Option 1: Reviewing Master Files

How to:

In recent releases, some documented rules for Master File syntax have been enforced more strictly than in prior releases. Therefore, if a Master File used in an earlier release took advantage of undocumented shortcuts, it may not be acceptable in the release to which you are upgrading.

If there is an issue with the Master File, a message displays in the output. This allows you to review the issue and make the required adjustments. Typically, with newer releases, there may be code tightening, which may cause issues in cases where no issue occurred previously. Repair the issue and rerun the CHECK FILE operation to validate that it will now pass the parsing test.

Master File testing should be done using the release that you are upgrading to because the parsing engine in the upgraded product is used to validate the structure of the Master File.

Procedure: How to Review Master Files

  1. To validate that existing Master Files will be accepted in a new release, start a FOCUS session for the new release and select Option 1 (the default), as shown in the following image.


  2. Press Enter.

    The FOCUS Scanning Utility - Target Files screen opens, as shown in the following image.



  3. Enter search criteria for the members to be scanned.
    1. Enter the Logical Record Length (LRECL) of the PDS to be scanned. The default value is 80.

      Currently, an LRECL of 80 and 160 are supported. If the value is different, contact Information Builders Customer Support Services for a Master File to use to read the scanned file.

    2. Enter the fully-qualified name of the PDS to be scanned.

      If your allocations concatenate multiple PDSs, you must search these one at a time.

    3. Enter search criteria for the members to be scanned. The string will automatically be placed within quotation marks, so you do not need to type the quotation marks as part of the search string. Note that initial spaces that are entered in the search string are captured. The search string can consist of one of the following:
      • A single member name.
      • An asterisk (*), to scan all members.
      • A mask containing the wildcard characters $ and $*. The dollar sign indicates that any character in that position is acceptable. The $* is shorthand for writing a sequence of dollar signs to fill the end of the mask without specifying a length. This combination can only be used at the end of the mask. For example, the mask B$* scans all members whose name begins with the letter B. The search is case insensitive. The following sample screen searches the PDS USER1.MASTER.DATA for all member names that start with the letter L:


  4. Press Enter.

    The utility issues the CHECK FILE command for all member names that satisfy the search criteria. It lists each member scanned and either:

    • Issues an OK message for the member.
    • Lists the FOCUS messages that identify the problems.

    When the utility has finished issuing the CHECK FILE command for all of the selected members, it issues a FINISHED message and exits the utility.

    For example:

     (FOC488) THE DATASET IS IN THE CATALOG: 'USER1.MASTER.DATA'
PERFORMING OPERATION ON LINEF
 LINEF    CHECKS OK


 PERFORMING OPERATION ON LOXSUMO
 LOXSUMO  CHECKS OK


 PERFORMING OPERATION ON LSL111M
 (FOC03601) ERROR AT OR NEAR LINE 1 IN LSL111M
 (FOC1822) WARNING. INVALID SYMBOL: >10<
 vv
 10
 (FOC03601) ERROR AT OR NEAR LINE 2 IN LSL111M
 (FOC1822) WARNING. INVALID SYMBOL: >10<
 vv
 10
 (FOC03601) ERROR AT OR NEAR LINE 3 IN LSL111M
 (FOC1822) WARNING. INVALID SYMBOL: >10<
 vv
10*
(FOC03601) ERROR AT OR NEAR LINE 4 IN LSL111M
(FOC1822) WARNING. INVALID SYMBOL: >10<
vv
10
(FOC03601) ERROR AT OR NEAR LINE 5 IN LSL111M
(FOC1822) WARNING. INVALID SYMBOL: >10<
vv
10*

PERFORMING OPERATION ON L128
(FOC259) FIELDNAME EXCEEDS ITS MAXIMUM SIZE:
MODEL1234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567
vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv
MODEL1234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567,
FINISHED.  THANK YOU.

    Note: The v characters below a line indicate where issues exist on the line.

You can now examine the members that generated FOCUS messages and make the required adjustments. Typically, with newer releases, there may be code tightening, which may cause issues in cases where no issue occurred previously. Repair the issue and rerun the CHECK FILE operation to validate that it will now pass the parsing test.

Information Builders