X SYSTEM
A message on the bottom line of a 3270 screen showing that the keyboard is locked, usually because the system is still working.
Also written input inhibited, keyboard locked, X CLOCK, RESET key, operator information area
At the bottom of a 3270 screen is a status line, called the operator information area. When it shows X SYSTEM, or another sign starting with X, the keyboard is locked and anything you type is ignored. This is called input inhibited.
The most common reason is simply that the system is still working on your last request. X SYSTEM disappears when the reply arrives, and you can type again. If it stays for a long time, the system or the network may be slow.
Other X signs mean you did something the terminal does not allow, such as typing in a protected field, or typing letters in a field that only accepts numbers. In those cases the keyboard stays locked until you press RESET. Emulators put RESET on different keys, often Ctrl or Escape, so find it on yours early.
So when typing stops working, look at the status line. Wait if it says the system is busy. Press RESET if it shows you made an error, then move the cursor to a field where you can type.
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
- 3270 terminalThe classic mainframe display device, and the protocol still used today to talk to z/OS over a network.
- Green screenThe text-only, keyboard-driven interface most mainframe work happens through, named after the green phosphor of early terminals.
- PF keysThe function keys F1 to F24, which carry the main actions on a mainframe screen: help, exit, save, page up and down.
- ISPF panelA single screen within ISPF, whether a menu, a list or a form, identified by a number you can jump straight to.
- Attribute byteAn invisible byte at the start of each field on a 3270 screen that says how the field behaves, such as whether you can type in it.