SEND command

It would be interesting, if we could send messages to other mainframe users from our Mainframe Session, wouldn’t it be?

You can do just that, in the ISPF Command Shell (START 6) with the command:
SEND 'HELLO USER HOW ARE YOU?' USER(XXXXXXX)
(where XXXXXXX stands for the User id)

And Voila! The User ID XXXXXXX gets the message on his/her screen.
Alternatively, You can also give the command ‘TSO SEND 'MESSAGE' USER(USERID)’ from any ISPF panel.

What if you want to send the same message to multiple users at the same time?
The command would be: SEND 'MESSAGE' USER
And then you will be prompted to enter the IDs to which you want the message to go to – Just separate each ID by a SPACE.

What if the user is not logged on?
You get the message “USER(S) XXXXXXX NOT LOGGED ON OR TERMINAL DISCONNECTED, MESSAGE CANCELLED”
But don’t worry. You can leave a message for any user to receive when (s)he logs on, by typing: send 'MESSAGE' user(USERID) logon

Are there only Positives and no Down-sides to this command? Of course there are!
First of all, DO NOT enter the command without an user ID (send 'MESSAGE'). Why? Because the message goes to the CCN operator (and you don’t want to be sending your messages there. Believe me!)
Then there is the limitation to the length of your message in one SEND command. The text in one SEND is limited to 115 characters.

Mission & Vision

A series that aims to show you just how fun, working with Mainframes can be, while trying to:
1.) Learn shortcuts,
2.) Work Smarter and faster, and
3.) Explore interesting, fun facets of MFs

Keywords

Mainframe Tips Tricks TSO ISPF DB2 KR