gtpc3m1x | Concepts and Structures |
A general data set provides a data interface between offline and online components. Data is either created online (for example, management reports) to be processed by offline programs or data is created offline (for example, a fare database for an airline application) for online processing.
A TPF general data set is similar to an IBM MVS data set and, likewise, is identified by a data set name. The records of a data set are allocated sequentially within a module (called volume in an IBM MVS system). See Figure 26 for more information about vertical allocation. A general data set can span modules.
Records in standard TPF record sizes are accessed online by using the find and file macro requests. Records that are not restricted to the standard TPF record sizes are accessed online by the file data chain transfer (FDCTC) macro.
Entries refer to the data contained in a general data set by requesting a specific data set name.