Softech Solutions' Techie Tips

We have run across quite a few interesting functions with the TSO editor
over the years. As time goes by, they usually get around to everybody. So, we
are going to start documenting some of the TSO features we have run across
that others may benefit from too. If you know of a TSO command or function that
you think others may benefit from, just email us about it and maybe we'll add it to
this section.

START Command
Module Masking
Exclude and Flip Commands
Creating A Dataset of Dataset Names

START Command

From the TSO command line, you can enter the START command and get a completely new TSO window similar to using the SPLIT command. One big difference is that you can keep getting new TSO windows up to the limit specified by your System's Group. If you open too many, it can be difficult keeping track of what window is what. However, it can be very convenient to be able to get a new window whenever you want to; you can always exit out (=X) whenever you want.

Module Masking

Did you know that you can bring up only the modules you want in Browse or Edit simply by putting in a mask by the TSO dataset from the Utility DsList screen (=3.4)? Here is a sample:
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
.   SSI.PROD.COBOL
.   SSI.PROD.COPYLIB
E   SSI.TEST.COBOL(*001)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Note that the last dataset has a mask of '(*001)'. You can actually move your cursor out to the end of the dataset name and type in such a mask. The sample above would bring up all the modules that end with '001' in "edit mode".
* Thanks to Joe Detrio

Excluding and Flipping

If you haven't learned about the Exclude command (X) and the Flip command (FLIP), you really should take a few minutes to try the following example:

Suppose you would like to edit a Cobol module and find all the lines of code that have modification identifiers in them. And suppose that any line that has had modification or additions also has some form of date and/or initials in columns 73 thru 80. Since there can be more than one date and set of initials, you cannot look for a single constant in columns 73 thru 80. Now, there are often many ways to solve the same problem in TSO, but we are going to solve this problem using the Exclude and Flip commands. Suppose you are in "Edit Mode" for a Cobol module and you perform the following
TSO commands:

1. X ALL (this excludes all source lines from view)
2. F ALL ' ' 73 73 (this finds and brings into view all lines that have a space in column 73)
3. FLIP (this reverses your screen view by excluding all the lines that you currently see, and brings all the lines that were excluded into view).

Effectively, all lines that have something other than a space in column 73, and only those lines, are now viewable. Don't be afraid of those lines that are excluded. They are still there. If you want to bring up all lines again, just type RES (reset) in the command line. You can also delete either all the lines that are excluded, or all the lines that are not excluded.

DEL ALL X (deletes all excluded lines)
DEL ALL NX (deletes all non-excluded lines)

The last one is a little scary, since it appears every line is gone until you type Reset. There are obviously many variations using these commands. Once you start using them, you will wonder what you ever did without them.

Creating A Dataset of Dataset Names

If you would like to create a dataset containing the names of all the datasets listed when using option 3.4, simply type "SAVE XXXXXX" in the command line, where XXXXXX will be the second node of the dataset created. Your UserId will be the first node and "DATASETS" will be appended as the third node. Example: If your UserId was USERXX and you typed "SAVE PDSLIST" from the command line while in =3.4, all datasets that qualified for selections would be contained in a file named "USERXX.PDSLIST.DATASETS".
* Thanks to Will Lamers & Doug Beck

TSO Tips