Queued Sequential Access Method

In IBM mainframe operating systems, Queued sequential access method (QSAM) is an access method to read and write datasets sequentially. QSAM is available on OS/360, OS/VS2, MVS, z/OS, and related operating systems.

QSAM is used both for devices that are naturally sequential, such as punched card readers and punches and line printers, and for data on devices that could also be addressed directly, such as magnetic disks. QSAM offers device independence: to the extent possible, the same API calls are used for different devices.