Related posts:

1. What is the parameter to be passed in the job card for the unlimited time , irrespective of the job class ?
2. What is meant by indicator variable?
3. Can you declare the override method static while the original method is non-static?

Choose the correct answer:

1)    Which VSAM clusters support only fixed length records?                                                   (b)

a)    LDS

b)    RRDS

c)     ESDS

d)    KSDS

2)    FREESPACE can be specified for which type of cluster?                                                   (d)

a)    LDS

b)    RRDS

c)     ESDS

d)    KSDS

3)    In which cluster type are records added at the end of the data set?                                  (c)

a)    LDS

b)    RRDS

c)     ESDS

d)    KSDS

4)    The types of processing supported by RRDS are                                                                  (e)

a)    sequential

b)    skip-sequential

c)     direct

d)    a and b

e)     a, b and c

5)    The types of processing supported by ESDS are                                                                   (d)

a)    sequential

b)    skip-sequential

c)     direct

d)    a and b

e)     a and c

6)    Spanned records can be found in                                                                                             (d)

a)    ESDS

b)    KSDS

c)     RRDS

d)    a or b

e)     a or c

7)    Spanned records can be accessed in                                                                                        (a)

a)    MOVE

b)    LOCATE

c)     a and b

d)    None

8)    Alternate Index is a special type of                                                                                         (a)

a)    KSDS

b)    ESDS

c)     RRDS

d)    None

9)    Specifying CISZ(4096) at the cluster level for a KSDS results in                                       (c)

a)    VSAM ignoring the specification

b)    Data and index CISZ 4k each

c)     Data CISZ 4k; index CISZ selected by VSAM

d)    Index CISZ 4K; data CISZ selected by VSAM

10)  When defining a KSDS, which of the following parameters is not required?                   (b)

a)    Space allocation (either CYL, REC or TRK)

b)    VOLUMES

c)     KEYS

d)    NAME

11)  Default RECORD SIZE for a NONSPANNED data set is                                                   (d)

a)    (80 80)

b)    (4086 32600)

c)     (100 32600)

d)    (4089 4089)

12)  If the key of a KSDS record begins in the second field (first field is 25 bytes long), the offset in the

KEYS parameter is                                                                                                                     (a)

a)    24

b)    25

c)     26

d)    None

13)  Data organization in KSDS is                                                                                                   (a)

a)    INDEXED

b)    NUMBERED

c)     LINEAR

d)    NONINDEXED

14)  The default cluster type is                                                                                                          (d)

a)    ESDS

b)    RRDS

c)     LDS

d)    KSDS

15)  VOLUMES parameter can be specified at                                                                             (c)

a)    cluster level

b)    data level and index level

c)     All the above

d)    None

16)  The RECORDSIZE parameter cannot be coded for                                                            (c)

a)    ESDS

b)    RRDS

c)     LDS

d)    KSDS

17)  The default PRINT format is                                                                                                    (b)

a)    Character

b)    Dump

c)     Hexadecimal

d)    None

18)  Which of the following REPRO selection parameters can be specified for an LDS?     (e)

a)    FROMKEY

b)    FROMADDRESS

c)     FROMNUMBER

d)    SKIP

e)     None

19)  The REPLACE parameter causes                                                                                            (c)

a)    KSDS records to be replaced by an input record with the same key

b)    ESDS records to be replaced by an input record with the same RBA

c)     RRDS records to be replaced by an input record with the same RRN

d)    a and c

e)     All the above

20)  Which of the following is not a modal command?                                                               (e)

a)    IF

b)    THEN

c)     ELSE

d)    DO

e)     GOTO

21)  Using REPRO to reorganize a KSDS, which of the following is true?                                (e)

a)    Input must be ascending key sequence.

b)    No duplicate keys are allowed.

c)     Non-unique keys are allowed.

d)    a and c

e)     a and b

22)  Which of the following entry names are valid for ALTER FREESPACE?                       (b)

a)    Cluster name

b)    Data component name

c)     Index component name

d)    b and c

e)     a, b and c

23)  Which of the following is a correct generic name specification for TEST.USER.DATA.A? (a)

a)    TEST.USER.*

b)    TEST.*.*.A

c)     *.USER.DATA.A

d)    TEST.USER.*.A

24)  To alter a cluster to an LDS, the cluster must                                                                        (e)

a)    be an ESDS

b)    be NONSPANNED

c)     have a CISZ of 4K

d)    not have an alternate index associated with it

e)     all the above

25)  For which access mode below must the application program interpret RDFs?               (b)

a)    KEY

b)    ADR

c)     ADR(for a KSDS)

d)    CNV

e)     None

26)  At OPEN, VSAM determines processing options in the following order                            (d)

a)    JCL, program, catalog

b)    program, JCL, catalog

c)     JCL, catalog, program

d)    catalog, program, JCL

e)     None

27)  VSAM request macros (e.g., GET, PUT) point to which other macros?                            (c)

a)    OPEN

b)    ACB

c)     RPL

d)    CLOSE

e)     b and c

f)     None

28)  If a program uses direct processing exclusively, DIR is specified in which macros?      (c)

a)    OPEN

b)    ACB

c)     RPL

d)    CLOSE

e)     b and c

f)     None

29)  VSAM processing options could be specified in                                                                    (e)

a)    Catalog

b)    Program control blocks

c)     JCL

d)    None

e)     All the above

30)  Which of the following is not a COBOL verb?                                                                      (d)

a)    START

b)    READ

c)     DELETE

d)    UPDATE

e)     REWRITE

31)  Which of the following is/are not supported by COBOL?                                                                   (d)

a)    Skip-sequential processing

b)    RBA addressing

c)     Replacing existing record

d)    a and b

e)     a, b and c

f)     a and c

32)  Which is a valid SHAREOPTIONS specification?                                                                                (b)

a)    SHR(2 2)

b)    SHR(2 3)

c)     SHR(4 1)

d)    SHR(1 2)

e)     None

33)  For a data set defined with SPEED, which of the following is true?                                                  (a)

a)      SPEED is effective for the initial load only.

b)      SPEED is effective for all additions to the data set after initial load.

c)       If the load program ABENDS, VERIFY can determine the HIGH-USED-RBA of the data set.

d)      If the load program ABENDS, only those records remaining in buffers need to be added to the data set.

e)       None

34)  VERIFY cannot be used for                                                                                                                      (c)

a)    Empty data set

b)    LDS

c)     a and b

d)    None

35)  For a data set defined with NOERASE, which of the following is not true?                                     (a)

a)    Desirable for sensitive data

b)    Removes catalog entries

c)     All the above

d)    None

36)  Buffer space cannot be specified in which of the following?                                                             (d)

a)    DD statement

b)    Assembler program

c)     AMS DEFINE

d)    COBOL program

37)  How many data buffers are required for sequential processing to overlap I/O processing?         (c)

a)    2

b)    3

c)     4

d)    5

38)  When defining a KSDS, the best place to specify CISZ is generally                                                 (b)

a)    At the cluster level

b)    At the data level only

c)     At the index level only

d)    At both data and index levels

39)  For direct processing the recommended number of data buffers is                                                   (b)

a)    STRNO

b)    STRNO+1

c)     STRNO+2

d)    STRNO+3

e)     None

40)  For 3380 DASD, TRK(50 5) results in which CA size for a KSDS defined with NOIMBED? (b)

a)    1 TRK

b)    5 TRKS

c)     15 TRKS

d)    50 TRKS

e)     None

41)  Suppose you are defining a multi-volume data set with VOL(A B) and five key ranges specified. Which of the following correctly indicates where each key range will be located?                                                                                   (c)

a)    First key range on VOL A; second on B; third on A; etc.

b)    First key range on VOL B; second on A; third on B; etc.

c)     First key range on VOL A; remaining key ranges on B.

d)    All key ranges on VOL A; B is used for overflow only.

e)     All key ranges on VOL B; A is used for overflow only.

42)  An alternate index can be defined for which cluster type?                                                                                 (b)

a)    KSDS and RRDS

b)    KSDS and ESDS

c)     KSDS and LDS

d)    KSDS only

e)     KSDS, ESDS and RRDS

43)  If an application program accesses a base cluster in alternate key sequence, then DD statements are needed for which data sets?                                                                                                                                                          (f)

a)    Base cluster

b)    Alternate index

c)     Path

d)    a and b

e)     a and c

f)     a, b and c

44)  An alternate index itself is which cluster type?                                                                                                      (d)

a)    LDS

b)    RRDS

c)     ESDS

d)    KSDS

e)     None

45)  Which of the following backs up data in CI mode?                                                                                             (b)

a)    REPRO only

b)    EXPORT only

c)     Both REPRO and EXPORT

d)    Neither REPRO nor EXPORT

46)  Which of the following writes catalog information into the backup data set?                                                                (b)

a)    REPRO only

b)    EXPORT only

c)     Both REPRO and EXPORT

d)    Neither REPRO nor EXPORT

47)  Which of the following requires a DELETE/DEFINE before the command can be used to restore an

existing data set?                                                                                                                                                         (a)

a)    REPRO only

b)    IMPORT only

c)     Both REPRO and IMPORT

d)    Neither REPRO nor IMPORT

48)  With HBACKDS the use of apostrophes to enclose the dsname is                                                                   (b)

a)    Required

b)    Used to exclude the TSO id as the high level qualifier

c)     Required only if one or more segments are specified generically

d)    Not allowed if the data set is password protected

Related posts:

1. IBM Interview Questions – Section-2
2. IBM Interview Questions – Section1
3. There are at least seven IDCAMS commands; name and explain each of them ?.

State whether True or False:

1.     All VSAM data sets reside on DASD devices.                                                                        (T)

2.     Whenever a record is retrieved from DASD, the entire CA containing it is read into VSAM buffer.                           (F)

3.     A LDS has no control information embedded in its CIs.                                                     (T)

4.     In an RRDS, the position of a data record can be changed.                                                               (F)

5.     Records from an ESDS can either be accessed sequentially or by RBA.                         (T)

6.     Deletions and updating of records is possible in ESDS.                                                        (F)

7.     Spanned records can only be used in ESDS or KSDS.                                                         (T)

8.     Spanned records are records larger than CA size.                                                                 (F)

9.     A CI that contains the record segment of a spanned record contains no other data.    (T)

10.  Spanned records must be accessed in LOCATE mode.                                                       (F)

11.  A KSDS has both data and index components.                                                                    (T)

12.  A newly inserted record is always added at the end of a KSDS.                                        (F)

13.  A new index entry is inserted in the sequence set record corresponding to a CI split.    (T)

14.  IMBED places the sequence set CI for a data control area within the control area.     (T)

15.  VSAM control intervals containing data records have at least one RDF and one CIDF.(T)

16.  Control area sizes vary by device type.                                                                                  (F)

17.  Control interval sizes vary by device type.                                                                             (T)

18.  For a KSDS, the larger the data CA size, the smaller the number of index CIs.              (F)

19.  We cannot access variable-length blocked records in VSAM.                                            (F)

20.  MCAT contains pointers to system data sets and user catalogs.                                       (T)

21.  While creating VSAM data sets, provision of component names is a must.                    (F)

22.  JOBCAT identifies a default catalog for a single job step.                                                  (F)

23.  There is a one-to-one correspondence between BCSs and VVDSs.                                   (F)

24.  The need for JOBCAT/STEPCAT statements has been replaced by the ALIAS.           (T)

25.  Aliases are limited to the first segment of the component name.                                      (F)

26.  The cluster name is required when defining VSAM cluster using DEFINE CLUSTER command.              (T)

27.  Any parameters in coded for the cluster in DEFINE CLUSTER will also apply to the data and index components. (T)

28.  If the space allocation is coded at cluster level in DEFINE CLUSTER, the space is divided between data and index. (T)

29.  If the specified CISZ is not valid in DEFINE CLUSTER, VSAM increases the number to the next valid CISZ. (T)

30.  All the parameters for LISTCAT command are required.                                                   (F)

31.  A data component name will be generated by AMS if it is not explicitly coded.            (T)

32.  DEFINE CLUSTER for a KSDS will generate cluster, data and index information even if only cluster information is specified.                                                                                                                               (T)

33.  The candidate volume is not used when data set is initially loaded.                                (T)

34.  Suppose TEST.DATASET is a KSDS. The following statement will print cluster information only:

35.  LISTCAT ENTRIES (TEST.DATASET) ALL                                                                       (F)

36.  REPRO copies or merges an alternate index as an ESDS.                                                   (F)

37.  A PRINT command prints only VSAM data sets.                                                                                (F)

38.  A KSDS can be printed only in key order.                                                                              (F)

39.  A RRDS is printed in relative record number sequence.                                                       (T)

40.  The default print format is CHARACTER.                                                                            (F)

41.  Generic keys can be specified in PRINT FROMKEY and TOKEY.                                  (T)

42.  REPRO will stop processing records when a total of four physical I/O errors occur while writing to the

output data set.                                                                                                                            (F)

43.  REPRO REUSE against a non-empty target data set defined with NOREUSE will reset the target data set.            (F)

44.  In altering a KSDS, BUFND and BUFNI can be specified instead of BUFFERSPACE.(F)

45.  ALTER REMOVEVOLUMES will not remove the volume if the data set currently has data on the volume.         (T)

46.  ALTER can be used to change ESDS to LDS.                                                                       (T)

47.  ALTER NULLIFY can be used to nullify all passwords, except the master.                   (F)

48.  ALTER modifies the cataloged attributes of a VSAM data set.                                        (T)

49.  Generic names can be used to rename a group of objects or to alter an attribute of a group of objects. (T)

50.  Data Class specifications override the appropriate JCL parameters.                                                (F)

51.  Not all attributes can be specified through JCL.                                                                    (T)

52.  VSAM data can be read by logical record or by control interval access.                         (T)

53.  OPEN causes VSAM to verify that the processing options match the cluster type.       (T)

54.  COBOL does not support skip-sequential processing.                                                          (T)

55.  COBOL supports RBA addressing and backward processing.                                           (F)

56.  VS COBOL II supports skip-processing.                                                                 (F)

57.  Non-spanned records may be accessed in either MOVE or LOCATE mode.                  (T)

58.  The ISAM interface program allows VSAM programs to access ISAM data sets.         (F)

59.  Cross system sharing is either between multiple systems or multiple virtual machines.(T)

60.  Software end-of-file is a CI containing all zeroes excluding CIDF.                                   (F)

61.  VERIFY can be used for empty data sets.                                                                             (F)

62.  Catalog password protection is required for data set password checking.                       (T)

63.  To ensure read integrity the application program must code ENQ/DEQ.                         (T)

64.  For a data set with SHAREOPTIONS(4 3), CA splits are not allowed.                             (F)

65.  The default for DELETE CLUSTER is NOERASE.                                                              (T)

66.  If a cluster has VSAM password protection, the cluster MUST have a master password.            (T)

67.  The high-level index set record is maintained in the buffer if more than one index buffer (per string ) is provided. (T)

68.  VSAM allocates index buffers for all cluster types, even if the buffers are never used.(T)

69.  BUFND and BUFNI are preferable to BUFFERSPACE.                                                     (T)

70.  STRNO is used for sharing data sets across regions.                                                             (T)

71.  Data buffers and control blocks are allocated below 16M by default.                            (T)

72.  Large control intervals decrease virtual storage requirement for buffers.                        (F)

73.  Buffer space specified at ACB overrides the defined value, if the ACB value is more.                (F)

74.  The default for DEFINE CLUSTER is ERASE.                                                                     (F)

75.  A large percentage of unused CI free space causes additional I/Os when accessing the data set sequentially.       (T) Sequential processing does not use CI free space beyond the free space threshold.          (T)

76.  The larger the free space, the more are the levels of index.                                                 (T)

77.  Improved CI (ICI) access is available for logical record processing as well as CNV processing. (F)

78.  Processing a large data set with multiple extents in DIR mode performs approximately as well as processing a large single extent data set in DIR mode.                                                                                          (F)

79.  IMBED replicates the sequence set CI associated with a data CA on the first track of data CA.

80.  REPLICATE imbeds the index set within the data component.                                        (F)

81.  In a multiple volume data set the first allocation of space on a volume is always a primary allocation. (T)

82.  Index key compression can be suppressed with the NOCOMPRESS parameter.           (F)

83.  For sequential processing larger data CIs are desirable.                                                       (T)

84.  Key compression applies to the keys of both index and data components.                   (F)

85.  Multiple alternate indexes may be defined over a base cluster.                                         (T)

86.  Alternate indexes are spanned record data sets.                                                                   (T)

87.  The size of an alternate index is about the same size of its base cluster.                         (F)

88.  AIX records may be longer than specified in the DEFINE AIX maximum record size.(T)

89.  A path is required so that an application program can specify base cluster keys and retrieve alternate index records. (T)

90.  Base cluster must be empty for BLDINDEX.                                                                        (F)

91.  Upgrade is done only for non-empty alternate indexes.                                                      (T)

92.  After reorganizing a KSDS, the physical sequence of data is same as the logical sequence of data.         (T)

93.  Index component is however not reconstructed, after the reorganization of a KSDS.  (F)

94.  EXPORT extracts catalog information and creates a copy of the data records.            (T)

95.  Records larger than 32760 cause EXPORT in CIMODE to terminate with an error.     (F)

96.  CIMODE is the default for EXPORT of an LDS.                                                                  (T)

97.  The base cluster must be imported before the alternate indexes.                                      (T)

98.  The base cluster must be exported before the alternate indexes                                        (F)

99.  DFDSS can be used to reorganize a KSDS.                                                                            (T)

100.        If the HIGH-USED-RBA of the IMPORT OUTDATASET parameter is zero, then VSAM deletes and redefines the OUTDATASET before the IMPORT operation.                                                                 (F)

101.        ISMF can be used to create a DFHSM batch job stream.                                                           (T)

102.        Data Set List line operator commands may effect more than one data set.                           (T)

Related posts:

1. IBM Interview Questions – Section-3
2. IBM Interview Questions – Section1
3. What is an alternate index and path ?

Fill in the blanks:

1.     A logical record is a unit of information used to store data in a VSAM data set.

2.     A CI is a unit of information that VSAM transfers between virtual storage and disk storage.

3.     The minimum size of a CI is 512 bytes.

4.     512 bytes is the minimum size of a CI.

5.     The maximum size of a CI is 32K.

6.     A CI consists of Logical Records, Free Space and Control Information.

7.     A Control Interval Definition Field (CIDF) is of 4 Bytes long.

8.     A Record Definition Field (RDF) is of 3 Bytes long.

9.     In a CI if two or more adjacent records have the same length, only two RDf’s are used.

10.  The minimum size of a CA is 1 track.

11.  1 track is the minimum size of a CA.

12.  The maximum size of a CA is 1 cylinder.

13.  1 cylinder is the maximum size of a CA.

14.  LDS is VSAM data set with a CI size of 4096Bytes.

15.  LDS has no imbedded control information in its CI.

16.  LDS has only a data component.

17.  LDS cannot have an alternate index.

18.  RRDS consists of a number of preformatted fixed-length slots.

19.  RRDS has only a data component.

20.  For an RRDS the relative record number is used as a search argument.

21.  RRDS supports only fixed length records.

22.  ESDS has only a data component.

23.  Spanned records must be accessed in MOVE mode.

24.  Alternate Index is a special type of KSDS.

25.  The Master Catalog (MCAT) is identified at IPL.

26.  The Master Catalog (MCAT) contains pointers to system data sets and user catalogs.

27.  VTOC (Volume Table Of Contents) describes the type and location of data sets on the volume.

28.  VTOC (Volume Table Of Contents) is a data set created at volume initialization.

29.  JOBCAT identifies a default catalog for an entire job.

30.  STEPCAT identifies a default catalog for a single job step.

31.  The two types of AMS commands are functional commands and modal commands.

32.  INDEXED is the default cluster type.

33.  4089 is the default maximum record length.

34.  One cluster can have a maximum of 123 extents for all volumes together.

35.  Record Size cannot be coded for LDS.

36.  INDEX information appears on a LISTCAT listing for KSDS.

37.  A Data Class is a description of data set characteristics under control of SMS.

38.  JCL parameters override the specifications from a Data Class.

39.  The names and contents of the Data Classes can be displayed through ISMF.

40.  REPRO provides an easy to use copy utility.

41.  REPRO copies or merges an alternate index as a KSDS.

42.  REPRO converts a sequential or indexed-sequential data set into a VSAM data set.

43.  The PRINT command prints VSAM data sets, non-VSAM data sets and catalogs.

44.  The default print format for output is DUMP.

45.  If a KSDS cluster with name BMDUSER.KSDS1 is created, the default data component name would be BMDUSER.KSDS1.DATA .

46.  ALTER modifies the cataloged attributes of a VSAM data set.

47.  ALTER can be used to change an ESDS into an LDS.

48.  An LDS cannot be changed to any other VSAM data set format.

49.  IMBED and REPLICATE options are applicable to KSDS cluster.

50.  Parameters specified in the JCL override the appropriate parameters specified in the Data Class.

51.  VSAM clusters can be accessed in Sequential, Direct and Skip sequential .

52.  VSAM data can be processed by Logical Record or by Control Interval access.

53.  After software-end-of-file is written, the file is in Recovery mode.

54.  VERIFY cannot be used for an Empty Dataset or an LDS .

55.  Password verification is done during OPEN processing.

56.  Strings allow concurrent positioning within a data set. ()

57.  The minimum buffer space for  a cluster is STRNO index buffers and STRNO+1 data buffers.

58.  The default buffer space for  a cluster is STRNO index buffers and STRNO+1 data buffers.

59.  Sequential processing is overlapped when at least STRNO+3 data buffers are allocated.

60.  For Sequential processing, larger data CI sizes are desirable.

61.  For Random or Direct processing, smaller data CIs are desirable.

62.  Free Space is used to reduce the number of CI and CA splits.

63.  ICI access cannot be used to Load or Extend a data set.

64.  Space allocations made in RECORDs are converted to TRKS by VSAM. ()

65.  Key compression applies to the Index component.

66.  An alternate index cannot be defined for an RRDS or LDS .

67.  Each AIX data record contains System Header Information, the Alternate Key, and Pointer to the data set.

68.  A Path Path provides a way to gain access to the base data through its AIX.

69.  Base Cluster must not be empty for BLDINDEX.

70.  Length of the alternate keys must not exceed 255 .

71.  Records larger than 32760 cause REPRO to terminate.

72.  When exporting a data set, we specify TEMPORARY to preserve the original data set.

Related posts:

1. IBM Interview Questions – Section-3
2. IBM Interview Questions – Section-2
3. How many buffers are allotted to VSAM KSDS and ESDS?

Related posts:

1. What happens when you open an empty VSAM file in a COBOL program for input?
2. What are the optional parameters to the input dataset While loading the empty cluster with the data records?
3. What is Control Interval, Control Area?

Related posts:

1. What is the base cluster?
2. What is a cluster?
3. How many buffers are allotted to VSAM KSDS and ESDS?

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2. what’s the device independent method to indicate where a Record is Stored?
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3. What is free space?

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2. What are the optional parameters to the input dataset While loading the empty cluster with the data records?
3. what is the RRN for the first record in RRDS?

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