DATA STORAGE SYSTEM WITH SET LISTS WHICH CONTAIN ELEMENTS ASSOCIATED WITH PARENTS FOR DEFINING A LOGICAL HIERARCHY AND GENERAL RECORD POINTERS IDENTIFYING SPECIFIC DATA SETS

In a computer having one or more secondary storage devices attached thereto, a Finite Data Environment Processor (FDEP) manages Data Sets residing on the secondary storage devices and in memory using Set Lists (SLs) and General Record Pointers (GRPs). The Data Sets contain either data or logical organizational information. The Set Lists comprise Data Sets organized into a hierarchy by listing a identifier for each of the data sets with a corresponding identifier for the logical parent of that data set. These set lists are also data sets and can be identified as child or parent in a set list. The General Record Pointers identify information in terms of Data Sets and records within them. Using the principal idea that a Data Set is uniquely identifiable, the present invention eliminates problems normally associated with referencing the location of data after the data has been moved.