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<h1 class="topictitle1">Command delimiters</h1>
<div><p>Command delimiters are special characters or spaces that identify
the beginning or end of a group of characters in a command.</p>
<p>Delimiters are used to separate a character string into the individual
parts that form a command: command label, command name, parameter keywords,
and parameter values. Parameter values can be constants, variable names, lists,
or expressions. The following diagram shows various delimiters for a command:</p>
<p> <img src="rbam6502.gif" alt="Command Delimiters" /> </p>
<p>The following delimiters are used in the i5/OS™ control language:</p>
<ul><li>The colon (:) ends the command label, and it can be used to separate the
command label from the command name. </li>
<li>Blank spaces separate the command name from its parameters and separate
parameters from each other. They also separate values in a list. Multiple
blanks are treated as a single blank except in a quoted character string or
comment enclosed in apostrophes. A blank <em>cannot</em> separate a keyword
and the left parenthesis for the value. </li>
<li>Parentheses ( ) are used to separate parameter values from their keywords,
to group lists of values, and to group lists within lists. </li>
<li>Slashes (/) connect the parts of a qualified name or the parts of a path
name. <ul><li>For a qualified object name, the two parts are the library qualifier and
the object name (LIBX/OBJA). </li>
<li>For a path name, the parts are the directory or directories searched and
the object name ('/Dir1/Dir2/Dir3/ObjA').</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Either a period or a comma can be used as a decimal point in a decimal
value (3.14 or 3,14). Only one decimal point is allowed in a value. </li>
<li>Apostrophes specify the beginning and ending of a quoted character string,
which is a combination of any of the 256 extended binary-coded decimal interchange
code (EBCDIC) characters that can be used as a constant. For example, 'YOU
CAN USE $99@123.45 ()*&gt;&lt;/ and lowercase letters' is a valid quoted string
that is a constant. <p>Because an apostrophe inside a quoted string is paired
with the opening apostrophe (delimiter) and is interpreted as the ending delimiter,
an apostrophe inside a quoted string must be specified as two apostrophes.
A pair of adjacent apostrophes used this way is counted as a single character.</p>
</li>
<li>A special character is used to separate a date into three parts: month,
day, and year (two parts for Julian dates: year and day). The special characters
that may be used as date separators are the slash (/), the hyphen (-), the
period (.), a blank ( ), and the comma (,). The special character used to
code as separators in a command date must be the same as the special character
specified as the date separator for the job. </li>
<li>The characters /* and */ can indicate the beginning and ending of a comment,
or can be used in a character string. To begin a comment, the characters /*
must begin in the first position of the command, be preceded by a blank, or
be followed by either a blank or an asterisk. If the characters /* or */ occur
in a later position of a command, they will usually be enclosed in apostrophes
and can represent, for example, all objects in the current directory for a
path name.</li>
<li>A question mark (?) preceding the command name indicates that the command
is prompted. If the command is specified with a label, the question mark may
either precede the label, or it may follow the label and precede the command
name. <p>Within a CL program, when a question mark precedes a command name,
a prompt display is presented. You can enter parameter values not specified
on the command in the program.</p>
<p>Prompting characters may be put into
a command in two forms. A single question mark (?) may be coded before the
command name (either before or after the command label in a CL program) to
cause the entire command to be prompted. Selective prompt characters (?? or
?*) may be coded before any parameter keyword to cause that parameter to be
prompted when the command is run.</p>
<p>If a question mark is entered before
the command name on the command entry display, the effect is the same as pressing
the F4 (Prompt) key after the command is entered.</p>
<p>Within a CL program,
when a question mark precedes the command name, a prompt display is presented.
This display is of the same format as that presented when pressing the F4
key from the command entry display. Parameters of the command for which the
program has coded values are shown for informational purposes, but the user
cannot change the values supplied by the program. Parameters for which no
value was coded are shown as input fields so you can enter values to be used
in processing the command.</p>
<p>Selective prompting allows you to identify
specific command parameters to be prompted. To call selective prompting, the
characters ??, ?*, or ?- are coded immediately preceding the keyword name
of the parameter(s) to be prompted.</p>
<div class="note"><span class="notetitle">Note:</span> <ol><li>Selective prompting is not allowed with command string (*CMDSTR) parameters.
</li>
<li>Parameters of the command that are preceded by the characters ?* are shown,
but you cannot change the values that are supplied by the program. Parameters
preceded by the characters ?? are shown as input fields containing the values
coded in the program or command defaults so you can enter or change the values
used in processing the command. Parameters preceded by the characters ?- are
omitted from the display. All selectively prompted parameters must be coded
in keyword or keyword-with-value form. Several parameters may be selectively
prompted within one command. When selective prompting is called, only keywords
that are immediately preceded by the selective prompt characters are prompted.
All other parameters are processed using the values as coded on the command
or, if not coded, using command defaults. <p>Either form of prompting, but
not both, is allowed on a single command in a CL program. If the character
? precedes the command name and selective prompt characters (except ?-) precede
any keyword, an error message is returned and the program is not created.</p>
</li>
</ol>
</div>
</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div>
<div class="familylinks">
<div class="parentlink"><strong>Parent topic:</strong> <a href="rbam6comparts.htm" title="The parts of a command include a command label (optional), a command name (mnemonic), and one or more parameters. The parameter includes a keyword and a value.">Command parts</a></div>
</div>
<div class="relconcepts"><strong>Related concepts</strong><br />
<div><a href="rbam6simpqual.htm" title="The name of a specific object that is located in a library can be specified as a simple name or as a qualified name.">Simple and qualified object names</a></div>
<div><a href="rbam6gencodrulessum.htm" title="This section contains a summary of general information needed to properly code CL commands.">Command coding rules</a></div>
<div><a href="intcd.htm" title="Command definition allows system users to create additional commands to meet specific application needs. These commands are similar to the system commands.">Command definition parts</a></div>
</div>
<div class="reltasks"><strong>Related tasks</strong><br />
<div><a href="pmtc.htm" title="You can control which parameters are displayed for a command during prompting by using prompt control specifications.">Use prompt control</a></div>
</div>
<div class="relref"><strong>Related reference</strong><br />
<div><a href="rbam6comdefstate.htm" title="Command definition allows system users to create additional commands to meet specific application needs.">Command definition statements</a></div>
</div>
<div class="relinfo"><strong>Related information</strong><br />
<div><a href="../ifs/rzaaxkickoff.htm">Integrated file systems</a></div>
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