When the )PANEL section is used, the ISPF default command line placement is at the bottom of the panel (above the function key area, if it is displayed). Long messages are displayed above the command line. To override the ISPF default, go to the ISPF Settings panel and specify Command line placement - ASIS. This setting places the command line and long message as they are specified in your panel definition (usually at the top of the panel). See z/OS V2R2 ISPF User's Guide Vol I. Changes to the )BODY section also affect command line and long message placement. The ASIS keyword on the )BODY section overrides ISPF defaults. The WINDOW keyword also affects the displaying of the command line and long messages. See Defining the body section.
You can specify to not have a command line by including the keyword CMD() with no value on the )BODY statement. This is valid only for displaying panels with the DISPLAY service. In this case, the default position of the long message is at the bottom of the panel above the FKA, if it is displayed. Panels (tables) displayed with the TBDISPL service must specify a command area either by coding a CMD() with a value or by coding the system control variable ZCMD in the panel body.
Because the )PANEL statement affects the same display characteristics as if you had selected the Panel display CUA mode option on the ISPF Settings panel, the color and intensity of the short and long messages is affected by the presence of the )PANEL statement. If you specify the LMSG or SMSG keywords on the )BODY statement, you control the color and intensity in which both the short and long messages are displayed, regardless of CUA mode or the presence of a ) PANEL statement. Table 2 illustrates default message placement.