View (option 1)

The View option (1) displays the View Entry Panel shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1. View Entry panel (ISRBRO01)

   Menu  RefList  RefMode  Utilities  Workstation  Help
 ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
                                View Entry Panel
                                                                    More:     +
 ISPF Library:
    Project . . . MYPROJ  
    Group . . . . DEV      . . .          . . .          . . .         
    Type  . . . . SOURCE  
    Member  . . .                 (Blank or pattern for member selection list)

 Other Partitioned, Sequential or VSAM Data Set, or z/OS UNIX file:
    Data Set Name . . .                                                        
    Volume Serial . . .           (If not cataloged)

 Workstation File:
    File Name . . . . .                                                        
                                         Options
 Initial Macro  . . . .                     Confirm Cancel/Move/Replace
 Profile Name . . . . .                     Browse Mode
 Format Name  . . . . .                     View on Workstation
 Data Set Password  . .                     Warn on First Data Change
 Record Length  . . . .                     Mixed Mode
 Line Command Table . .         
                                         Data Encoding (View mode only)
                                            1. ASCII
                                            2. UTF-8

 Command ===>                                                                 
  F1=Help      F2=Split     F3=Exit      F7=Backward  F8=Forward   F9=Swap
 F10=Actions  F12=Cancel

This option enables you to view or browse source data and listings stored in ISPF libraries, other partitioned or single-volume or multivolume sequential data sets, or z/OS® UNIX files.

View

Allows you to use all Edit line commands, primary commands, and macros to manipulate the data. View functions exactly like Edit, with the exception of these primary commands:

SAVE: When you enter the SAVE command, ISPF issues a message that you must use the CREATE command to save any data you have changed.
END: When you enter the END command, ISPF terminates the View function; no data changes are saved.

Browse

Allows you to use the Browse primary commands described in Browse primary commands to manipulate data.

View is enabled by default. You can disable View, thus allowing only Browse, by modifying the ISPF Configuration Table. You must set the keyword IS_VIEW_SUPPORTED to NO. For more information, see the topic about the ISPF Configuration Table in z/OS ISPF Planning and Customizing.

You can view or browse data that has these characteristics:

Record Format (RECFM):
- Fixed, variable (non-spanned), or undefined
  Note: If you try to view a data set with RECFM=U, the Browse function is substituted.
- Blocked or unblocked
- With or without printer control characters
Logical Record Length (LRECL):
- For fixed-length records, up to 32 760 characters. For view only, the minimum record length is 1 character.
- For variable-length records, up to 32 756 characters. For view only, the minimum record length is 5 characters.
VSAM data
- VSAM data can be browsed if the ISPF Configuration table has been customized to enable VSAM support (that is, VSAM_BROWSE_ENABLED or VSAM_VIEW_ENABLED is set to "YES").
  Note: When VSAM support is enabled, the default value for VSAM_BROWSE_COMMAND and VSAM_VIEW_COMMAND is "FMNMAIN DSB /". If the command is not available, IKJ56500I COMMAND FMNMAIN NOT FOUND, is issued as a TSO message.
z/OS UNIX files.