There are several HEC-DSS utility functions available. There are utilities to check for the existence of a record, rename a record, delete a record, undelete a record, copy a record, rebuild (squeeze) a file, etc.
Most of the utility functions are relatively efficient. For example, when a record is checked (if it exists), its address information is left in memory (ifltab), so that if it is accessed again immediately, the code will go right to the file location of that record without having to access the address tables. So, checking and then reading a record takes the same amount of computer effort as just reading the record.