Overview of File Manager

File Manager is an IBM® licensed program that helps you to work with various storage media and maintain data.

File Manager provides production and development logical file manipulation for Websphere MQ queue data, z/OS® Unix files, CICS® files, TS and TD queues, and QSAM and VSAM data sets. VSAM data sets include ESDS, KSDS, RRDS, and VRRDS. File Manager provides applications programmers and systems programmers with the capability to access, view, edit, find, modify, copy, maintain, repair, migrate, print, and manage data and files. The Template Workbench allows users (particularly applications programmers) to format data stored in any of the above files based upon the definitions in COBOL, PL/I, or High Level Assembler copybooks, or to define data formats dynamically. Adding to this capability is an interactive interface that allows programmers to view data in both table and single-record formats. In addition, selection of data can be performed using simple REXX-like conditions that can easily be tailored by the programmer. All of the features available online to manipulate data can also be applied in batch jobs.

You can access File Manager functions in several ways:
  • In full-screen mode as an ISPF or CICS® application.
  • Through an Eclipse plug-in.
  • For routine tasks, you can use File Manager in batch jobs using control statements.

File Manager uses 31-bit addressing. It is enabled for multicultural support and can be translated if required. File Manager provides Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) support, allowing the generation of XML data from files.

FM/Db2

The File Manager Db2® component extends this functionality to the Db2® environment in the following ways:
  • Extends the File Manager editor facilities to apply to Db2® data
  • Extends the ISPF object list utility to apply to Db2® data
  • Extends the File Manager data create facility to Db2® data
  • Extends the File Manager data copy facility to include Db2® data as both source and target
  • Extends the File Manager template processing to the Db2® environment
  • Provides an SQL analysis feature for both existing plans and embedded source code
  • Provides an easy interface to SQL statement generation for those who do not know SQL
  • Provides an interface to generate JCL and Db2® control statements for selected Db2® utilities, without the user needing to know the syntax for these utilities

FM/IMS

The File Manager IMS™ component further extends this functionality to provide support for IMS™ databases. FM/IMS provides database edit and browse functions such as:
  • Ability to view and edit data in IMS™ databases with full-screen ISPF panels
  • Display either multiple segments or a single segment on the one screen
  • Formatted segment display (in context of COBOL or PL/I data structure)
  • Formatted tabular display of data for a single segment type
  • Selectable segment display (choose which segments to display based on segment keys or segment contents, or both)
  • Selectable field display (choose which fields to display, and in which order)
  • Unformatted segment display
  • Ability to insert, delete, and repeat segments and their children
  • Ability to find and change data across an entire database hierarchy
  • Optional audit trail of all database updates

FM/IMS allows the user to define templates and views which associate COBOL and PL/I data structures with each segment type in a DBD; and define views which use the COBOL or PL/I data structures to specify the selection criteria for segment types.

FM/IMS provides support for either static (existing) or dynamic PSBs, the option to access databases via either DLI or BMP processing, and support for HALDB, HDAM, HIDAM, HISAM, HSAM, DEDB, MSDB, and logical databases, including databases with secondary indexes.

FM/CICS

The File Manager CICS® component provides a powerful set of utility functions for editing, browsing, printing, and altering the status of CICS® resources. The CICS® resources supported are files, temporary storage queues, and transient data queues. With appropriate authority the user can also modify the status of the CICS® resources. FM/CICS incorporates much of the functionality of File Manager into the CICS® environment.

FM/CICS also incorporates access to CICS® resources from batch, ISPF, or the File Manager Eclipse plug-in.

FM/CICS uses Interactive Panel Viewer, a feature of ADFz Common Components, to display panels on CICS® with a similar capability to ISPF panels. FM/CICS panels allow you to select options and to specify parameters, commands and program function (PF) keys to simplify requests for common functions. FM/CICS panels provide full screen format for information display and editing.