Other Features › Prestaging Input and Output Tapes

Prestaging Input and Output Tapes

Input tape handling procedures are greatly improved by giving the tape librarian or production control the facility to pre-stage or set up jobs ahead of time. The CA 1 pre-staging program is designed to aid in this task.

The TMSPULL utility allows reporting to facilitate pre-staging tape volumes for production processing. TMSPULL generates listings of all required input and output volumes for a normal production job.

• One report is produced to allow the tapes to be retrieved and organized for the other report to reference.
• The Pull List is in shift, cart ID, and volume serial number sequence. Other report information includes job name, data set name, and volume sequence number.
• The Setup List is in shift, job name and volume serial number sequence. Other report information includes cart slot number, volume sequence number, data set name, out-of-area code, and slot number.
• The pre-staging facility is driven by a PDS that contains the information necessary to produce the list of tapes to be pulled.
• Each PDS member contains information relative to one job with the member name being the job name. The PDS member contains the following:
  • The shift designation number (36 are available)
  • The cart on which the tapes are to be placed
  • The input data sets to be selected
• Scratch tapes can be requested for output data sets.
• The list can be generated from the information in the MVS Catalog or the Tape Management Catalog (TMC).
• Provision is made to indicate other than a current generation for GDGs.
• Appropriate scheduling of the TMSPULL program and proper set up of the TMSPULL PDS can assure the operators that all input and output volumes required for a job or groups of jobs are available before the job is submitted for execution.

Note: For information on the TMSPULL utility, see the Utilities and Reports Reference Guide.