Using personal data set lists and library lists

Personal lists are named lists of data sets, z/OS® UNIX files and ISPF libraries that you can use to speed up access to frequently used data sets. You can use personal lists to fill in panel fields quickly and to create data set lists that are built from more than one level name. Personal data set lists contain data set names, volumes, and z/OS UNIX files. Personal library lists contain lists of ISPF library names and concatenations.

ISPF provides four types of personal lists:

Personal data set list: Lists of up to 30 data set names and z/OS UNIX files. For data sets, each name can include a member name or a volume name, or both. z/OS UNIX file path names can be for regular files, directories, or symbolic links to directories or regular files. Personal data set lists can also contain workstation file names and data set name levels. See Personal data set lists.
Personal library list: Lists of up to eight ISPF library names or ISPF library concatenations. ISPF library names contain three qualifiers called project, group, and type. Personal list entries can optionally contain a member name. See Personal library lists.
Reference data set list: A special kind of personal data set list in which ISPF saves the names of the most recently used data sets, data set name levels, and z/OS UNIX files and directories. This list is always named REFLIST. See Reference data set list.
Reference library list: A special kind of personal library in which ISPF saves the names of the most recently used ISPF libraries. This list is always named REFLIST. See Reference library list.

You can have a personal data set list with the same name as a personal library list. ISPF reserves the name REFLIST as the name of the reference lists, so there is a personal data set list called REFLIST, and a personal library list called REFLIST.

Reference lists are active lists of data sets, z/OS UNIX files, and libraries that you have referenced in your ISPF session. ISPF adds a data set name to the data set reference list when you enter a data set name in the Other Partitioned or Sequential Data Set Name field. ISPF also adds a z/OS UNIX file pathname to the data set reference list when you enter a pathname in the Other Partitioned or Sequential Data Set, or z/OS UNIX File Name field. A library is added to the library reference list when you enter a library in the ISPF Library field. Only data sets and libraries that are successfully allocated by ISPF's ALLOCATE routine are added to the reference lists.

Note: Reference lists can be manipulated just like any other personal list, but ISPF might dynamically change reference lists when new data sets or libraries are referenced by ISPF.

Current lists are the most recently opened or the last list to which something was saved from within the personal list panels. One named data set list, and one named library list, are the current lists at any time. The current list is used for the NRETRIEV key, and in the RefList pull-downs. The current list names are shown in the RefList pull-down choices, and in the lists of personal lists.

Figure 1. RefList Pull-Down Menu

   Menu  RefList  RefMode  Utilities  Workstation  Help
 ───── ┌───────────────────────────────────────┐ ──────────────────────────────
       │    1. Current Data Set List (TEST)    │
       │    2. Current Library List (MYLIST)   │
 ISPF  │    3. List of Personal Data Set Lists │
    Pr │    4. List of Personal Library Lists  │
    Gr └───────────────────────────────────────┘         . . .
    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 . . .
 ⋮

Note: The RefList pull-down is unavailable from Utilities options 8, 9, and 13; it does not offer library list choices from options 4 and 6.

You can use personal lists for data set selection from the View Entry, Edit Entry, and most of the Utilities panels. You can access lists in two ways:

From the RefList pull-down menu on the action bar of the View Entry, Edit Entry, and most Utilities panels, as shown in Figure 1.
Through the command interface (or fast path) described in Command interface (fast path) to the personal list function.