--- title: "Mainframe ISPF Commands(3 Of 5)" description: "21) I am not able to delete a dataset that resides on a tape. A. Yes. You cannot delete/rename a tape dataset . Only you can uncatalog it. ISPF Editor. 22) How do I see only those lines that contain..." url: https://srinimf.com/2015/05/17/ispf-commands-for-senior-software-developers-3-of-5/ date: 2015-05-17 modified: 2026-10-10 author: "Srini" image: https://i0.wp.com/srinimf.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/pexels-photo-235990.jpeg?fit=1880%2C1253&ssl=1 categories: ["ISPF"] tags: ["ISPF Commands", "TSO ISPF commands"] type: post lang: en --- # Mainframe ISPF Commands(3 Of 5) **21)** I am not able to [delete a dataset](https://srinimf.com/2010/03/04/jcl-question/) that resides on a tape. A. Yes. You cannot delete/rename a [tape dataset](https://srinimf.com/2015/08/14/mainframe-jcl-dd-statements-for-tape-data-sets/). Only you can uncatalog it. ISPF Editor **22)** How do I see only those lines that contain a particular string? A. Type ‘X all’ then ‘F all ‘search-string’ **23)** Now I [want to](https://srinimf.com/2016/02/09/want-to-excel-in-ims-dc-programming-read-this/) see only those lines that contain a particular value in the display I get after doing an ‘X all, F all’. A. Type ‘ F new_value all nx’. ‘nx’ will restrict the search only to the displayed lines. ** 24)** How do I go to a particular line numbers ? A. Use ‘L search-string’ command. This is the Label command. ** 25)** I want [to find](https://srinimf.com/2021/12/11/grep-how-to-find-empty-lines-in-a-file/) for a search-string that is Not prefix/suffix of another word. I want to find for an instance of a search-string that is whole word by itself. How can I do this? A. Use keyword ‘word’ at the end of find command. E.g., ‘f job word’ will find for the whole word ‘job’. ** 26)** How do I specify the direction of search i.e., how do I search for a string in backward / forward direction (w.r.t., your current cursor position)? A. Direction Keyword Example Backward PREV F ‘job’ PREV finds for string ‘job’ in backward direction Forward No need to mention any keyword. It’s default direction F ‘job’ finds for string ‘job’ in forward direction. From the beginning of the file FIRST F ‘job’ FIRST finds the first instance of sting ‘job’ in the file. Count of [all in](https://srinimf.com/2015/10/02/cobol-search-and-search-all-differences/)stances in file ALL F ‘job’ FIRST finds the first instance of sting ‘job’ in the file and gives total-no-of-instances of sting ‘job’ in the file. **27)** How do I search for a value say ‘0980312’ stored in comp-3 format? A. Type F X’0980312’. **28)** How do I do case sensitive search find for a given search-string? A. Just, enclose the search-string within quotes and have a letter C in front of the string itself. For e.g., F C’FindMe’ will find all FindMe strings only if the case matches. **29) **How do I find for any non-blank characters? A. Use picture string ‘^’. E.g., “F P’^’ 36” will find the next non-blank characters in column 36. **30)** How do I find for any numeric character? A. Use picture string ‘#’. E.g., 1. “F p’#’” finds the next numeric character. 2. “F ‘PAGE ##’ will find the next instance of the string ‘page followed by a blank followed by 2 numeric characters’. ### Share this: - - [Tweet](https://twitter.com/share) - [![](https://i0.wp.com/assets.pinterest.com/images/pidgets/pinit_fg_en_rect_gray_20.png)](https://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/link/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fsrinimf.com%2F2015%2F05%2F17%2Fispf-commands-for-senior-software-developers-3-of-5%2F&media=https%3A%2F%2Fi0.wp.com%2Fsrinimf.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2021%2F09%2Fpexels-photo-235990.jpeg%3Ffit%3D1200%252C800%26ssl%3D1&description=Mainframe%20ISPF%20Commands%283%20Of%205%29) - - [Share on Tumblr](https://www.tumblr.com/share) - [Share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window) WhatsApp](https://srinimf.com/2015/05/17/ispf-commands-for-senior-software-developers-3-of-5/?share=jetpack-whatsapp) - [More](#) - - [Print (Opens in new window) Print](https://srinimf.com/2015/05/17/ispf-commands-for-senior-software-developers-3-of-5/?share=print) - [Share on Reddit (Opens in new window) Reddit](https://srinimf.com/2015/05/17/ispf-commands-for-senior-software-developers-3-of-5/?share=reddit) - [Share on Telegram (Opens in new window) Telegram](https://srinimf.com/2015/05/17/ispf-commands-for-senior-software-developers-3-of-5/?share=telegram) - [Email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email](mailto:?subject=%5BShared%20Post%5D%20Mainframe%20ISPF%20Commands%283%20Of%205%29&body=https%3A%2F%2Fsrinimf.com%2F2015%2F05%2F17%2Fispf-commands-for-senior-software-developers-3-of-5%2F&share=email) - ### Like this: Like Loading…