The z/OS UNIX Files view

When you are connected to a z/OS® system, the z/OS UNIX Files view shows the zFS file system structure and contents. The files are shown in a tree structure and you can expand the tree to show individual files.

Before you can view any z/OS UNIX files or directories, you must be connected to an FTP server on your host system. For further information about configuring system connections, see the related links.

When you connect to a system, the z/OS UNIX Files view shows the shows the structure tree for the root directory of the z/OS system to which you are connected. To find files, you can expand the branches of the tree, or you can type the path in the Path field in the view menu bar, for example, /build/base/.

If a file name or directory name contains special characters, z/OS Explorer does not display those special characters, but shows them as question marks (?). For example, a z/OS UNIX file name of hello¬¬ is shown as hello?? in the z/OS UNIX view.

A screen capture of the z/OS UNIX Files view showing the tree structure of the UNIX files.

To copy the fully qualified name of one or more files or directories, select the required files or directories from the list, right-click, then click Copy Qualified Name. The names are copied to the clipboard and are available for you to paste to the destination you require, for example an editor or another window.

Viewing hidden files

By default, the z/OS UNIX Files view shows only files that have a file name. Files with only a file extension are hidden.

To show the hidden files, click the Menu icon The Menu icon then click Show hidden files. Hidden files are displayed, as shown in the following screen capture.

A screen capture showing files with no file names in the z/OS UNIX Files view