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About Real-time Processing

CA 1 gains control at every tape OPEN, CLOSE and End-of-Volume (EOV). All necessary information associated with the tape volume is captured at these times and immediately stored in the Tape Management Catalog (TMC) for all tapes defined to CA 1. Validity checking is performed at OPEN and EOV by checking tape status in the TMC prior to allowing any processing by the program requesting tape I/O.

The TMC contains a single record named a Volume record for each volume assigned to CA 1 control. To track the allocation of secondary data sets, the TMC uses Data Set Name Block (DSNB) records.

Additional CA 1 components are designed to function as real-time processes. The following features function on a real-time basis:

Real-time Stacking

Use this feature to scratch pools of "stacking" volumes to be defined. When files are created that match the stacking scratch pool, their allocation is automatically redirected to be stacked onto a shared tape volume in the stacking pool.

Real-time Catalog Intercept

Use this feature to monitor z/OS system catalog and uncatalog activity, and to manage catalog-controlled volumes.

Real-time Expiration

Use this feature to assign the expiration rules defined in the Retention Data Set (RDS) as the volumes are being created. When this optional feature is activated, the RDS rules are placed in common storage (ECSA) and referenced as the tape files go through CLOSE processing. When a rule matches the file being created the file and volume records in the TMC are updated with the corresponding expiration information.