COPY Improvements [DB2 9 for z/OS]

Next up in this sub-series on IBM utility improvements in the larger series on DB2 V9 features and functions we will take a look at the new “stuff” in the IBM COPY utility.

Copying Just the Pending Database Objects

The first nice new feature is a new parameter that can be used to make backup copies of only those database objects in a copy pending state. The new parameter is called SCOPE PENDING, and when you specify it the IBM COPY utility will only copy objects in copy pending or informational copy pending state.

The default is SCOPE ALL, which makes COPY act like it always acted; that is, without regard to the pending state.

This option can be used in conjunction with LISTDEF to build very powerful, selective backup jobs.

Copying Clone Tables

The IBM COPY utility also has been extended to support copying clone tables. If you are not sure what they are, follow the link to the blog entry in this series that covers that topic.

Anyway, the new CLONE parameter must be coded on the COPY specification in order for clone table and index data to be copied. It is important to understand that the CLONE parameter is basically an on/off toggle. If CLONE is coded, then COPY will copy only clone table (and/or index) data. You can specify both clone and regular database objects in the same COPY specification, but the IBM COPY utility will ignore non-clone objects when the CLONE parameter is specified; and it will ignore clone objects if the CLONE parameter is not specified.

CHECKPAGE

The CHECKPAGE parameter is not new to V9, but it is improved. Specifying CHECKPAGE indicates that the COPY utility should check each page in the table space or index for validity. If it finds an error, COPY issues a message that describes the type of error. Using CHECKPAGE is a good idea because it will identify problems in your page sets.

In previous releases of DB2, using CHECKPAGE with COPY was problematic because of high overhead and availability issues. In the DB2 9 for z/OS Technical Overview redbook, IBM reports that the CPU overhead is about 5 percent for COPY INDEX and 14 percent for COPY TABLESPACE if you are running V8. As for the availability issue, as soon as a validity problem is found on a page, the COPY utility will place the page set into COPY PENDING so it cannot be accessed while COPY chugs merrily along looking for additional invalid pages.

Both problems are addressed in DB2 9 for z/OS: IBM has significantly reduced the CPU overhead and fixed the availability issue. Instead of putting the page set into COPY PENDING immediately when it finds a problem, instead COPY will produce the message that it found a problem, but it will not set the pending state. Furthermore, it will continue checking pages but not copying anything.

Upon completion, COPY will issue a return code of 8 and it will update the SYSIBM.SYSCOPY catalog table indicating it found a broken page. This information is recording in a new column, TTYPE, with a value of “B”). This is important to understand because the page set will not be in a COPY PENDING state so you will have to check for the return code and fix the problem.