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Seeing VSAM file data.

Posted: Thu Jun 18, 2015 7:35 pm
by Md.Imtiaz
Hi,

I have a VSAM KSDS file with data like this:

Code: Select all

1111    abcd   Delhi
2222    efgh    Mumbai


They have used cobol program to write data into file using a copybook. Now we don't have the source code and only load module of that programme available. If I want see the fileds of the file, how I can do that as I can not know the copybook name now.

Re: Seeing VSAM file data.

Posted: Thu Jun 18, 2015 8:01 pm
by enrico-sorichetti
so You are telling that Your Organisation spends money in creating a file
with unknown content that nobody reads :shock:

hoping that You just expressed Yourself in a bad way,
ask around what programs read the file, and certainly looking at those programs you will find something useful

Re: Seeing VSAM file data.

Posted: Thu Jun 18, 2015 9:30 pm
by nicc
DDnames in the JCL?

Re: Seeing VSAM file data.

Posted: Thu Jun 18, 2015 10:12 pm
by Robert Sample
Be aware that to some degree, it is not possible to determine data characteristics without a copy book or other source code. Packed decimal or binary data may be interpreted as character data (depending upon the value). X'0097994D' could be a -97994 packed decimal value, or a binary full word value of 9935181 or as the characters 'pr(' with a leading LOW-VALUE -- which way you interpret those hexadecimal digits depends upon what you treat the bytes as.

Re: Seeing VSAM file data.

Posted: Fri Jun 19, 2015 6:05 pm
by nicc
OK, re-reading and re-interpreting - perhaps 'fileds' should read as 'fields' in which case the DDNAME will only tell you the dataset name not the record layout which is perhaps what you are wanting but failed to say in a clear manner.

Re: Seeing VSAM file data.

Posted: Thu Jul 30, 2015 3:08 pm
by Md.Imtiaz
OK, re-reading and re-interpreting - perhaps 'fileds' should read as 'fields' in which case the DDNAME will only tell you the dataset name not the record layout which is perhaps what you are wanting but failed to say in a clear manner.
Yes this is what I mean. If you tell me how could I have written it I'll consider that as an example for my future posts, can you?

But now I have given up on this idea to get the copy book for this file...