL

Or a complex mask:

The system catalogs are scanned for the indicated data sets. All such data sets found in the catalogs are added to FDRAPPL’s data set list, and the volumes to which they are cataloged are added to FDRAPPL’s list of volumes to be processed.

• SELECT DSN= statements may be used to select uncataloged data sets. They can also be used avoid the overhead of the catalog search by going directly to specified DASD volumes. The VOL= or VOLG= operands specify the volumes on which to search for these data sets; those volumes are automatically included in FDRAPPL's list of volumes to process. DSN= accepts the same values as CATDSN=.
• If you need to exclude certain data sets from the backup, an EXCLUDE DSN= statement can be used. EXCLUDE statements must precede SELECT statements.

You may use SELECT ALLDSN with VOL= or VOLG= to select all data sets on specified volumes. However, since FDRAPPL is based on ABR Archive, this is subject to the Exceptions to Automatic Archiving in  and does not select certain data sets, such as SYS1 data sets and model DSCBs. You can use SELECT DSN= statements to select those data sets

VSAM

FDRAPPL can only backup VSAM files by cluster name. You cannot select individual components. Once FDRAPPL selects a cluster from a volume, all components of the cluster (including alternate index components) are dumped.

Restore from application backup

To restore a data set from Application Backup, you must execute an ABR “RESTORE TYPE=APPL” job and provide one or more SELECT statements to identify the data sets required. You can use SELECT ALLDSN to restore all data set recorded in the Application Control File.

The JCL must also point to the Application Control File (ACF) in which the backups were recorded; if this ACF is not already on DASD, you need to execute an FDRDSF step to restore it from the backup at the end of the backup tape.

Since the ACF is organized in chronological order based on backup date, FDRAPPL will search for the data sets requested by reading it in reverse order. If you use a permanent Application Control File and a data set has been backed up more than once, this will find the most recently archived version. If you want an earlier version, you can specify ADATE= (date of backup) or OLDBACKUP= (relative version) to tell FDRAPPL which version to restore.

If a multi-volume data set was backed up, each volume has a separate entry in the ACF, but each is flagged to indicate it was part of a multi-volume entry. FDRAPPL continues to search the ACF until it finds all of the entries belonging to the data set

The restore process is identical to that of FDRDSF. Please review DSF-Technical-Summary for details on allocating, restoring, and cataloging data sets during the restore. FDRAPPL-RESTORE-Statement contains details on output volume selection for FDRAPPL restores.

FDRAPPL defaults to restoring from COPY 1 of each backup required unless COPY 1 was not created or has expired. COPY2 is then selected if it exists. If TAPE=EXP is specified, FDRAPPL ignores the expiration date test and attempts to restore from COPY 1 even if it is expired.