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Modifying Physical Database Definitions › Increasing the Size of an Area

Increasing the Size of an Area

Available Options

To increase the size of an area, you can:

  1. Increase the page size of the area by using the EXPAND PAGE utility statement
  2. Extend the number of pages in the area by using the EXTEND SPACE clause of the AREA statement
  3. Increase the current number of pages assigned to the area by unloading and reloading the area

Which Option to Use

Both options 1 and 3 distribute free space throughout an area. While option 1 is faster (and therefore less disruptive) than option 3, it does not reorganize indexes or improve the placement of existing data which may have overflowed due to lack of space on a page. Option 1 is most effective if used before the area approaches a full condition.

Option 2 adds free space only at the end of an area. This can be useful where records or tables have a location mode of direct or are clustered around a dbkey index or an OOAK record. It can also be used as a temporary means of increasing space in an area whose page size cannot be increased (due to device or VSAM restrictions).

If the area to be extended contains CALC records, these records will continue to only target pages in the original page range. If no space is available to hold the new occurrences, they will overflow into the extended page range. The area must continue to be defined as being extended until the records are unloaded and reloaded into a new database in which the entire extended page range is defined as the original page range. Failure to do this results in 0326 errors when CALC retrieval is attempted.

In order to extend an area, there must be unassigned page numbers following the current page range. If these page numbers are already assigned to another area, the current page range cannot be extended. Either Option 1 or 3 must be used; or the current page range must be converted to a new range and that range extended.

Procedures

Procedures for the first two options follow.

Note: For information about unloading and reloading an area, see the CA IDMS Utilities Guide.