Interactive ISPF Gateway

This section provides information about preparing for and using the Interactive ISPF Gateway. For information about the Interactive ISPF Gateway and the Legacy ISPF Gateway and the benefits of using the Interactive ISPF Gateway, see TSO/ISPF client gateway.

To use the Interactive ISPF Gateway, define the environment variable CGI_CEATSO and set it to the value TRUE before invoking the gateway.

The Interactive ISPF Gateway is invoked and runs under the caller's address space. It then uses the z/OS® CEA TSO/E address space services to start and communicate with the TSO address space on behalf of the caller. The types of requests that can be issued by the caller are:

  • Start a TSO/E address space. Available options allow the client to specify whether ISPF is started in the address space and whether a dormant TSO session is used if available.
  • Issue a TSO command (or ISPF command, if ISPF is started) in the TSO/E address space.
  • Communicate interactively with the command running in the TSO/E address space.
  • Ping a started TSO/E address space. If 15 minutes pass without receipt of a ping for the address space, CEA TSO/E address space services ends the address space.
  • Send an attention interrupt to the command running in the TSO/E address space.
  • End a TSO/E address space. Available options allow the client to specify whether the address space is cancelled, logged off, or allowed to become dormant.

Some types of gateway requests (for example, start a TSO/E address space, issue a command in the address space, and end the address space) can be combined in a single request. Upon completion of a request, the gateway returns the results to the client. Examples of items returned are the return code value, the output from the command run in the address space, and the information needed to reuse the address space for a subsequent command.

After a TSO/E address space is created, it can be used for a single TSO/ISPF command and then ended or it can be kept active and used for subsequent commands. The advantage of keeping the address space active is that the overhead of establishing a new address space for every TSO/ISPF command request is avoided.

The gateway does not provide the network communications and data transport between the client and z/OS host. The gateway is a thin service designed to interface with a local z/OS application that is serving remote users that have been authenticated to z/OS. The local application is responsible for any network communications when serving the remote client connections.

Note: ISPF commands invoked by means of the gateway run in an ISPF batch environment.