3. Maintenance Policies and Procedures › 3.2 User Maintenance Procedures › 3.2.3 Change Control Test Database › 3.2.3.3 Controlled Input Data Sources

3.2.3.3 Controlled Input Data Sources

One advantage of a TEST database unit is the ability to test
a database and logic configuration with a controlled amount
of test data.  It is possible to select and process data for
testing, and keep the data entirely separate from any
production CA MICS database unit.

The term selection usually brings to mind the concept of
discarding unwanted data.  A larger view of data selection is
to pick data for a specific purpose.  In the TEST database
unit, such selection has great benefit.  Test data that
represents usual processing can be kept on the TEST unit.  It
is also to the user's advantage to search out data that
represents unusual events and monitoring conditions.  It may
not be possible, for example, to find the sequence of test
data that represents the SMF log contents during a full JES
orderly shutdown.

If such a case is noted in a production process, and the data
might be valuable to modification testing sometime in the
future, the data can be saved on the TEST database unit.
This may be on a DASD data set associated with the TEST
database unit's prefix, or catalogued on tape through the
TEST unit's tapeprefix.

It is also possible to group data in the TEST unit into
meaningful intervals of time.  It is often useful to have a
small amount of data, say one hour's worth, available to test
a change.  If the change has a problem, a lot of processing
time need not be expended in error detection.

Volume test data can be catalogued and saved on tape.  Such
data may be necessary for benchmarking possible optimized
code or operational changes.

End of month and end of year test data can also be difficult
to locate.  As such conditions arise, or other variations
from normal time stamp contents, the data may be saved
through the TEST database unit.  Examples of other such
periods are the transition to and from daylight saving time,
and February 29th of a leap year.

Creative test data management can greatly reduce the effort
involved in testing and verifying a modification to CA MICS.