Tailoring the Data Columns

ISMF allows you to tailor your list to display only the data columns you want, in the order you want. To tailor the list data columns, use the VIEW command. View names and Views in use are unique to the application in which they are defined.

Selecting List Display Columns

The VIEW command lets you select and reorder the columns of application attributes to display on any application list panel by specifying a sequence of column (tag) numbers. VIEW is available in any ISMF application with a list. You can use the VIEW command in two ways:

Enter the VIEW command directly on a list panel. VIEW can be abbreviated to VI. See Entering the VIEW Command.
Choose the Y option for RESPECIFY VIEW CRITERIA on a mountable optical volume, mountable tape volume, or SMS class application selection panel. See page Completing the Mountable Optical Volume Selection Entry Panel of Generating Lists for a description of the option. The Data Set and DASD Volume Applications do not include the VIEW option on their selection panels. Therefore, you can only build a VIEW after creating a list from these applications.

You can name and save a VIEW, select a VIEW, and delete a VIEW on a View Entry Panel. You can save VIEW across ISMF sessions and manage it on the View Entry Panel List of Saved Views. When you invoke the VIEW command, you see the last VIEW that you used for each list. See Using the VIEW Command without Parameters for more information on how to display and use the View Entry Panel.

Entering the VIEW Command

There are two ways to enter the VIEW command:

Enter the VIEW command without parameters on the command line of the list panel to display the View Entry Panel. See Using the VIEW Command without Parameters to find out how to complete the View Entry Panel.
Enter the VIEW command with parameters on the command line of the list panel. ISMF copies the parameters to the View Entry Panel without displaying the panel. The selected columns are displayed in the order specified by the VIEW parameters.
If you know the parameters you want to use, you can use this method as a fast path to get the specific view that you want. See Using the VIEW Command with Parameters for more information.

The view criteria that you specify either on the View Entry Panel or directly on the list panel with parameters are saved for the next time you use the VIEW command. To recover the default view, simply specify VIEW * on the command line of the application list or specify an asterisk on the View Entry Panel in the field in which you would normally enter column numbers. See the ISMF help panels for details about the VIEW command.

Using the VIEW Command without Parameters

When you enter the VIEW command without parameters on the data set or volume list, ISMF displays the View Entry Panel. On the View Entry Panel, you specify a series of column tags or an asterisk for the VIEW that you want to see.

The order in which the tags are entered is the order in which the columns appear on the list panel. If a column tag is not entered, the column will not appear on the list panel.

Exception: You cannot specify the LINE OPERATOR (1) and DATA SET NAME (2) columns on the SPECIFY TAGS field because they always appear as the first two columns on a list panel.

You can reference column names and their tags on an entry panel, as shown in Figure 1, the Data Set View Entry Panel.

Figure 1. The Data Set View Entry Panel

  Panel  Utilities  Scroll  Help                                              
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                           DATA SET VIEW ENTRY PANEL               Page 1 of 2
Command ===>                                                                  
                                                                              
If Desired, Select option . .           (1 - SELECT, 2 - SAVE, 3 - DELETE)    
                View Name . .           (1 to 8 characters, * to Delete all,  
                                         or blank for List of Saved Views)    
Specify Tags in Sequence Desired:                                             
===>  *                                                                       
                                                                              
       Line Operator                    (40)  CF LOCK Structure Name          
       Data Set Name                    (36)  CF Status Indicator             
  (3)  Allocated Space                  (24)  Change  Indicator               
  (9)  Allocation Unit                   (6)  Compressed Format               
 (14)  Block/CI Size                    (20)  Creation Date                   
 (16)  Block Unused                     (25)  Data Class Name                 
 (35)  CCSID Description                (30)  Data Set Name Type              
 (39)  CF CACHE Set Name                (34)  DDM Attributes                  
 (38)  CF CACHE Structure Name          (19)  Device Type                     
 (37)  CF Monitor Status                (29)  DS Environment                  
 (41)  CF LOCK Set Name                 (11)  DS Organization                 
Use ENTER to Perform Selection or Display List in VIEW Sequence;              
Use DOWN for next Panel; Use HELP Command for Help; Use END Command to Exit.

Enter DOWN on the command line to see page 2 of the Data Set View Entry Panel, as shown in Figure 2.

Figure 2. Page 2 of the Data Set View Entry Panel

    Panel  Utilities  Scroll  Help                                             
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                           DATA SET VIEW ENTRY PANEL               Page 2 of 2
Command ===>                                                                  
                                                                              
If Desired, Select option . .           (1 - SELECT, 2 - SAVE, 3 - DELETE)  
                View Name . .           (1 to 8 characters, * to Delete all,
                                         or blank for List of Saved Views)  
Specify Tags in Sequence Desired:                                           
===>  *                                                                     
  
 (42)  EATTR                             (5)  % Space not Used              
 (32)  Entry Type                        (7)  % User Data Reduction         
 (21)  Expiration Date                  (33)  Reblockable Indicator         
 (23)  Last Backup Date                 (12)  Record Format                   
 (22)  Last Ref Date                    (13)  Record Length                   
 (26)  Mgmnt Class Name                 (10)  Secondary Allocation            
 (18)  Multi-vol Data Set               (27)  Storage Class Name              
  (8)  Number of Extents                 (4)  Used Space                      
 (31)  Number of Stripes                (17)  Volume Serial Number            
 (15)  Opt Block Size                                                         
 (28)  Owner                                                                  
Use ENTER to Perform Selection or Display List in VIEW Sequence;

When the View Entry Panel is first displayed, the SPECIFY TAGS field is primed with an asterisk, indicating that all columns are to display in the ISMF default order.

If you enter an asterisk at the end of a sequence of tags, the columns you specify appear in the order you choose followed by all remaining columns in their default order.

For example, enter 19 6 8 * in the SPECIFY TAGS field. Press the ENTER key. The list panel displays columns 1, 2, 19, 6, and 8, followed by the remaining columns in the ISMF default order (3, 4, 5, 7, 9,...).

The criteria on the View Entry Panel are saved between uses of the command.

You can save, select, or delete views on the View Entry Panel by choosing one of the following options:

Option: Meaning
1: The SELECT option retrieves criteria from the view specified in the VIEW NAME field. You do not have to choose this option to specify view criteria in the SPECIFY TAGS field.
2: The SAVE option saves the criteria from the SPECIFY TAGS field of the current view using the view name you specify. If the view already exists, it is replaced by the criteria that you specify the SAVE option for. A message is displayed to tell you that the previous view has been replaced with the view you specified.
3: The DELETE option deletes the view that you specify from the list of saved views. If you select the DELETE option and enter an asterisk in the VIEW NAME field, all saved views are deleted.

If you specify an option but leave the VIEW NAME field blank or the view you specify does not exist, a List of Saved Views is displayed with saved view names and tag sequence information. Figure 3 shows an example of the List of Saved Views format for the View Entry Panel.

Figure 3. Data Set View Entry Panel List of Saved Views Format

  Panel  Utilities  Scroll  Help
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                          DATA SET VIEW ENTRY PANEL
 Command ===>

 If Desired, Select Option ===> 1        (1 - SELECT, 2 - SAVE, 3 - DELETE)
                 View Name ===>          (1 to 8 characters, * to Delete All,
                                          or blank for List of Saved Views)
 Specify Tags In Sequence Desired:
 ===> *

                              LIST OF SAVED VIEWS
    VIEWNAME  TAG SEQUENCE
    --------  ------------------------------------------------------------------
    FIRSTVW   4 6 9 8 10 7 11 14 13 12 17 16 15 18 19 20 25 24 23 22 21 3 5...
    LONGVW    25 3 16
    MODCOL    18 4 12 16 19
    ONECOL    22 30 14 3
    SECONDVW  12 14 5 9 8 7 15 18
    STARVW    5 7 9 *
    --------  ----------  ------  BOTTOM  OF  DATA  ------  ----------  --------



 Use Enter To Perform Selection; Use UP/DOWN to Scroll List of Saved Views;

For more details about managing your saved views, refer to the ISMF online help panels.

Using the VIEW Command with Parameters

Use the VIEW command with parameters to select and reorder thecolumns to appear on your list panel without leaving the list display. The VIEW command can be followed by a series of tags or an asterisk. This causes the list panel to be redisplayed in the order specified by the view criteria.

You can enter the VIEW command with the following optional parameters:

VIEW column tags: Enter the VIEW command followed by a sequence of tags, separated by blanks. Column tags or an asterisk are used as new view criteria to reorder the list on the list panel display.
VIEW DELETE viewname: Enter this parameter to delete a previously saved view. The DELETE parameter can be abbreviated as DE. Viewname must be one to eight alphanumeric characters and must begin with an alphabetic, $, @, or # character.
VIEW SELECT viewname: Enter this parameter to retrieve a previously saved view. The SELECT parameter can be abbreviated as SE. Viewname must be one to eight alphanumeric characters and must begin with an alphabetic, $, @, or # character.
VIEW SAVE viewname: Enter this parameter to save the current view criteria using the specified view name. The SAVE parameter can be abbreviated as SA. The viewname must be one to eight alphanumeric characters and must begin with an alphabetic, $, @, or # character. If the specified view name already exists, it is replaced and a display message indicates that the previously saved view is replaced.

Press the ENTER key after specifying the VIEW command parameters. Without displaying the View Entry Panel first, the list panel displays with the columns appearing in the order specified by your view criteria. When you enter the VIEW command with parameters, ISMF saves the values you specify. The next time you invoke the View Entry Panel with the VIEW command, the panel is primed with these values. The view criteria are saved across ISMF sessions.

You can enter existing line operators and commands for all list panels with some changes when VIEW is in use:

The SORT command only sorts columns in the current view.
The FIND command only locates columns in the current view.
Entering the FILTER command first determines which entries are to appear on the filtered list panel using the ISMF list of columns. The resulting list is selected and reordered according to the current view criteria. All columns are used in the filter process but may not display on the list panel.

Error Handling during the Tailoring of a List

ISMF uses short and long error messages to document errors in tailoring a data set or volume list. ISMF informs you of errors by displaying a short error message describing the problem. You can still continue working with the displayed list, but the list might contain some entries that do not meet your filter or sort criteria. If the short error message does not give you enough information, use the HELP command to display the long error message. Use the HELP command again to see the message help panel.

If an error in sorting or filtering makes it impossible to redisplay the list, ISMF displays the selection entry panel. The panel is primed with the selection criteria you chose when you built the list. If you press the ENTER key, the list you originally created is displayed and you can continue working with it.