Working with the Create and Drop panels

Here are a few general points relating to the usage of the Create and Drop panels:

You cannot use wildcard characters when using the Create or Drop panels.

You can type SQL on the command line of the main Create and Drop panels and the Drop Confirmation panel to examine the SQL that would be constructed given the current panel inputs.

If you receive a validation error when inputting data on the panels, a brief error message is displayed on the upper right of the panel. To obtain a more detailed explanation of the error message, press the Help function key (F1). Also, if you receive an SQL error during the Create or Drop operation, you can press the Help function key (F1) to receive a more detailed explanation. Press the Help function key (F1) again to examine the SQL statement and the cause of the error.

Some of the Create panels such as the Create Table Space panel and the Create Function panel incorporate a number of subsidiary panels to collect the Create statement inputs. Generally, only a few of these panels are required, therefore you do not need to visit all of the lower-level panels before executing the Create statement. The inputs and the panels that are required are indicated on the main panel. Generally, you can visit and revisit the subsidiary panels in any order but exceptions are indicated on the main panel. If you receive an SQL error during the create operation, you need only return to the panels that are in error to correct the errors and then try the Create operation again. When inputting your data on the subsidiary panel, you can press Enter to validate your changes, the Exit function key (F3) to save your changes and return to the main panel, or the Cancel function key (F12) to return to the main panel without saving your changes.

Many of the subsidiary panels use ISPF tables to manage object information that can have more than one occurrence, such as the columns of a table or the parameters of a function. Each line in the table contains a set of values for an occurrence of the piece of information.

When editing the ISPF tables, you can repeat, delete, and insert lines when the CMD field is displayed using the following commands:

I: Inserts a new (blank) line at the current position.
I(n): Inserts n new (blank) lines at the current position.
D: Deletes the line.
D(n): Deletes n lines, starting at the current position.
R: Repeats the line.
R(n): Repeats the line n times.

If the Cmd field is not displayed, you can only edit some fields in the existing lines.