A save file is marked partially damaged if an attempt to read a record or restore an object from the file encounters an auxiliary storage error. You can restore objects from a partially damaged save file other than the objects on the damaged part of auxiliary storage. The objects on the damaged portion of the auxiliary storage within the save file cannot be restored. When a file is marked partially damaged, you cannot add more records to it until it is cleared.
Partial damage of the save file itself can occur that is unrelated to auxiliary storage errors. Sometimes a partial damage message is issued during a SAVSAVFDTA when the system is very busy. This can happen because an internal operation did not complete within a given time interval. It is most often seen when the SAVSAVFDTA job is running at a low priority and there is a heavy interactive load on the system. Although a SAVSAVFDTA can no longer be done from that save file, the objects in the SAVF can be restored to the system using RSTOBJ.