Using the ENVIRON system command

ISPF provides the ENVIRON command to assist you in gathering data that can be helpful in diagnosing problems, thus reducing service time. The ISPF session does not have to be running in any ISPF TEST/TRACE mode when you use the ENVIRON command.

The ENVIRON command can help you to:

Produce system abend dumps when not running in ISPF TEST mode (ENBLDUMP parameter).
Trace the TPUT, TGET, and PUTLINE buffers and obtain dump information for TPUT and TGET errors (TERMTRAC parameter).
Gather terminal status information (TERMSTAT parameter).
Gather Rexx diagnostic information.

You can display a panel (Figure 1) for selecting command options by entering the ENVIRON command with no parameters, or display the panel through the use of the Environ settings... choice from the Environ pull-down on the ISPF Settings panel. This panel includes the current values of the ENVIRON command parameters (ENBLDUMP and TERMTRAC) and the ddname, if any, allocated for a dump data set. The values can be changed by entering new values directly on the panel.

Figure 1. ENVIRON Settings Panel (ISPENVA)

   Log/List  Function keys  Colors  Environ  Workstation  Identifier  Help
┌─────────────────────────────── ISPF Settings ───────────────────────────────┐
│                       ISPF ENVIRON Command Settings                         │
│                                                                             │
│ Enter "/" to select option                                                  │
│    Enable a dump for a subtask abend when not in ISPF TEST mode             │
│                                                                             │
│ Terminal Tracing (TERMTRAC)                                                 │
│   Enable . . . 3  1. Enable terminal tracing (ON)                           │
│                   2. Enable terminal tracing when a terminal error is       │
│                      encountered (ERROR)                                    │
│                   3. Disable terminal tracing (OFF)                         │
│   DDNAME . . . ISPSNAP   (DDNAME for TERMTRAC ON, ERROR, or DUMP.)          │
│                                                                             │
│ Terminal Status (TERMSTAT)                                                  │
│   Enable . . . 3  1. Yes, invoke TERMSTAT immediately                       │
│                   2. Query terminal information                             │
│                   3. No                                                     │
│                                                                             │
│ Rexx ENVBLK check (REXCHK)                                                  │
│   Enable . . . 3  1. ON, check Rexx ENVBLK pointer                            │
│                   2. Dump, dump if bad ENVBLK pointer                       │
│                   3. OFF                                                    │
│ Command ===>                                                                │
│  F1=Help        F2=Split       F3=Exit        F7=Backward    F8=Forward     │
│  F9=Swap       F12=Cancel                                                   │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
 F1=Help      F2=Split     F3=Exit      F7=Backward  F8=Forward   F9=Swap
F10=Actions  F12=Cancel

You can issue the ENVIRON command at any time during an ISPF session.