z/OS UNIX commands, TSO commands, CLISTs, and REXX EXECs

Besides the ISPF-supplied line commands, you can also enter z/OS® UNIX Commands, TSO commands, CLISTs, and REXX EXECs that use a path name as an operand. The line command field is a scrollable field with a maximum length of 255 characters and a display length of 8 characters. If the command you want to enter requires more space than is available in the display field, use the EXPAND function key (F4) to display the entire 255-character line command input field in a pop-up window.

The line command prefix characters > and < are used to identify a command to be run in z/OS UNIX. ISPF uses the spawn service (BPX1SPN) to create a new process and execute the command. The > prefix character requests that the command be run by the z/OS UNIX login shell. The < prefix character requests that the command be run directly.

Figure 1 shows an example of using the c89 shell command to compile, link-edit, and assemble the C program contained in the file /u/myhome/hello.c. The > character before the command name indicates that it will be run in a login shell environment:

Figure 1. Example: specifying a z/OS UNIX command to run on a selected file

                            z/OS UNIX Directory List            Row 1 to 6 of 6
 Command ===>                                                  Scroll ===> CSR 

 Pathname . : /u/myhome

 Command  Filename        Message          Type Permission Audit  Ext  Fmat
 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
          .                                Dir  rwxrwxrwx  fff---
          ..                               Dir  rwxrwxrwx  fff---
          bin                              Dir  rwxrwxrwx  fff---
 >c89_    hello.c                          File rwxrwxrwx  fff--- --s- ----
          prog1                            File rwxrwxrwx  fff--- --s- ----
          test1                            File rwxrwxrwx  fff--- --s- ----
 ******************************* Bottom of data ********************************

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Figure 2 shows an example of running the program /u/myhome/hello.c directly in z/OS UNIX. The < character indicates that the selected file is the name of a command that is to be run:

Figure 2. Example: running the selected file directly

                            z/OS UNIX Directory List            Row 1 to 6 of 6
 Command ===>                                                  Scroll ===> CSR 

 Pathname . : /u/myhome/bin

 Command  Filename        Message          Type Permission Audit  Ext  Fmat
 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
          .                                Dir  rwxrwxrwx  fff---
          ..                               Dir  rwxrwxrwx  fff---
          bin                              Dir  rwxrwxrwx  fff---
 <_       hello.c                          File rwxrwxrwx  fff--- --s- ----
          prog1                            File rwxrwxrwx  fff--- --s- ----
          test1                            File rwxrwxrwx  fff--- --s- ----
 ******************************* Bottom of data ********************************

⋮

A line command that is not recognized as a z/OS UNIX Directory List line command, or is not prefixed with < or >, is assumed to be a TSO command, CLIST, or REXX EXEC. These commands are passed to TSO for execution using the ISPF SELECT CMD service. Variable names that start with an ampersand (&) are evaluated by ISPF. If you want the underlying command processor to see the ampersand you must specify two consecutive ampersands (&&).

Figure 3 shows an example of running a REXX EXEC called LISTDATA against the file prog1 in directory /u/myhome. This is the same as entering this command on the Command line:

TSO LISTDATA '/u/myhome/prog1'

Figure 3. Example: specifying a REXX exec to run on a selected file

                            z/OS UNIX Directory List            Row 1 to 6 of 6
 Command ===>                                                  Scroll ===> CSR 

 Pathname . : /u/myhome

 Command  Filename        Message          Type Permission Audit  Ext  Fmat
 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
          .                                Dir  rwxrwxrwx  fff---
          ..                               Dir  rwxrwxrwx  fff---
          bin                              Dir  rwxrwxrwx  fff---
          hello.c                          File rwxrwxrwx  fff--- --s- ----
 listdata prog1                            File rwxrwxrwx  fff--- --s- ----
          test1                            File rwxrwxrwx  fff--- --s- ----
 ******************************* Bottom of data ********************************

⋮

Note: If the TSO command, CLIST, or REXX exec issues a return code greater than or equal to 8, processing stops and an error message is displayed.