The  Allocate  Data  Base File  command  allocates  all  members  in  a
physical  file.    It  differs  from  the  ALCOBJ  command  which  will
allocate the first member or a list of named members in a file.

The companion command is DLCDBF.

A typical command sequence is:

     ALCDBF   FILE(ABC) LOCKSTATE(*EXCLRD)
       .
       .
     DLCDBF   FILE(ABC) LOCKSTATE(*EXCLRD)

Only  physical files may be specified.  The  file must have a least one
member.  A  limit of  900 members may  be allocated  for a single  file
using ALCDBF.

If the ALCDBF  command does not complete successfully,  the file object
and any members that were allocated will be deallocated.

ALCDBF internally performs one or more ALCOBJ commands.

Each  allocation with ALCOBJ sets a  lock on an object  or member.  For
each lock that  is acquired,  you must  unlock the object  to free  the
lock.    If you  perform  multiple  ALCOBJ  commands against  the  same
object,  you will have  multiple locks.   To release all  of the locks,
you must perform multiple deallocation commands.

For example, if you specify:

     ALCOBJ   OBJ(ABC *FILE *EXCL)
     ALCOBJ   OBJ(ABC *FILE *EXCL)

to free the locks you must specify:

     DLCOBJ   OBJ(ABC *FILE *EXCL)
     DLCOBJ   OBJ(ABC *FILE *EXCL)

The ALCDBF command uses  the RTVMBRLST TAA Tool  to determine the  list
of members to  be locked.  If another  job has a member locked  with an
*EXCL  lock, the member  will not  appear in  the member list.   ALCDBF
checks  the number of members in the  file against the number that were
allocated.    If a  mismatch  is  found,  deallocation  occurs  and  an
appropriate escape message is sent.

The DLCOBJ  command does  not send  an escape message  if an  object or
member  is not  locked  or the  lock state  requested  is not  the lock
state that is  held.   The command completes  successfully whether  the
lock was  removed or no  lock existed.   Therefore, the  DLCDBF command
will also  operate in the same manner.  If  the file or members are not
locked or  the  lock  state  is  not what  is  held,  the  DLCDBF  will
complete successfully.

DLCDBF does check  to ensure that the  number of members that  exist in
the  file are  the same number  as have  been deallocated.   If  not an
escape message is sent.

ALCDBF command parameters                             *CMD
-------------------------

   FILE          The  qualified file name  of the data  base file to be
                 locked.  The library name defaults to *LIBL.

   LOCKSTATE     The lock state  requested.  This  is the same list  as
                 on ALCOBJ (*SHRRD *SHRNUP *SHRUPD *EXCLRD *EXCL).

   WAIT          The number  of seconds to  wait.  The default  is *CLS
                 which is the same as on ALCOBJ.

DLCDBF command parameters                             *CMD
-------------------------

   FILE          The  qualified file name  of the data base  file to be
                 deallocated.  The library name defaults to *LIBL.

   LOCKSTATE     The lock state  requested.  This is  the same list  as
                 on DLCOBJ (*SHRRD *SHRNUP *SHRUPD *EXCLRD *EXCL).

Restrictions
------------

  **   Only  a physical  file  may be  specified  on  either ALCDBF  or
       DLCDBF.

  **   The  file  must have  at  least  one member  (This  is  the same
       restriction as the ALCOBJ command).

  **   A maximum of  900 members may  exist in  a file.   If more  than
       900 members exist, no allocations are performed.

Prerequisites
-------------

The following TAA Tools must be on your system:

           EDTVAR         Edit variable
           RTVMBRLST      Retrieve member list
           RTVPFA         Retrieve physical file attributes
           SNDCOMPMSG     Send completion message
           SNDDIAGMSG     Send diagnostic message
           SNDESCMSG      Send escape message
           SNDSTSMSG      Send status message

Implementation
--------------

None, the tool is ready to use.

Objects used by the tool
------------------------

   Object        Type       Attribute      Src member     Src file
   ------        -----      ---------      ----------     -----------

   ALCDBF        *CMD                      TAADBFR        QATTCMD
   DLCDBF        *CMD                      TAADBFR2       QATTCMD
   TAADBFRC      *PGM          CLP         TAADBFRC       QATTCL
   TAADBFRC2     *PGM          CLP         TAADBFRC2      QATTCL

Structure
---------

   ALCDBF     Command
     TAADBFRC    CL pgm

   DLCDBF     Command
     TAADBFRC2   CL pgm