ISPF dialog development enhancements

Data Set Commander enhances the process of developing ISPF dialogs. With Data Set Commander, ISPF dialog developers can:

Refresh specific panels before display without having to run in Dialog Test mode. Avoiding Dialog Test mode significantly improves the performance of ISPF.
Display panels from within the member list.
Invoke dialog services from within the member list. Feedback messages provide dialog error information on the screen.
Invoke dialog services from the Data Set Commander TSO shell and invoke dialog services from any panel.
Place dialog services calls within the OLIST.
Enforce the display of panel identifiers throughout the ISPF session (on all split screens).

To refresh specific panels, select the TEST option on the MSL or OLIST Action Bar, or enter DSC DTEST on any ISPF panel. A pop-up window provides you with the ability to specify the panel name to refresh, or a prefix of panels to refresh throughout the current ISPF session. Data Set Commander continuously refreshes the specified panels only on the current session. Once the ISPF session is terminated, change the panel refreshing option and standard panel processing resumes.

Figure 1. Panel Testing Options panel

   Dialog-Test  Redisplay  System-Info  Exit
 -DSC----------------------- PANEL TESTING OPTIONS -----------------------------
 COMMAND ===>

 Specify options below and press the ENTER key to accept, END key to cancel:
 Diagnose panel processing errors ===> N (Y=Yes, N=No)
 Diagnose SELECT service   errors ===> N (Y=Yes, N=No)
 Display panel identifier         ===> N (Y=Yes, N=No)

 Panel refreshing options:
 Unless you run in Dialog Test, ISPF will remember previously displayed
 panels, ignoring panel changes made after the panels are displayed.
 To avoid running in Dialog Test (an inefficient mode), you can request
 that specific panel or panels be refreshed:
   Refresh name or prefix         ===>          (BLANK, panel name, or prefix*)
   Refresh next displayed panel   ===> N        (N=No, Y=Yes)

 DSC panels (prefix "IQI") must also be released from the cache.
   Release all DSC panels         ===> N        (N=No, Y=Yes)

When editing a panel, it is convenient to place it in "refresh" mode as explained above. During editing, you can save the panel and use the TSO shell to display it. For example, if you are editing the member "ACCTMAIN", and the member is accessible through ISPPLIB, you can issue the command "TSO ISPEXEC DISPLAY PANEL(ACCTMAIN)" to display the panel. You can even put the command in the permanent list (for example, entry number 10), and thereafter type TSO 10.