Types of Retention

CA TLMS provides twelve tape data set retention types. Each of these types allows you to use different criteria to determine how long to keep a tape at the data center or at one of the off-site storage locations. At the end of the retention period, the tape will either be logically moved to the next location specified on the retention control statement or logically scratched if no other location is specified.

If the tape is to be moved, it will appear on a list of volumes that are to be moved when you run TRS.
If the tape is to be scratched, it will appear on a list of volumes that are to be scratched.

The types of retention are summarized in this chart and explained in more detail in the paragraphs that follow.

Method	Type	Use At
Catalog Control	1	Any location
Keep Date Control	2	Any location
Catalog/Date Control	3	Any location
Cycle Control	4	Any location
Elapsed Days Control	5	Any location
Move Immediate Control	6	Data center only
Manual Control	7	Last location only
Days Since Last Used Control	8	Data center only
Expiration Date Keyword Control	9	Data center only
Catalog Control	A	For all data sets
Keep Date Control	B	For all data sets
Catalog/Date Control	C	For all data sets

Note: Data sets whose creation jobs abended while creating the data set are not processed; they are automatically scratched when the specified number of hours after creation is exhausted. This process is controlled by the ABEND system option, which is detailed in the Configuration Guide.

More information

Running the Tape Retention System