IBM Mainframe Forum

[sandeepjanar]

Hi all,

I have a doubt in VSAM. It would be really helpful if some one can help me with that.

I got a VSAM file (say A) with first 48 characters as key. There is an alternate path created for this VSAM (say B) with fields 33-42 (10 digit field as key) as key.
I am writing a program where I must use path B as I have to query on that 10 digit field. (I can directly use VSAM file A but it is going to take lot of time to process all records). That 10 digit field has alphanumeric values WITH DUPLICATES.
In my program, I have a input value. I need to read this path B with 10 digit key >= Input-key.. My intention is to retrieve multiple records from VSAM satisfying the criteria.. Please let me know how to do it.. Not sure if it is possible to do also..

Thanks,
Sandeep.

[Robert Sample]

You did not specify the language your program is written in. I am assuming COBOL; other languages would use similar methodss. Use

Select all

START <file name> KEY IS <alt-key-name>

followed by READ NEXT to retrieve the data in alternate index sequence.

[sandeepjanar]

I am sorry about that.. yes it is COBOL..
I tried giving START FILE B KEY IS FILE B KEY..
Then I did a READ NEXT... it is giving RC=02 (duplicate)..
Thanks for your reply..

[BillyBoyo]

There is more than one record with that same alternate key value. What problem does that give you?

[Robert Sample]

A file status code of 02 is NOT an error -- so your code should ignore it and continue.

[sandeepjanar]

Thanks for the help. It did work. I am able to make it work after adding further processing under IF condition IF STATUS-CODE = '02'.

[dick scherrer]

Hello,

You need to make sure you understand why you changed the code . . .

[sandeepjanar]

Yes. I did understand. Initially I was assuming STATUS-CODE shouldn't be '02' when we use START & READNEXT. Now I am clear that when we read sequentially from a particular point in this case, status '02' is a valid possible code that comes because of duplicate keys. So, we can read all records next using status code '00' or '02'. Let me know if I have understood anything wrong.

[Robert Sample]

It is worth noting that the first digit of the file status code being a zero means that the operation was successful, even though the second digit can be 0, 2, 4, 5, or 7 to denote various conditions that did not prevent the operation but could impact the results.

[sandeepjanar]

Robert, I never knew this. Thanks for sharing. This will help me.