How do you use ISPF to navigate and manage your z/OS environment?

The ISPF is a software that is present within the zOs package. It’s a user interface that allows user to navigate in the system via menus to perform some activities like, copy, allocate, delete, rename datasets, verify if a dataset is cataloged or not and others. There are also two important activities that we can achieve using ISPF painéis which are: SuperC: To compare the content of two files and check if the files are identical or have any difference between them. Search-for: You can use this utility to search any string inside a file that has multiples member inside it.

Some key points about the ISPF Primary Option Menu are: 1. It displays a list of numbered options corresponding to different ISPF functions such as edit, browse, utilities etc. 2. You can select an option by typing its number on the command line or using the cursor and Enter key. 3. You can also directly type any TSO or ISPF command on the command line. 4. It allows you to access and customize ISPF settings and preferences. 5. Selecting certain options leads to secondary menus with more specific options (e.g. Utilities Selection Panel). 6. It can be accessed by typing "ISPF" at the TSO READY prompt or pressing PF1 from within ISPF. 7. ISPF products like CA PanAPT may provide a customized version of the standard ISPF Primary Option Menu

When one login to the mainframe environment, first TSO screen will be visible, by typing ISPF, ISPF screen will be accessed. The menu in the ISPF displays a number of options which corresponds to the various ISPF functions, such as Setting, Edit, Utilities, Command etc..

Taking the time to learn about the ISPF (if you don't have a modern development IDE) will help you to speed up your work by about 20%. And it is important to return to this documentation from time to time, because many times, until we read about a situation we have already been through, we do not assimilate the efficient way to carry it out. If you look up the ISPF User's Guide Volume I & II documents, and keep them close by, I am sure they will be very useful to you in the future.

Some key points about the ISPF Data Set List are: 1. Display a list of data set names based on a given qualifier pattern (dsname level). Various filtering criteria can be specified to narrow down the list. 2. View detailed information about each data set such as volume, space usage, organization, record format, LRECL, etc. This is done using the VIEW, VOLUME, SPACE and ATTRIB options. 3. Perform operations like edit, browse, delete, rename, catalog, uncatalog and more on individual data sets using line commands. 4. Print or save the list of data set names to a file using the PRINT or SAVE line commands. 5. Allocate dynamic list data sets internally to store the list output. Characteristics like record format, LRECL, etc., can be configured

ISPF Data Set List option (DLIST) designed for managing and navigating data sets within IBM mainframe environments, such as z/OS. It provides users with an interactive interface to browse, search, and manipulate data sets efficiently. By selecting the option 3.4 on the ISPF primary menu, it will redirect to the DSLIST panel, there we can check for the required data sets. Operations such as view, browse, edit, delete, catalog, uncatalog can be performed on the data sets. By entering the value "i" infront of the data set name, it will display the information about that particular data set.

I would personally recommend learning ISPF edit macro language as it provides very powerfull tolls for work optimisation and automation allowing you to exponentially speed up your editing operatios. You can find an IBM guide here https://www.ibm.com/docs/en/zos/2.1.0?topic=macros-clist-rexx-edit "other guides are available" as they like to say on BBC.

Some key features and capabilities of ISPF Edit include: 1. Standard line commands like insert (I), delete (D), copy (C), move (M), before (B) and after (A) to manipulate data. 2. Primary commands like FIND, CHANGE, EXCLUDE, SORT, PACK, etc. to search, replace, renumber lines, sort data, compress datasets. 3. SET BOUNDS, TABS, NULLS, NUMBER, CAPS, etc. to configure formatting preferences. 4. Powerful macro capability to record and replay keystrokes. Predefined macros provide shortcuts for many operations. 5. Extensive customization is possible with program function keys, keylists, models and user profiles. 6. Edit recovery to restore unsaved changes after a crash. Auto-save options are also available.

familiarise yourself with both general commands and line commands, which will help you to duplicate lines, move them up or down, work with blocks of lines, overwrite lines and blocks, etc. I recommend printing out a cheat sheet and keeping it handy until you memorize your favourite commands.

ISPF Browse provides an easy way to analyze data in read-only mode with versatile display and navigation capabilities. Some key features of ISPF Browse are: 1. Navigate data using UP/DOWN/LEFT/RIGHT/FIND/RFIND commands. Labels and line numbers can also be used. 2. Filter data using generic filters or dynamic selection criteria. Hexadecimal, character, single-record and multi-record views are available. 3. Print and save data to internal/external files using Browse primary commands. 4. Configure Browse settings like nulls, tabs, bounds, stats, format, mixed mode etc. 5. Scroll data forwards and backwards without limitations. End-of-file detection is not applicable. 6. View output queues/spool content in browse mode using SDSF integration.

Some key ISPF utilities include: 1. Data Set Utility (option 3.1) for creating, copying, comparing, and cataloguing data sets. 2. Library Utility (3.2) for creating, updating, and comparing PDS/PDSE libraries. 3. Move/Copy Utility (3.3) for moving, copying cataloged/uncataloged data sets or members. 4. Data Set List Utility (3.4) for listing catalogued data set names, filtering on patterns and performing operations like browse, print, and delete. 5. Catalog Search Utility (3.5) to search catalogs and interpret results. Filters can be used to narrow down searches. 6. Hard Copy Utility (3.6) to print data sets and spool output with control characters interpreted.

PF2 START PF3 END PF12 RETRIEVE SWAPBAR I always set these keys in the SETTINGS, and very often do the KEYS ISPF command, because many applications go in with NEWAPPL, which means a new profile entry for this application.

O ISPF permite uma série de configura??es personalizadas, como altera??es nas teclas de fun??o PF (KEYS), ativa??o e desativa??o de barras de janelas (SWAPBAR ON/OFF), posi??o inferior ou superior da linha de comandos e diversas outras op??es. Poder personalizar o ISPF é algo que traz otimiza??o e facilidade ao trabalho.

the keys, the different functions of each F key, in the different ISPF screens, are configurable almost per screen, it is very useful to have them customised for each screen in order to be as efficient as possible when working with the different ISPF tools and panels.

lol. I always set PF2 and PF4 to END too. Too many times I have wanted to save something and exit with PF3 only to hit PF2 or 4.

ISPF is a thing of the past. I think that it should be put into the background. Get rid of greenscreens because greenscreens, like ISPF is giving mainframe the bad reputation of being "behind the times" or "old and antiquated". Get with the times mainframers!

I've always believed that it's important to get to know how things work in the background before using new alternatives or 'modern ways' of accessing the mainframe. It's important to mention that ISPF, which is a menu-driven system with many many functions like this article explains, runs under the TSO (Time Sharing Option) which is the component that allows users to access and interact with z/OS system resources. (This could be a much longer explanation of course...) So basically, ISPF is enabling us you to perform most functions available in TSO without having to remember all the TSO command formats. It's a fact that ISPF is an amazing facility that saves us hours, so I would say it's not outdated like many people think.

There is nothing wrong with ISPF, provided you know how to use it. As much as I can agree there is a learning curve in some ways, ISPF edit for example, is the most powerfull and efficient word processing tool I have worked with for the purposes of dataset manipulation, and I say this as someone who joined the Mainframe tain quite recently (2015).

Sylwester Tatkowski. While I agree with you about ISPF I'm curious if you have ever used VI? Another powerful editor with a notoriously steep learning curve.

Derick Wilson: Then use Topaz or any of the other eclipse base tools that make the mainframe look like a windows machine. Mainframes are not green screens. You have no idea when you press a button on a web page what that is talking to. We have entire systems with web front ends and cloud middleware on them.