ISPF dialog services
The ISPF functions a program or exec can call to show panels, keep tables and use other ISPF features, through ISPEXEC.
Also written ISPEXEC, ADDRESS ISPEXEC, ISPF dialog, LIBDEF, VGET, VPUT, DISPLAY PANEL
ISPF is not only a set of screens. It also offers services that programs and REXX execs can use to build their own screens and tools. These are the dialog services, called through ISPEXEC.
In REXX, ADDRESS ISPEXEC sends a command to ISPF. "DISPLAY PANEL(ACCTPNL)" shows a panel the site has defined and waits for the user to fill it in. VGET and VPUT save and fetch variables between screens and sessions. Table services, starting TB, keep lists of rows that can be shown as a scrollable list. BROWSE and EDIT open a dataset in the normal ISPF screens from within your tool. LIBDEF adds libraries of panels or messages for just your application.
Panels themselves are written in a simple panel language and stored as members of a panel library.
Many sites have home-grown ISPF tools built this way, such as menus for common tasks or screens that fill in JCL. When you see a site-specific option on the ISPF menu, it is usually a REXX exec using dialog services.
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- ISPFThe full-screen, menu-driven workbench most people use to do their day-to-day work on z/OS.
- ISPF panelA single screen within ISPF, whether a menu, a list or a form, identified by a number you can jump straight to.
- REXXA readable scripting language used across the mainframe for automation, tooling and quick one-off tasks.
- ISPF edit macroA REXX or CLIST program that runs inside the ISPF editor and changes the member being edited.
- REXX execA REXX program, stored as a member in a library and run by name from TSO or ISPF.