ISPF Editor - A Quick Reference Guide

1. Getting Started

If you need to create a new data set from scratch, check out the following recipes:

1. Allocating a Physical Sequential Data Set (PS)
2. Allocating a Partitioned Data Set Extended (PDSE)

Here is how to open and existing data set/member for editing

* Enter =2 on the command line (from any panel) to go to Edit Entry Panel

* Press Enter

* Under "ISPF Library", enter the following fields:
	- Project: ...
	- Group:   ...
	- Type:    ...
	- Member:  ... (leave blank for non-partitioned data sets)

* Press Enter

* Go to Edit Entry Panel (=2)

* Under ISPF Library, enter the following fields:
	- Project: ...
	- Group:   ...
	- Type:    ...
	- Member:  (leave empty)

* Press Enter (it will bring you the list of members)

* Tab to the member of interest

* press the E key (it will place the letter E in front of that member)

* press Enter

* Go to Data Set List Utility by entering =3.4 on the command line

* Press Enter

* Tab to "Dsname Level" (aka high level qualifier) field and enter it

* Press Enter

1. For a data set that is not of type PSD/E
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* Tab to the left of the data set of interest and enter E

* Press Enter (the Edit Entry Panel will appear)

* Press Enter again to start editing

2. For editing a member of a PSE/E data set
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First, you need to get a list of members of that data set:

* Tab to the left of the partitioned data set and enter E

* Press Enter

Now, when you have the list displayed,

* Tab to the left of the member you'd like to edit and enter E

* Press Enter

2. Some Keybindings

F3

Exits the editor or switches to a previously open data set (when more than one was loaded), automatically saves your work

F5

Repeats find without re-entering the character string (like the RFIND command)

F7

Scrolls up one page

F8

Scrolls down one page

F12

Exits the editor or switches to a previously open data set (when more than one was loaded), without saving the changes (the key should be configured for quit to function as described)

PA1 (on an unmodified x3270 session, the PA1 key is Left Alt-1)

Can be used to terminate TSO commands or CLISTs running under ISPF

3. Some Primary Commands

REC ON (or RECOVERY ON)

enables UNDO

UNDO

undoes the last change. You can repeat UNDO to reverse changes, until the last SAVE

SAVE

saves the work

CAN (or CANCEL)

exits the editor without saving the changes

CRE TABLE (or CREATE TABLE)

creates the member TABLE

if you need the new member have the contents of the current one (the one you are editing at the moment), don't press Enter right away, type c99999 in the line 1 prefix area and after that press Enter

REP ADDR (or REPLACE ADDR)

Note: REPLACE is similar to the preceding CREATE command, but able to replace an existing member with data being edited (very handy at times) by entering c99999 in the line 1 prefix area before pressing Enter

EDIT A

brings the member A for editing (the original member remains in memory, to go back to it use the END or CANCEL command)

FSOME STRING (or FIND ...)

searches for the SOME STRING string.

BNDS1 8

sets the boundaries to columns,
for example, BNDS 1 8 will set the boundaries to columns 1 to 8, this means that FIND and CHANGE commands will only apply to data within columns 1-8

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to reset the boundaries to the whole record, use the BNDS command without operands

CXXXX YEAR ALL

changes all XXXX to the word YEAR

HILITEAUTO

enables the coloring for language sensitive coloring

COPY'D80WW.ES10V15.CNTL(TABLE)'

inserts the data from the TABLE member of the D80WW.ES10V15.CNTL dataset,
to actually make the insertion, let's say, right beneath the 10th line (somewhat similar to :10 read <filename> in vim), first tab to the line 000010 prefix and enter a, after that issue the given COPY command on the Edit's command line

COPYTABLE

a variation on the previous command, this one is shorter and intended for cases when the TABLE member is of the same dataset

TSO EX'TSOCA03.ES10.PDS(LITLGAME)'

starts the LITLGAME REXX program from the TSOCA03.ES10.PDS partitioned dataset

COLS

brings/removes a ruler (column guide) at the top of the screen that will not move when you scroll up or down (the command acts similarly to a toggle switch)

RES (or RESET)

removes messages in the editing area and also all the rulers created with the cols line command, additionally, it unexcludes excluded records

SORTNX A 3 15 A 18 31

sorts the records

the parameters used in this example mean the following:

NX - sort only non-excluded lines (with the xx line command), the excluded records will remain where they are;

A 3 15 - use ascending order for columns 3 to 15 (for example, these columns could be used to hold last names);

A 18 31 - use ascending order for columns 18 to 31 (and these columns could be used to hold first names)

4. Some Line Commands (typed in the prefix area on the left)

cols (can be entered on any line, apart from the top, which contains "******" in the prefix area)

inserts a ruler right above that line, and unlike the COLS primary command, this ruler will move with the data when scrolling;

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to remove a particular ruler, enter D in its prefix area (at =COLS>) and hit Enter;

to remove all the moving rulers at once, use the RES primary command

c (copy)

used to indicate a record to be copied to another place (with a or b)
(similar to :y in vim)

m (move)

used to indicate a record to be moved to another place (with a or b)
(somewhat similar to :d in vim)

mm

used to mark a range of records for moving; just type mm at the first record and another mm at the last one (do not press Enter yet), now type a or b at the line prefix of a record you would like to move to, after that, finally, press Enter

a (after) and b (before)

both a and b work in conjunction with the c, m and mm line commands, they mark a record, after or before which copying or moving should occur

(it is somewhat similar to :put and :put!, respectively, in vim)

o (overlay)

used to indicate a record to be overlaid, it works in conjunction with the c or m line commands which indicate a record which should be used as "the top layer"

oo (overlay for multiple records)

this command is similar to the previous one, but allows to mark a range of records to be overlaid (by entering oo at the first and the last record of that range)

i (insert)

provides the space for inserting a new record by typing it in (right beneath the i), hit Enter when you're done typing the new record to actually insert it
(it is somewhat similar to :i in vim)

r (repeat)

duplicates the record by inserting the copy right under it
(similar to :t. or :copy. in vim)

d (delete)

deletes the record (similar to :d in vim)

xx (exclude)

If there is a range of records that you want to be ignored when using the FIND and CHANGE commands, as well as hide it from the view, you can exclude it by marking the first and the last record of that range with the xx line command;

you'd need to use the NX flag to tell the CHANGE command to ignore the excluded records,

for example, to change all non-excluded instances of AAA to BBB you'd use the following primary command:
C AAA BBB NX ALL

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to unexclude all the excluded records, you can use the RES primary command;

to unexclude a particular record you can use the s line command

uc

converts characters to uppercase

lc

converts characters to lowercase

((

used to indicate a range of records for shifting 2 columns to the left;

you can append a number after the round brackets, like this ((8, to shift 8 columns instead;

(similarly to other commands that act on a range of records, you need to type it twice, at the first and the last record of that range)

))

an opposite of the previous command, this one will shift to the right