IBM User's Guide, Thirteenth Edition


6 Timesharing on MVS: TSO/ISPF

TSO, the TimeSharing Option on MVS, allows the user to work interactively on MVS disk data sets, both sequential and partitioned. Files may be created, edited, copied, deleted, etc. TSO users can also modify RACF data set protection parameters (more about RACF, the Resource Access Control in section 11.6). Jobs may be submitted for either batch or interactive processing. TSO users can send messages and files electronically to other TSO users, to CMS, VAX/VMS, or Sun/UNIX users, or to users at any of the nodes listed in section 8.10.2. ISPF, the Interactive System Productivity Facility, provides TSO users with a menu-driven environment for performing many common file-handling tasks. ISPF features include full-screen editing, a collection of utilities for performing data set maintainance, and online help files.

Getting started on TSO

Users must be validated to run on TSO. Validation can be obtained by completing the Request for Services form, available from the receptionist at UTCC, 200 Stokely Management Center. TSO requires a terminal which is capable of full-screen input and output. Valid terminal types are the following: VT100, VT200, ADM31, IBM3101, IBMASYNC, and TVI.

Logging on to TSO To log on to TSO through the "DCA" network, type vtam at the ENTER HOST NAME prompt.

If you are logging on from an Ethernet terminal server, enter connect vtam at the LOCAL > prompt and press RETURN.

You will be asked to enter your terminal type. Note : TSO documentation assumes an IBM 3270 keyboard, which has an ENTER key where other keyboards may have a RETURN key. When the UT logo appears along with a list of options, type

TSO userid

where "userid" is your MVS userid, consisting of your UTCC-assigned programmer number preceded by a P, e.g., P999998. A logon menu will appear, and the cursor will be located at the PASSWORD option. Type your RACF password (MVS password), and press ENTER. The logon menu will reappear, with the cursor positioned at the GROUP IDENT field. This field is filled in with the project code (Jxxxx) to which the TSO session will be charged. Several initialization messages will be displayed on the screen. If files have been sent to you from another user, you will receive notification at logon and will be asked to respond to the notification. If you do not want to make a decision about the incoming files, type END to exit the RECEIVE environment and continue the logon process. (If you do want to receive or delete the files at logon, consult the list of options in the next section, or enter HELP Press CLEAR or ENTER to continue. After doing this, you will be presented with the ISPF primary option menu. New users may wish to select the TUTORIAL option by typing T at the prompt.

How to receive files sent to you To receive files, you must enter the RECEIVE environment. The logon process will automatically place you in the RECEIVE environment if you have files to receive at logon, or you can enter RECEIVE at any time during a TSO session by selecting option 6 from the primary option menu and then typing RECEIVE. You will be prompted for a "restore" parameter; the choices are:

Press ENTER                      to receive the file with the name as sent

Type DATASET(data_set_name) to receive and rename the transmitted file

Type DELETE to delete the file

Type HELP for online help

Type END to exit from the RECEIVE environment

Logging off TSO To terminate ISPF and TSO, type END or X for exit from the primary options menu. If there is no listing or log file, then END or X will log you off ISPF. If there is a log or listing file, then a panel will be displayed that will permit the selection of options for disposition of the log, and of the list file if one exists. If you wish to print the files, the JOB statement information displayed at the bottom of the panel must be correct. (See section 7.2.1 for a discussion of the JOB statement.) At the READY prompt, enter LOGOFF To exit TSO, type X below the UT logo, at Enter Application ID ===>


Changing your MVS password

In order to maintain account security and prevent misuse of resources, users should change their MVS passwords periodically and keep them secret. A password must be 6 to 8 characters in length, consisting of alphanumeric and/or national (#$@) characters. On TSO, a password can be changed during the logon process or during a TSO session. To change your password during logon, after entering your current password on the logon panel, press the TAB key. The cursor will be positioned at the NEW PASSWORD position; enter a new password, and then continue the logon process. Note that you will not get an opportunity to verify your new password by reentering it; please type carefully to avoid typographical errors. A password can also be changed during a TSO session by choosing option 6 from the primary option menu and then typing the word PASSWORD twice:

PASSWORD PASSWORD

The terminal will prompt for the current password and for the new password. For help with this procedure, enter on the command line

TSO HELP PASSWORD The MVS Resource Access Control Facility (RACF) keeps a record in encrypted form of a user's last five passwords. When the password is changed, it cannot be changed to any of these last five values.


Submitting jobs from TSO

The SUBMIT command is used to submit jobs to MVS batch. The SUBMIT command can be invoked as a TSO command or as a subcommand within an editing session. To invoke SUBMIT as a TSO command, select option COMMAND (option 6) from the ISPF Primary Option Menu. Then type

SUBMIT 'Jprojcode.SORT.JCL'

where 'Jprojcode.SORT.JCL' is a sequential data set which contains a job stream consisting of JCL and data. To submit a job stored as a member of a partitioned data set (PDS), use the following syntax:

SUBMIT 'Jprojcode.MYLIB.JCL(member_name)'

If the name of the file submitted is not enclosed in single quotes, then the user's profile prefix, Jnnnn, will be concatenated to the beginning of the filename. See section 6.3.2 for information about automatic password propagation for batch jobs submitted from TSO.

To submit a job as an EDIT subcommand in ISPF

You can submit a JCL file that you are editing by typing SUBMIT on the command line:

COMMAND ===> SUBMIT

Using SDSF to view held job output online from TSO

If you wish job output to be held for viewing from TSO with SDSF (the System Display and Search Facility), you should include MSGCLASS=H or MSGCLASS=D and NOTIFY=userid (TSO userid) on the JOB statement in the JCL (these parameters are discussed in section 7.2.1). Any sysout data sets that you wish to be held should be defined by a SYSOUT=* parameter on the DD statement.

For example:

//jobname  JOB ,name,USER=Pusercode,GROUP=Jprojcode,
//         MSGCLASS=H,NOTIFY=Pusercode,
//         PASSWORD=?
  (your program)
//ddname   DD SYSOUT=*

To view the output at your terminal, return to the primary options menu and select the LOCAL (option L) from the menu. When the LOCAL Options Menu is displayed, type S to select SDSF. On the SDSF menu, at the command line, type

H jobname

where jobname is the name of the job or is any part of the jobname beginning with the first character. If you type H EZ* , all jobs with names beginning with EZ will be displayed. When the jobs are displayed, use the TAB key to move the cursor to the prefix area to the left of the jobname and type

S  to view the contents of the job output listing
P  to purge the job
O  to release the job for printing
?  to view separate job sysout datasets

Online help An online tutorial on SDSF commands is available by typing HELP on any SDSF panel.

Password security considerations

A facility is available on UTCC's MVS operating system to automatically propagate your MVS userid and password for a batch job stream submitted from TSO. The use of this facility provides both security and convenience benefits. Since there are fewer places where the password must be physically recorded or provided, the chances of someone discovering your password either accidentally or intentionally are reduced. The number of places where a new password must be changed is also reduced, which should make changing your MVS password an easier task. In order to make use of TSO-to-batch-job MVS userid and password propagation, the GROUP= value in the JOB statement of batch jobs submitted to MVS must match the GROUP value entered during the TSO logon process. If the two GROUP values match, then the USER= and PASSWORD= parameters on the JOB statement may be omitted. The userid and password entered at logon will be propagated for the batch job. If the GROUP= parameter on the JOB statement is not the same as the GROUP value used during TSO logon, then userid/password propagation will not succeed, and the job will abend. In this instance, the USER= and PASSWORD= parameters must be included on the JOB statement. TSO provides password prompting during job submission (using the SUBMIT command) if the last continuation of the JOB statement is coded as follows:

//jobname  JOB ,name,USER=Pusercode,GROUP=Jprojcode,
//         PASSWORD=?

Communicating with others on TSO with ISPF

Before you begin, establish a group NAMES data set

When sending messages to other users on a timesharing system like TSO, the key to addressing is the userid, a unique code by which the computer recognizes each user account. At UTCC, MVS userids are of the form Pnnnn, where 'nnnn' is a 3- to 6-digit number. Since remembering other people's userids can be troublesome, it is helpful to create a NAMES data set, in which you choose a name or nickname to stand for any userid that you want to include. Once you have made an entry in your NAMES data set for a particular userid, the nickname that you chose can substitute as a complete address for future electronic correspondence on MVS to that user. On TSO, a NAMES data set is associated with your profile prefix, Jnnnn, and the data set must be named "Jnnnn.NAMES.TEXT." If more than one user is associated with group Jnnnn, then the NAMES data set will be accessible to all the users in the group. Creating the group NAMES data set is easily done. The data set must be sequential. The records may be fixed length or varying, as long as the length is less than or equal to 255; the records may be blocked or unblocked. A NAMES data set consists of two sections, each of which is optional. First is a CONTROL section, in which you may specify "prolog" lines to be prefixed to all correspondence sent by your group, "epilog" lines to be appended to the end of all correspondence, and/or an alternate NAMES data set. The second section of a NAMES data set is a NICKNAMES section, which may contain nicknames for both individual users and distribution lists.


Sample CONTROL Section

A MESSAGE FROM: UT Office of Alumni Affairs Tyson Alumni House 1609 Melrose Avenue Knoxville, Tennessee Electronic Mail: P999998 at UTKMVS1 :LOGSEL. AlumAff :LOGNAME. Mail

[All names and userids in this section are fictitious.]


What's in a CONTROL section? The CONTROL section of a NAMES data set is optional; but, if you choose to have one, it must come first, before the nicknames. In the above sample CONTROL section, the PROLOG lines define a heading to be sent at the top of any notes transmitted to any nickname defined in this NAMES data set. The LOGSEL and LOGNAME declare that notes sent to or received from users for whom nicknames are defined in this file will be filed in a data set called "J4444.ALUMAFF.MAIL" unless a different file is indicated on an individual nickname entry.

What's in a NICKNAMES section? A nickname entry consists of all the data between two :NICK tags. A minimal nickname entry includes the nickname and userid:

:NICK.   NANCY
:USERID. P999998

An optimum nickname entry might also include the node and the user's actual name. The node is required if the user is not on MVS, as in the following sample entry for a UTCC VMS VAXcluster user.

:NICK.   ROGER
:NODE.   UTKVX
:USERID. HENDERSO
   Roger Henderson
For more information about establishing a NAMES data set, enter the TSO command TSO HELP NICKNAME, or execute the following batch job for a printed copy of the help file:

//jobname JOB ,name,GROUP=Jprojcode,USER=Pusercode, // PASSWORD=? /*ROUTE PRINT RMTn //stepname EXEC BATCHTSO //SYSIN DD * HELP NICKNAME

Sending messages and data sets

Use the TRANSMIT command to send messages and data sets to other TSO users. In addition, a system address translation table maintained by UTCC allows TSO users to send to CMS, VAX/VMS and Sun/UNIX users at UTCC, as well as at other nodes within the UT System, some of which are listed in section 8.10.2. You can transmit a sequential data set or a partitioned data set or member(s), or you may create a message interactively. The transmitted data set or member must be an MVS disk data set, not a tape data set. Record format may be fixed, variable, or undefined. You may not transmit ISAM or VSAM data sets, or data sets with user labels or keys. To transmit a data set or message, choose L on the primary option menu. Next, on the local application menu, choose T to transmit a message or file. An entry panel is presented, as shown in the box. Choosing option 1 (send message), option 2 (send file), or option 3 (send file with message) will cause an appropriate entry panel to be displayed with instructions for completing the transmission task.


------------ MESSAGE AND FILE TRANSMISSION ------------ COMMAND ===>

1 Send message 2 Send file 3 Send file with message

SEND MESSAGE OR FILE TO:

NICKNAME ===> (If user is in your names file)

USERID ===> (If names file not used) NODE ===> (If names file not used)

TRANSMIT OPTIONS ===>


For more information about the TRANSMIT command, enter the TSO command TSO HELP TRANSMIT, or execute the following batch job for a printed copy of the help file:

//jobname JOB ,name,GROUP=Jprojcode,USER=Pusercode, // PASSWORD=? /*ROUTE PRINT RMTn //stepname EXEC BATCHTSO //SYSIN DD * HELP TRANSMIT


File Transfer Program (FTP) and remote login (Telnet) on MVS/TSO

At UTCC, the MVS system is an Internet node identified as UTKMVS1.UTK.EDU. Access to the Internet lets MVS/TSO users use the Internet file transfer program (FTP) and remote login (Telnet). Note that you cannot FTP into MVS until you have set a default group on MVS. You can do this by issuing the following RACF command:

ALU Pusercode DFLTGRP(Jprojcode)

where Pusercode is your MVS userid and Jprojcode is an MVS groupid with which your userid is valid. The following MVS batch job can be run to assign a default group.

//jobname  JOB ,name,USER=Pusercode,GROUP=Jprojcode,
//       PASSWORD=?
//STEP1  EXEC BATCHTSO
ALU Pusercode DFLTGRP(Jprojcode)

Documentation

"Internet," U01-0629, available through PRTDOC, explains more about the Internet, FTP and Telnet and gives examples using FTP and Telnet to or from MVS/TSO.

SC09-1255, TCP/IP for MVS User's Guide , is on reserve in Hodges Library.


Kermit on TSO

Kermit is a communications program for transferring files. The TSO Kermit allows sequential files to be transferred between TSO and microcomputers. Members of partitioned data sets and VSAM files must first be converted to sequential data sets before they can be transferred. Kermit can be accessed by typing the command TSO KERMIT at the command line of any ISPF panel. For more information about Kermit on TSO, contact your UTCC consultant.

Sending files from the VMS VAXcluster to TSO

The VAX/VMS command SEND/FILE can be used to send files from a VAX/VMS directory area to a TSO account, as follows:

SEND/FILE/NETDATA/OPTIONS="EXTWTR=Pusercode"

where Pusercode is the TSO userid of the account to which the file is being sent. The text within the double quotes must be in uppercase. You will be prompted for the name of the file to send and for the destination. In response to the FILE: prompt, enter the VAX/VMS filename of the file you want to send. In response to the TO: prompt, enter Pusercode@utkmvs1.


TSO documentation

For more information about TSO, see the following publications:

"TSO/ISPF," U01-0583, available through the PRTDOC facility on CMS

GC34-2078, ISPF General Information
SC34-2085, ISPF Dialog Management Services Examples
SC34-2089, ISPF/PDF Program Reference
SC34-4013, ISPF/PDF Library Management
SC34-4112, ISPF Dialog Management Guide
GC34-4116, ISPF/PDF General Information


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