About control language (CL)

This provides an overview of the control language (CL) topic.

The control language topic describes all control language (CL) commands that are part of the base operating system, as well as commands that are optionally installable parts of the base operating system. It also includes many commands for related licensed program products that can be used on iSeries™ servers.

Before using CL commands, you should be familiar with the CL programming concepts discussed in the control language topic. On occasion, you may need to refer to other IBM® books or topics for more specific information about a particular topic.

Who should use commands

CL commands are typically used by programmers, data processing managers, and system administrators. Through i5/OS™ command menus, powerful command prompter tools, and online command help, nontechnical users can also use CL commands. To use commands, you should have a general understanding of i5/OS. If you want to combine several CL commands together to create a CL program, some background in programming is helpful.

How this information is organized

In the CL command finder, you can search for commands by product, by command name, by descriptive name, or by part of the name. You also can search for new commands and changed commands. You can also view an alphabetical list of all of the command documentation.

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