The PL/I workstation products support VSAM file organization. There are three types of VSAM data sets on the workstation:
The PL/I workstation products currently support the following methods for accessing VSAM data sets:
A DDM keyed data set is represented by two files--one called the base, and the other called the prime index. The records of the data set are kept in the base; the prime index contains information about the primary keys of the data set. When you create a DDM keyed data set, you specify the name of the base; DDM generates a name for the prime index, which it derives from the name of the base.
When you use DDM data sets, you do not need to be concerned about record length, except that your records cannot exceed the maximum specified length.
You can compile and run most existing mainframe programs that reference mainframe VSAM data sets by creating the appropriate workstation VSAM data set on your PC before running the program.
BTRIEVE data sets are stored in one file and can exist on local file systems only.
Detailed information on workstation VSAM is found in Defining and using workstation VSAM data sets.