Jump command
The ISPF shortcut of typing an equals sign and an option number, such as =3.4, to go straight to any screen.
Also written jump function, fast path, =X, command stacking
ISPF screens are arranged in menus: option 3 is utilities, and 3.4 inside it is the dataset list. Instead of stepping through menus, you can jump straight to an option from almost any screen by typing an equals sign and the option on the command line. =3.4 goes to the dataset list. =2 goes to edit. =6 goes to the TSO command screen.
=X leaves ISPF completely, ending every function in the current screen.
You can also go further in one step. ISPF lets you separate several commands with a semicolon, so a command and its follow-up can be typed together. Many screens remember the last values you used, so jumping back to one often shows your previous dataset name ready to use.
Menus differ between sites, because sites add their own options and sometimes move IBM's. The common numbers, such as 2, 3.4 and 6, are almost always the same, but check the primary option menu at a new site.
Where can I learn this hands-on?
Right here, at ZedBank. You take a junior job at a simulated bank and learn each part of the work by doing it, with Zed beside you. There's nothing to install.
Start at ZedBankRelated
- ISPFThe full-screen, menu-driven workbench most people use to do their day-to-day work on z/OS.
- DSLISTISPF option 3.4, the screen for listing datasets by name and working with them from the list.
- ISPF panelA single screen within ISPF, whether a menu, a list or a form, identified by a number you can jump straight to.
- Split screenThe ISPF feature that runs several screens in one session, so you can, for example, edit JCL in one and watch the job in another.
- READY promptThe word TSO shows when it is waiting for you to type a command.