Handling PF keys in REXX

Aneesh · New User Joined: 30 Sep 2006 Posts: 60

Hi,

While accepting user inputs at an ISPF panel display, how can we identify the function key(PF key) that was pressed by the user?

Currently i am using the ZCMD value to control the flow of the application:
WHEN ZCMD = '1' THEN
display panel 2

I need to perform the same function when user presses a particular PF key. How can we do this?

Thanks in advance.

ofer71 · Posted: Sun Oct 29, 2006 11:14 am

You can use the .PFKEY control variable of the panel.

You might want to read a little about all the available ISPF System Variables that hold information about function keys.

O.

Kevin · Active User Joined: 25 Aug 2005 Posts: 234

Aneesh, I'm curious to know what is gained by knowing what PF key was pressed, and where that sort of information would be used?

Thinking of a standard ISPF panel display, the user is typically limited to which PF keys (and their corresponding commands) can be processed by ISPF: HELP, SPLIT, END, RETRIEVE, SWAP or just ENTER. What difference does it make which PF key is used as long as the end result is the same?

Marso · Posted: Mon Oct 30, 2006 9:48 pm

Hi Kevin,
You may want to add other functions to the panel, like SUBMIT, SAVE, VIEW or anything like that.
I usually use keys between PF13 and PF24 to do that.

I override the original key value. It is necessary because some key values (like UP, DOWN, LEFT, RIGHT) are processed by ISPF and are not returned to the REXX program: