Usage

How to submit the BACKUP statement

You submit the BACKUP statement only through the batch command facility. You must run the batch command facility in local mode.

When to use SHARE

You can specify SHARE and get a backup usable for restore operations if you vary the affected area(s) for retrieval only. This prevents other users from changing the contents of the area during the backup operation.

If you specify SHARE without varying the area(s) for retrieval only, you should exercise extreme caution when making use of the backup.

BACKUP by file does not lock areas

When you back up by file, the BACKUP utility does not lock the associated area(s). Therefore, to preserve the integrity of the area, you should vary affected areas for retrieval only.

RESTORE the same object you backed up

If you back up by area, restore by area. If you back up by file, restore by file.

Number of BACKUP statements per BCF-job

Only one BACKUP statement per BCF-job is allowed. Specifying multiple BACKUP statements for the same BCF-job will result in all BACKUP files, except for the last one, being overwritten. This is caused by the way syntax parsing has been implemented, for example, for each BACKUP statement the BACKUP utility (such as, module IDMSUBKP) is called that at the beginning will open the BACKUP file specified by <ddname/filename/linkname> SYS001 in OUTPUT mode and will close it before returning to the syntax parsing module.