ISPF panel
A single screen within ISPF, whether a menu, a list or a form, identified by a number you can jump straight to.
Also written panel
A panel is one screen in ISPF. The main menu is a panel, the dataset list is a panel, the editor entry screen is a panel. Each one either offers choices or asks you to fill in fields.
Panels are arranged in a numbered hierarchy, and that numbering is the fast way to move around. Option 3 is the utilities menu, and 3.4 is the dataset list within it. Typing 3.4 from the main menu goes straight there without stopping at the intermediate screen. Experienced users type sequences like this constantly, and it is the single habit that most speeds up ISPF work.
Every panel has a command line, usually at the top, where you can type ISPF commands or TSO commands rather than using the fields.
If you get lost, F3 backs out one panel at a time. Panels also have identifiers you can display, which is useful when following documentation or asking a colleague where something is.
Related terms
- ISPFThe full-screen, menu-driven workbench most people use to do their day-to-day work on z/OS.
- PF keysThe function keys F1 to F24, which carry the main actions on a mainframe screen: help, exit, save, page up and down.
- DatasetWhat a mainframe calls a file: a named collection of records with a defined structure, rather than a loose stream of bytes.
- TSO commandA command typed at a TSO prompt or on an ISPF command line to ask the system to do something directly.