Research: Handling of TSO commands

[zdmullen]

Is your feature request related to a problem? Please describe.

I want to understand the previous behavior of the Issue TSO command and look into re-implementing it. I also want to get feedback from stakeholders on the expected behavior. Also, the extensibility of the commands and the API for it should be considered.

This is discussed in issues #684 and #809. #875 as well.

Describe the solution you'd like

Describe alternatives you've considered

Additional context

[jellypuno]

Just for info. I opened #1168 that is connected with issuing commands

[JillieBeanSim]

Trying to formulate a plan to address all the issues attached to this research.

• ZoweExplorerApi getTsoApi() and interface ITso is not implemented? #684
  ITso with a getTsoApi() & IConsole with a getMvsCmdApi() or we could have ICommand with getTsoApi() & getMvsCmdApi() in the ZoweExplorerApi.ts

• Issue Tso Command is not available on Zowe Explorer anymore #809
  Update the Ctrl+Shift+P / Cmd+Shift+P with issue search to have both Zowe: Issue TSO Command & Zowe: Issue MVS Command and have them call the correct function (fix Issue TSO Command calling Console Command function)

• Clarity the Issue Command (e.g., Issue MVS Command) #875 & Issue Command menu item on a profile - what does it do? #802
  Update the dialog to read Create a New MVS Command vs Create a New Command the right click menu item has already been addressed.

• Issuing Commands #1168
  address the issue with not prompting for credentials with profiles that don't have them stored vs showing a list of profiles

• Once TSO command capabilities are available a right click action/menu item will be added Issue TSO Command

How does this plan look @jellypuno @zFernand0 @crawr ?

[JillieBeanSim]

I can address 809 then 875 & 802 in small PRs correcting the existing behavior to close those issues.

• To correct 809 we could change the text in the Zowe: Issue TSO Command which is linked to issue console command to read Zowe: Issue MVS Command
• To correct 875 & 802 we can update the dialog text

1168 can be addressed in it's own PR to fix the bug and have it prompt for creds.

We can then address 684, bringing in TSO functionality and add it & Issue MVS Command into the API file and with that fix we will also add the TSO right click menu item and add the Zowe: Issue TSO Command options to be used with Ctrl+Shift+P / Cmd+Shift+P

[jellypuno]

Hey @JillieBeanSim, This looks good! So just to clarify:

1. If I do a right-click on my profile, the context menu will say Issue MVS Command and Issue TSO Command.
2. If I do a Ctrl+Shift+P / Cmd+Shift+P , A dialog box will appear. I will need to select between Issue MVS Command and Issue TSO Command

Do you think it is good to re-use the approach for both scenario? Like I do a right-click > Click Issue Command > a dialog box will pop where I choose Issue MVS Command or Issue TSO Command. Then the same UX will be applied if I click Ctrl+Shift+P / Cmd+Shift+P . What do you think?

#684
ITso with a getTsoApi() & IConsole with a getMvsCmdApi() or we could have ICommand with getTsoApi() & getMvsCmdApi() in the ZoweExplorerApi.ts

Which approach do you prefer here? I only understand the ICommand in ZoweExplorerApi.ts so that makes sense to me.

[JillieBeanSim]

Hey @JillieBeanSim, This looks good! So just to clarify:

1. If I do a right-click on my profile, the context menu will say Issue MVS Command and Issue TSO Command.
2. If I do a Ctrl+Shift+P / Cmd+Shift+P , A dialog box will appear. I will need to select between Issue MVS Command and Issue TSO Command

Do you think it is good to re-use the approach for both scenario? Like I do a right-click > Click Issue Command > a dialog box will pop where I choose Issue MVS Command or Issue TSO Command. Then the same UX will be applied if I click Ctrl+Shift+P / Cmd+Shift+P . What do you think?

#684
ITso with a getTsoApi() & IConsole with a getMvsCmdApi() or we could have ICommand with getTsoApi() & getMvsCmdApi() in the ZoweExplorerApi.ts

Which approach do you prefer here? I only understand the ICommand in ZoweExplorerApi.ts so that makes sense to me.

Hey @jellypuno after reading the comments in the issues, it looked like having the separate approaches for Ctrl+Shift+P / Cmd+Shift+P were more favorable and that's why I was leaning that way with the right click action as well #809 (comment). We can discuss this as a team if you would like before settling on one or the other.
For the API section, I agree to only have the one (ICommand) vs adding multiple since they will both deal with commands and if/when we bring in UNIX command support we could just add it there as well.

[JillieBeanSim]

suggestion from @katelynienaber:

• 1 entry in right click menu and command pallet Issue Command (MVS/TSO) with the quick pick to choose which type and keyboard shortcuts like Ctrl+Shift+M for MVS Command and Ctrl+Shift+T for TSO commands

[JillieBeanSim]

Fun stuff!

Still ironing a few things out but hey, Issuing TSO commands woo hoo!

I still need to get this action moved into the APIs so extenders can consume it & check for existing TSO profile to get the account number from it if exists. Finally the dreaded unit tests lol!
Another thing to do, have session icon change upon profile validation (this is needed for MVS Command too)

Draft PR open if anyone wants to play around with it #1245

[jellypuno]

good job @JillieBeanSim ! Looking forward to this feature 😄