The DATAMASK option enables you to obscure or de-identify specific data within an Enterprise Database Server database ensuring the data security is maintained, and sensitive customer information is not leaked outside of authorized environments. The DATAMASK option is not allowed for restart data sets, internal structures, or partitioned data sets. You can set this option at the global database or data set level. You can also set the option at the structure level in the physical options for data sets or for the selected items in a data set. Only alpha, numeric, and real data item types are valid for data masking. However, the reserved internal items with type alpha, numeric and real, are not allowed for data masking. The size of the item with type numeric must be greater than 1 if it has the DATAMASK option set. If a data set or remap has the DATAMASK option specified, then the entire alpha, numeric and real items in the data set or remap are data scrambled; the other data types will not be scrambled. A remap cannot define the DATAMASK option or redescribe the DATAMASK option of a data set record.

If a database has the DATAMASK option defined, then all of the data sets are obscured. The CCSVERSION and DATAMASK options are mutually exclusive. For adding a new group item, DATAMASK items can only be specified for individual items within the group. This process requires two separate DASDL updates. The first DASDL update is to add the group item, this update requires a database reorganization. The second DASDL update enables the setting of the DATAMASK option to individual item(s) within the group item. At the end, an additional compilation is required. A reorganization must be performed when changing the DATAMASK option from TRUE to FALSE, or FALSE to TRUE.

Key or key data cannot have the DATAMASK option specified.

An item specified with the DATAMASK option cannot be used with the WHERE or SELECT condition.