How does the growth in PDSE usage affect PDSMAN?

Products

• PDSMAN

Issue/Introduction

PDSE libraries were introduced over twenty years ago and have recently had a considerable growth in their usage due to a number of technical and other factors. It is fair to assume that this growth will continue. But if past history is any indication, conventional PDS libraries will still be with us well into the foreseeable future.

On the surface it may seem there is no longer a need for a product like PDSMAN, but that is rarely the case.  PDSEs do noticeably effect some of the facilities that the product has provided for much of its over thirty year history. But one of the many strengths of PDSMAN – the broad range of solutions it provides – greatly lessens the overall effect of PDSEs.

How does the growth in PDSE usage affect PDSMAN?

Environment

CA PDSMAN 7.7

Resolution

CA PDSMAN® PDS Library Management (PDSMAN) has a long history of providing solutions to complex and pervasive issues associated with using partitioned (PDS and PDSE) libraries. PDSMAN is uniquely positioned to address all facets of partitioned library management because of the broad set of solutions it provides.

Frequently, our clients ask how the growth in the usage of PDSE libraries affects PDSMAN. This is an important question -- asking it allows you to be proactive in protecting your investment in the software while answering it gives us the opportunity to show how PDSMAN continues to provide benefit in a changing z/OS environment.

The Effect of PDSEs

PDSMAN provides nearly 40 different facilities for managing your partitioned (both PDS and PDSE) libraries. When evaluating the effect of PDSEs, the facilities break down into three categories:

• Those that are not available for (or applicable to) PDSEs
• Those that are not affected by PDSEs
• Those that have some level of reduced function for PDSEs

So the effect of PDSEs on the product really depends on the specific PDSMAN facility being used.

Facilities Not Available for PDSEs

On one end of the spectrum are facilities that are not supported either because they are not applicable to PDSEs or because they are not feasible to implement. PDSEs were originally designed to address PDS library space, directory space and, to a lesser extent, performance issues. So it is not surprising that the corresponding  PDSMAN facilities are affected to a greater extent.

Facilities Not Effected by PDSEs

On the opposite end of the spectrum are the majority of PDSMAN facilities which experience little or no affect from PDSEs.

Facilities With Reduced Functionality for PDSEs

Two other groups of facilities sit between these two extremes. Some facilities provide functionality for “source” PDSEs but not for PDSE program libraries that contain executable code called program objects. Others provide functionality for PDSEs at a somewhat reduced level.

Conclusion

The effect of PDSEs is greatly dependent on the client environment. To fairly evaluate the potential effect it is important to understand which PDSMAN facilities are being used and in which of the above categories they fall.

You can use data from the PDSMAN Usage Statistics Recording facility to see how the product is being utilized in your environment.

Additional Information

For more information on the effect of PDSEs on specific PDSMAN facilities, see the attached article CA PDSMAN® and PDSE Libraries.