This is a little bit unfair for the blue guys :)
ISPF is far more than a set of screens to invoke TSO commands. The panels (that's how
ISPF screens are called) are just a part of the whole thing. ISPF integrates with TSO, so
we are talking about:
- The TSO command language (CLIST language) and also the REXX language.
- The panel facility.
- The skeleton facility.
It is quite easy to "simulate" the ISPF panels (you just need DCL to do it, I
did it when I worked with DEC machines in a mostly IBM-centric company), but that would be
just the user interface. The APIs provided with ISPF are way beyond that...
I was planning on developing a simple format for defining the panels, mapping the options
to DCL and any params / switches they need. I am aware that ISPF can be used for way more
than the basic IDE / sysop functions that it comes with by default, don't some ISVs
actually build their software using ISPF panels as the interface?
I just thought a IBM mainframe lookalike interface to VMS would be amusing if nothing
else.
Sampsa