About

The goal of this blog is to enable you to become more productive in the IBM TSO (Time Sharing Option) environment and with the ISPF (Interactive System Productivity Facility) tool set.  When I first interned with IBM I was introduced to TSO and ISPF (it was SPF (the Structured Programming Facility) at the time) and I quickly realized its potential to make my life easier as a programmer.

After starting full time with IBM, I was soon teaching classes in ISPF and CLIST (Command List scripting language).  At that same time, Mike Cowlishaw was developing the Rexx language for VM as a replacement for the EXEC2 language.   Rexx was developed with feedback from the IBM’s global development community using Mike’s FORUM tool.  Soon after its introduction in VM/SP, it was released as part of TSO/E V2.

In 1985, I transferred to the Cary, NC software lab to where ISPF development had recently been transferred from Poughkeepsie, NY.  At that time, the ISPF dialog manager (DM) and ISPF program development facility (PDF) were two separate (but closely related) development teams.  I was a team leader for the MVS V2R3 release, during which I also designed and developed the Data Set List Utility (option 3.4).  During the Version 3 Release 1 development, I was the project leader at which time SCLM (Software Configuration and Library Manager) was integrated into the product in addition to many other enhancements.  While on the development team, I also had the pleasure of representing our product at Guide and SHARE conferences where I also presented several sessions on Edit Macros.  I look back to the time in the lab as one of the highlights of my career and was so very fortunate to work with such a great team of developers.

Due to family health issues, I subsequently transferred back to my home state of Michigan to the Lansing marketing branch office and eventually became an IT Architect for the newly created IBM Consulting Group (now Global Services).  I left IBM after 15 years to work for one of my former clients for several years and then started my own company in 1998.

— Dan Dirkse