MVS/QuickRef has numerous "gems" of information, which it provides to you in a single keystroke. However, sometimes finding those gems can be a problem. If your shop is like most shops, there are several MVS/QuickRef items that are used frequently. This article describes a method of making those frequently used items easier to locate.

While making a purchase from AMAZON.COM recently, I noticed they had a button called "Where's My Stuff?" I thought how neat it would be if each company could have their own "My Stuff" item where they could put their frequently accessed items. With this in place, a person could use MVS/QuickRef fastpath to bring up "My Stuff" (that is, QW MYSTUFF), locate the item they needed to access, and then use cursor-driven invocation to quickly locate that information.

To implement this, you would first need to identify the MVS/QuickRef items that were most frequently used. Then, using the Override facility, you would enter these items into the MVS/QuickRef database.

To begin using the override facility, create a partitioned data set called SYS2.OVERRIDE.DATA using the recommended data set characteristics (RECFM=FB,LRECL=80,BLKSIZE=6160). In this PDS, create a new member called MYSTUFF, which should look something the text in Figure 1. Of course, you would want to put the items your shop frequently uses in this member.

  ******************************** TOP OF DATA *******************************
            THIS IS A LIST OF FREQUENTLY-USED MVS/QUICKREF ITEMS


    CURSOR-DRIVEN          DESCRIPTION
  ----------------  ----------------------------------------------------------
              3390  IBM 3390 DEVICE CHARACTERISTICS
          DYNALLOC  RETURN CODES AND S99INFO FROM DYNAMIC ALLOCATION
   FILE-STATUS-KEY  COBOL FILE STATUS RETURN VALUES
       SMF_RECORDS  SMF RECORD LAYOUTS
       SVC_NUMBERS  SVCS USED BY MVS
  ****************************** BOTTOM OF DATA ******************************

Figure 1

Next, create member QWPARM00 in SYS2.OVERRIDE.DATA using the information shown in Figure 2. Member QWPARM00 is a fixed name and cannot be changed.

  ******************************** TOP OF DATA *******************************
   DATAPDS DSN=RSC004.OVERRIDE.CNTL
   *
   REPLACE MEMBER=MYSTUFF,
     VENDOR='your-company-name',   <---- tailor this
     PRODUCT='MY STUFF',
     RELEASE=V1,
     ITEM=MYSTUFF,
     TEXTLEFT=1,
     TEXTRIGHT=80
  ****************************** BOTTOM OF DATA ******************************

Figure 2

Now, we have to let MVS/QuickRef know where to find the override information, and this will depend on how MVS/QuickRef is invoked at your installation. If using LIBDEF, you will have a QW clist available to all users. In this case, you will need to modify the QWPARMS DD statement in QW as shown here:

However, if you do not use LIBDEF, then you will need to modify and reassemble QWIKOPTS. In this case, modify the PARMDSN parameter as shown here:

and then reassemble QWIKOPTS. You will need to get out of ISPF and then reenter before proceeding.

We are now ready to use My Stuff. To do so, issue the fastpath command:

which will bring up the information shown in Figure 1. Select the item you want to see by putting your cursor on the cursor-driven name and use your QW PF Key to invoke MVS/QuickRef.

The final step in using My Stuff is to let the personnel on the staff know it is available. I'm sure they will have their own personal favorites they want to include on the My Stuff page. By the way, making updates to My Stuff is easy to do as any changes immediately become available as soon as you save the MYSTUFF member.

Chuck Davis is one of the developers of MVS/QuickRef and has many years of programming and system design experience.