Open a Data Set or Member

You can use CA File Master Plus to view and edit VSAM data sets, sequential data sets, and members of PDS files.

You can open a data set or member that is not listed in your Directory List view by selecting a server and then selecting Open from the CA File Master Plus menu.

Follow these steps:

1. Open the Directory List view.

2. Right-click the data set or member that you want to edit and select Open.
   The Open Data Set wizard opens.

3. Complete the following fields, or verify that the prefilled information is correct:

   • Data set name
     Specifies the name of the data set that you want to open.

   • Member name
     Specifies the name of the member that you want to open. This field is only active when opening a PDS member.

   • Volume serial
     Enter the volume serial only if the data set is not cataloged. Otherwise, leave this field empty.

4. Specify the Open mode. Select one of the following options:

   • Edit
     Allows you to make changes in the editor window and save the changes

   • View
     Allows you to make changes in the editor window but you cannot save the changes

5. (Optional) Modify the values in the Change log options. These values are prefilled with the values you specified in the Configure Mainframe Settings dialog.

   • Data set name pattern
     Displays the name of the change log file. This field is not editable.

   • Storage
     Set one of the following:

     • Volume serial
       Identifies the volume on which a new change log file will be allocated. Select this only when directing the change log to a specific volume.

     • Generic unit
       Identifies the generic unit on which a new change log file will be allocated. Leave this blank if you want to use the generic unit default value.

   • Primary allocation
     Defines the number of cylinders to indicate the space of the primary allocation of the change log data set. The value must be greater than zero.

   • Secondary allocation
     Defines the number of cylinders to indicate the space of the secondary allocation of the change log data set.

   Note: The Change log options are activated when the Enable change log option is selected. If the Enable change log option is selected but no values are specified in the Change log options, the values specified in the mainframe settings are used. For more information, see Configure Mainframe Settings.

6. (Optional) Select Enable change log to capture changes that are made to the data set or member in the change log data set.

7. Click Next.

8. Select one of the following Display mode options:

   • Character
     Displays records in character format.

   • Single Record
     Displays one record at a time with the field names on the left and the formatted values on the right. If you select this option, you must specify a record layout.

   To switch to another display mode once the editor is open, right-click anywhere in the editor and select a display format from the menu. Once the file opens, you can switch between Character and Hexadecimal format by clicking on the icon at the top of the file view.

9. Specify a layout. Do one of the following.

   • Select from the drop-down list a layout displayed in your Layout view.

   • Specify the layout data set and member name. If you specified the character display mode, this step is optional.

10. (Optional) Specify selection criteria. Do one of the following:

    • Type selection conditions into the selection criteria text box. For more information on valid selection conditions, see Condition Specifications.

    • Click Layout to build selection conditions based on the contents of the specified layout. For more information on modifying selection criteria, see Modify Layout Selection Conditions. If you specify selection criteria, you can click Validate to verify that the selection criteria listed are legitimate.

    • Click Import to import selection criteria from an existing selection criteria member. For more information on importing selection criteria, see Import Selection Criteria.

    Note: The layout section is not active if you selected Character for the Display mode.

11. Click Finish.
    The data set or member opens in the editor. Data sets opened with the View option are marked as Read-only.