IBM Screen Definition Facility II is a software tool to interactively develop panel-based UIs for IBM zSystems™ applications.
Make transaction applications easier to navigate with IBM® Screen Definition Facility II (SDF II). It is a versatile tool for developing and maintaining panels, panel groups, partition sets, AID tables and control tables for enterprise transaction applications. SDF II enables you to build and maintain user interface specifications— screens, maps, formats—to design, test, implement and maintain user interfaces for applications running on target systems. You can boost development productivity by converting screens developed for one target system to be used by another. SDF II supports COBOL, PL/I, Assembler, C and RPG. It also supports workstation-based application development under IBM z/OS®.
Design, test, implement and maintain user interfaces that help make IBM CICS®, IBM IMS, ISPF, CSP or GDDM applications easier and simpler to navigate.
Review the flow of panels with the eventual application user before anyone writes a line of code to help minimize future re-engineering efforts.
Use Screen Definition II objects in applications developed with or that use CICS BMS, IMS MFS, ISPF, GDDM-IMD or CSP/AD.
Develop objects that can be defined using CICS BMS macros, IMS MFS utility control statements, ISPF panel definitions, GDDM-IMD and CSP/AD. Import/generate objects for IMS MFS.
Use the panel editor to define the data format and structure. Distinguish general characteristics from target-specific with SDF II. Use the panel group editor to define objects under CICS® /BMS, IMS/MFS, CSP/AD and GDDM-IMD.
Define how the screen of an IBM 8775, IBM 3290 or IBM 3180 display device is split into a number of separately controlled areas.
Map operator actions to values, which are returned to the application, with the AID (attention identifier) table editor. Use the control table editor to define a sequence of conditional operations and their associated control or branching functions.
Generate panels, panel groups and partition sets for the target system. Generate these objects with CICS BMS macros, IMS MFS utility control, ISPF panels, GDDM-IMD export data sets and CSP/AD export data sets or CSP/AD external source formats.
Review the flow of panels, together with the eventual user of the application, before anyone writes a line of code. Incorporate early feedback into the design of the application before it is deployed.
Import maps, map sets and partition sets defined with CICS/BMS macros and SDF; panels defined with ISPF V2; IMS MFS utility control; maps and AID tables defined and exported from GDDM-IMD, CSP/AD.
Convert SDF II objects defined for one target system to a format suitable for another target system.
Extract information about a panel and its fields and pass that to a user exit, where further processing can be done.
Technical details
Software requirements
IBM Screen Definition Facility II runs in the following environments:
- IBM MVS™/ESA, OS/390®, z/OS®
- VM, VM/ESA, z/VM®
- VSE/ESA
Hardware requirements
IBM Screen Definition Facility II runs in IBM Z® mainframes.
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