Batch display facility for background panel processing

The Batch Display Facility allows applications to simulate full-screen write operations while ISPF is executing in the background. This requires that dialogs provide the input to ISPF that would normally be supplied by the user or by information associated with the type of terminal being used. Much of this is done by having the dialog assign values to panel input variables, and by supplying screen size information through keywords on the ISPSTART command.

Batch execution has traditionally not allowed the use of services that require user interaction. Any full-screen write operation would result in an error condition.

The Batch Display Facility overcomes these limitations. Although there is no user interaction during execution; the Batch Display Facility does allow background execution of interactive services. These services include:

DISPLAY
TBDISPL
SELECT PANEL
SETMSG
PQUERY

These services are issued for batch just as they are issued for dialogs running in interactive mode. ISPF GDDM® services do not run in the background, and thus, cannot be requested in a batch environment.

All ISPF commands except SPLIT and SPLITV can be executed in dialogs running in batch mode.

Installations can easily convert current interactive applications that use these services so they run in a batch environment. When you are running in a batch environment, you cannot direct your display to a workstation; that is, the GUI parameter on the ISPSTART command is not supported in a batch environment.