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Introduction​

z/OS® is renowned for its ability to handle massive batch jobs with minimal human intervention. Users can also engage with z/OS in real-time, executing commands or navigating through intuitive menu-style interfaces. There are 2 interfaces which user uses to interact with them.

note

Replace SHRDVXX with your assigned user id wherever applicable

Time Sharing Option​

In z/OS, the facility known as Time Sharing Option/Extensions or TSO allows multiple users to log on and interactively share the resources of the mainframe. Commonly used TSO Commands.

Interactive System Productivity Facility​

ISPF (Interactive System Productivity Facility) is a menu-driven, keyboard-navigated interface for interacting with a z/OS system from the native TSO environment. It provides a collection of panels and menus to access utilities, a text editor and browser, and various functions for managing data files.

In this exercise includes various interaction a application developer generally performs on TSO and ISPF screen to develop understanding.

Exercise 1: TSO General Interaction​

Here is the sample reference command for allocating the dataset.

ALLOC dataset('SHRDVXX.ZAAP.TEST') volume(ZAPRD4) unit(3390) tracks space(2,1) 
recfm(f) lrecl(80) dsorg(ps)
  1. Try to logon to Mainframe using Mocha Emulator.
  2. Try to login with and without RECONNECT option selected after terminating the pervious session abnormally(without properly logging out).
  3. Allocate dataset SHRDVXX.ZAAP.CLIST using TSO command.
  4. Try to Rename and delete the same dataset.
  5. Write seperate CLIST to allocate, Rename and Delete dataset and execute them using ex command.

Exercise 2: ISPF General Interaction​

  • Execute CLIST create in TSO Commands using option 6.
  • Using KEYS option, change PF4 to function like PF3 and then revert it back
  • Explore Action Bar on ISPF screen
    • Explore “Utilities” Action Bar on ISPF
      • Data set
      • Data Set List
      • SuperCE
    • Using Help Panel
      • Go to Settings Panel using 0.
      • Access the Help to understand various functions
        • Using F1 key.
        • Using help menu in action bar.
  • Explore Tabs on ISPF
    • Open multiple screens. Try to access them using
      • SWAP LIST
      • SWAP BAR
      • PF9
      • "Screen number" + PF9