To run a primary command macro, type its name and any operands on the command line, and press Enter. Your installation may have written and documented common macros for your use. Of course, you can also write your own edit macros.

The rules for running a specific macro, and the expected results, depend on the particular macro. Your installation is responsible for documenting these rules and results. If you want to write your own macros, read Edit macros and Edit macro commands and assignment statements.

ISPF enables the installer of the program to specify an edit macro that runs for all users. If a macro name is specified in the ISPF configuration table, then that macro runs before any macros specified in the users' profiles, in programs that invoke edit, or on the edit entry panels.

The site-wide macro can be used to alter existing profiles, enforce site-wide standards, track edit usage, deny edit and view of a data set member, or for any other purposes for which edit macros are designed. Site-wide macros normally end with a return code of 1 (one) in order to place the cursor on the command line. Site-wide macros must be available to each user in the appropriate data set concatenation (SYSPROC, STEPLIB, and so forth) or in Linklist or LPA (program macros only).

Users can also set an application-wide macro if they choose. See Application-wide macros for more information.

The effect of running a macro depends on the implementation of the macro. Results such as cursor positioning, output messages, and so on, may or may not conform to the results that you expect from built-in edit commands.