I just had a Eureka moment…running it batch like the installation tests did. Even if it didn’t lead to a solution at least it would be quicker for me to write (then test) locally using an editor I’m familiar with. On the ISPF side I’m constantly pressing home to go to a line beginning, only to end up on the command prompt at the top of the screen. Then I can’t enter text because of invisible stuff at the end of the visible text, and press end to go to the end of the line…with no results! I think I read somewhere that, that is a 3270 emulation issue, that can be fixed in the settings.
Then after editing I have to swap to another screen to test it. I’m aware also that the ISPF editor has quite a lot of features (F1 to see them). And if I was familiar with them I’d be more productive.
OK, I guess this idea is sunk also…”TSO REXX functions are only available in TSO environments (online or batch) not in plain batch.”, which explains why my “ALLOC” command failed. Although I don’t understand “(online or batch) not in plain batch.” however I assume I’m attempting plain batch.