Creating Dataviews for VSAM Files › Runtime Considerations for VSAM Dataviews › CHECKPOINT and BACKOUT With VSAM Files

CHECKPOINT and BACKOUT With VSAM Files

In the CICS environment, the CHECKPOINT and BACKOUT statements execute the CICS SYNCPOINT and SYNCPOINT ROLLBACK commands. For VSAM data sets, CA Ideal takes no further actions. CICS handles these processes exclusively.

In a non‑CICS environment, the CHECKPOINT statement executes a TCLOSE operation that flushes certain VSAM buffers if there was any VSAM access before the CHECKPOINT. The BACKOUT statement has no effect for VSAM files. This can lead to inconsistency between a CICS and non‑CICS execution of the same program.

In CICS, a lock is held on updateable records until a CHECKPOINT is issued. In batch, a lock is held on only one record at a time. This means that in batch, VSAM files are not recoverable.