Editor's Intro: Steve Myers brings us a very useful TSO function -- the ability to retrieve a dataset name (or names, if a concatenation) allocated to a known DD name from within a TSO session. This could be very useful in situations where you needed to know the full dataset name with an absolute generation number of a GDG entry allocated to your TSO session or in other, similar situations.

Plus, Steve has provided two different versions of the same function. One written as a TSO CLIST. The other providing the same functionality but written as a High-Level Assembler TSO Command.

Steve has packaged the Assembler source code as a formal SMP/E installation job stream. If you are familiar with SMP/E and want to use the entire installation package, go right ahead. If you're not in a position to do this, it is a trivial exercise to copy-and-paste the Assembler source code, upload and then assemble it as a stand-alone program.

Even though bleeding-edge, new stuff is always a kick to learn, going a little retro every so often can be just as fun. Thanks to Steve for this fine and useful contribution to the world of TSO/E software.

QUERYDD

By Steve Myers

The QUERYDD command displays information about the data sets allocated to a specified DD name. Two forms of the QUERYDD function are provided. One is implemented as a TSO CLIST. The other is implemented as a TSO command processor written in Assembler. There are some differences. The command processor accepts multiple DD names, where

(The Intelligent QEXCLUDE Generation Utility)

by Ken Byers

[Editor's Note:] If you are responsible for installing MVS/QuickRef® at your site, you are certainly going to want to read this piece. Even if you're not charged with the installation task, read on to get an idea of how QuickRef® is tailored for your site's unique product mix.

Selective Database Load Overview

By Jim Moore

One of the more annoying aspects of ISPF usage is constantly having to remember, type and search for dataset names. z/OS ISPF has some precious relief to this long-standing problem.

The relief comes in the form of two ISPCMDS command table entries – AUTOTYPE and NRETRIEV – that are best equated to spare PF Keys.

Chicago-Soft® is pleased to announce that TSO Times (http://www.tsotimes.com/) has been updated and redesigned for mobile devices. Check out the latest articles and watch for more TSO, ISPF, and z related information as we welcome our new editor: John Kelley (@MainfamePM on Twitter). John is the author of the ISPF Power Tools series published in the Enterprise Tech Journal and the TSO/ISPF for Users blog. He has over 40 years of mainframe experience and has been a consultant and instructor for z/OS, TSO/ISPF, MVS/JCL, REXX, and UNIX/Linux since 1991. John is slated to present "Mobile, and Social Networking in the Enterprise" at SHARE in San Antonio, February 28 - March 4, 2016.

TSO Tips

By Lionel Dyck

This first tip is for those who install ISPF products and those who create their own products to run under ISPF.

First, do not assume that the product will be installed into libraries defined in the TSO Logon Procedure (PROC). The PROC should contain only the minimum required data sets to Logon to TSO and to start ISPF as the fewer data sets in the PROC the faster the time for the TSO Logon from start of session to the TSO Ready prompt or the ISPF Primary Menu.

Second, learn the capabilities of the TSO ALTLIB command and the ISPF LIBDEF function. Using these will enable you to dynamically define the data sets required for the vendor product or in-house ISPF application.

What you will have if you remember these tips is the ability to add products and applications to ISPF dynamically without having to update the TSO Logon Procedures (there are always multiples and you will miss one at some point).

Fortunately you don’t have to spend a lot of time learning all of this. You can go to http://www.frontiernet.net/~pinnacle and get a free copy of Tom Conley’s Dynamic ISPF Starter Set (DISS). This is a collection of REXX Execs that provide the dynamic interface to over 100 vendor products that operate under ISPF. Then you just need to customize these Execs with your installations data set names and then create your own ISPF Menu Panel to invoke these REXX Execs. See figure 1 for an example of how to invoke the TASID utility by Doug Nadel.

Another approach that