by Robert Sample » Fri Nov 06, 2015 7:02 pm
I think the version number is one of those concepts that look great in theory (many years ago when the operating system features were being designed) but actually doesn't work out in practice. I have seen some use of non-zero versions but since you have to explicitly code the entire data set name to change the version number, it isn't used much.
However, don't expect it to disappear any time soon, either. IBM is noted for maintaining backwards compatibility so the version number will be around for many years to come.
I think the version number is one of those concepts that look great in theory (many years ago when the operating system features were being designed) but actually doesn't work out in practice. I have seen some use of non-zero versions but since you have to explicitly code the entire data set name to change the version number, it isn't used much.
However, don't expect it to disappear any time soon, either. IBM is noted for maintaining backwards compatibility so the version number will be around for many years to come.