Lesson plan
Basic partitioned access method
In IBM mainframe operating systems, basic partitioned access method (BPAM) is an access method for libraries, called partitioned datasets (PDSes) in IBM terminology. BPAM is used in OS/360, OS/VS2, MVS, z/OS, and others. A PDS consists of members (internally identical to sequential data sets), registered in a list called the directory. The combination of members and directory is a single dataset on disk. The directory contains a list of member's names (8 characters, padded on the right with blanks, as required) and member's addresses. Addresses are relative to the start of the dataset in order to allow the PDS to be moved to a different disk location. Partitioned datasets can store any type of data, but they are often used to store executable programs, or load modules, sometimes called binaries in other systems. Other uses include system assembler macro definitions, job control procedures, and program source code.
Article summary
In IBM mainframe operating systems, basic partitioned access method (BPAM) is an access method for libraries, called partitioned datasets (PDSes) in IBM terminology. BPAM is used in OS/360, OS/VS2, MVS, z/OS, and others. A PDS consists of members (internally identical to sequential data sets), registered in a list called the directory. The combination of members and directory is a single dataset on disk. The directory contains a list of member's names (8 characters, padded on the right with blanks, as required) and member's addresses. Addresses are relative to the start of the dataset in order to allow the PDS to be moved to a different disk location. Partitioned datasets can store any type of data, but they are often used to store executable programs, or load modules, sometimes called binaries in other systems. Other uses include system assembler macro definitions, job control procedures, and program source code.
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Discussion questions
- Summarise the article in your own words. Which single claim would you verify first, and why?
- Which claim in this article is most likely to be revised as the sources update? How would you check its current status?
- If two sources disagreed about one of these facts, what would you need in order to trust one over the other?
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Key claims and bibliography are generated from the same tracked claims and sources as the article page.