Parameters

dsname

The data set name, in TSO syntax, of the data set to be viewed. This is equivalent to the "other" data set name on the View Entry Panel. You can specify a fully qualified data set name enclosed in apostrophes (' '). If the apostrophes are omitted, the TSO data set prefix from the user's TSO profile is automatically attached to the data set name. The maximum length of this parameter is 56 characters.

For ISPF libraries and MVS™ partitioned data sets, you can specify a member name or a pattern enclosed in parentheses. If you do not specify a member name or if you specify a member pattern as part of the dsname specification when the DATASET keyword is used, a member selection list for the ISPF library, concatenation of libraries, or MVS partitioned data set is displayed. For more information about patterns and pattern matching, see the z/OS V2R2 ISPF User's Guide Vol I.

Note: You can also specify a VSAM data set name. If a VSAM data set is specified, ISPF checks the ISPF configuration table to see if VSAM support is enabled. If it is, the specified tool is invoked. If VSAM support is not enabled, an error message is displayed.

serial

The serial number of the volume on which the data set resides. If you omit this parameter or code it as blank, the system catalog is searched for the data set name. The maximum length of this parameter is 6 characters.

pswd-value

The password if the data set has MVS password protection. Do not specify a password for RACF-protected data sets.

panel-name

The name of a customized view panel, created by you, to be used when displaying the data. See z/OS V2R2 ISPF Planning and Customizing for information about developing a customized panel.

macro-name

The name of the first edit macro to be executed after the data is read, but before it is displayed. See z/OS V2R2 ISPF Edit and Edit Macros for more information.

profile-name

The name of the edit profile to be used. If you do not specify a profile name, the profile name defaults to the ISPF library type or last qualifier of the "other" TSO data set name. See z/OS V2R2 ISPF Edit and Edit Macros for more information.

format-name

The name of the format to be used to reformat the data. The format-name parameter is provided to support the IBM® 5550 terminal using the Double-Byte Character Set (DBCS).

YES|NO

For the MIXED parameter, if YES is specified, the VIEW service treats the data as mixed-mode DBCS data. If NO is specified, the data is treated as EBCDIC (single-byte) data. This parameter is provided to support the IBM 5550 terminal using the Double-Byte Character Set (DBCS).

YES|NO

For the CONFIRM parameter, if you specify YES and then attempt to CANCEL, MOVE, or REPLACE data while in VIEW mode, ISPF displays a pop-up panel that requires you to confirm the action. Because members or data sets that are canceled, moved, or replaced are deleted, CONFIRM acts as a safeguard against accidental data loss. If you want to terminate the view session without saving the data, press ENTER. If you made a mistake and want to return to the view session, enter the END command. If you specify NO as the CONFIRM value, you will not be required to confirm a CANCEL, MOVE, or REPLACE.

YES|NO

For the WS keyword, if you specify YES the VIEW service enables you to view the host data set or workstation file on the workstation using the workstation tool configured in the ISPF tool integrator. For more information, see the information about Workstation Tool Integration in the Settings (Option 0) topic of the z/OS V2R2 ISPF User's Guide Vol II. If you specify NO as the WS value, the VIEW service views the host data set or workstation file on the host.

YES|NO

For the CHGWARN keyword, if you specify YES the VIEW service gives a warning when the first data change is made, indicating that data cannot be saved in View. If you specify NO, no data change warning is given.

data-id

The data ID that was returned from the LMINIT service. The maximum length of this parameter is 8 characters.

You can use the LMINIT service in either of two ways before invoking the VIEW service:

You can use LMINIT to allocate existing data sets by specifying a data set name or ISPF library qualifiers. LMINIT returns a data ID as output. This data ID, rather than a data set name, is then passed as input to the VIEW service.
The dialog can allocate its own data sets by using the TSO ALLOCATE command or MVS dynamic allocation, and then passing the ddname to LMINIT. Again, a data ID is returned as output from LMINIT and subsequently passed to the VIEW service. This procedure is called the ddname interface to VIEW. It is particularly useful for viewing VIO data sets, which cannot be accessed by data set name because they are not cataloged.

member-name

A member of an ISPF library or MVS partitioned data set, or a pattern. If you do not specify a member name when the MEMBER keyword or call invocation is used, or if a pattern is specified, a member selection list for the ISPF library, concatenation of libraries, or MVS partitioned data set is displayed. For more information about patterns and pattern matching, see the z/OS V2R2 ISPF User's Guide Vol I.

generation

A fullword fixed integer containing the relative or absolute generation of the member to be viewed. If the value is negative, it is a relative generation. If the value is positive, it is an absolute generation that the caller has determined to be valid. The value 0 (zero) indicates the current generation and is equivalent to not specifying the parameter. This parameter is valid only when the specified member is in a PDSE version 2 data set that is configured for member generations. End of change

ws-filename-buffer-name

Specifies the name of a variable containing the path and the file name (in the syntax of the workstation's operating system) of the workstation file to be edited. The maximum length of the path and the workstation file name within this variable is 256. If the path is omitted, the working directory configured in the ISPF tool integrator will be inserted in front of the workstation file name to resolve the relative path. See the information about Workstation Tool Integration in the Settings (Option 0) topic of the z/OS V2R2 ISPF User's Guide Vol II.

ASCII|UTF8

This parameter can be specified when invoking VIEW to view data encoded in ASCII (or UTF-8) and the file is not tagged with a CCSID of 819 (or 1208).

When ASCII is specified or the file is tagged with CCSID 819, the editor renders the ASCII data readable by converting it to the CCSID of the terminal. Also, if set for a z/OS® UNIX file, the editor breaks up the data into records using the ASCII linefeed character (X'0A') and the ASCII carriage return character (X'0D') as the record delimiter. For z/OS UNIX files, the linefeed and carriage return characters are removed from the data loaded into the editor but written back to the file when the data is saved. This option should not be used when viewing workstation files which are converted to EBCDIC when they are loaded from the workstation.

When UTF8 is specified, or the file is tagged with CCSID 1208, the equivalent actions happen, except for UTF-8 instead of ASCII.

tabname

The name of a user line command table to be provided by the service caller.

buf-len

A fullword fixed binary integer containing the length of the buffer parameter.

buffer

A buffer containing the name of the service and its parameters in the same form as they would appear in an ISPEXEC invocation for a command invocation.

parm-var

The name of an ISPF variable that contains parameters which are to be passed to the initial macro specified by macro-name. The variable value must not exceed 200 bytes in length. If no macro name is specified, parm-var must be blank or not specified.

file-var

The name of an ISPF variable containing the path name for a z/OS UNIX regular file or directory. If the path name is for a directory, a directory selection list is displayed.