HELP (Obtain RACF help)

Purpose

Use the HELP command to obtain information about the function, syntax, and operands of RACF® TSO commands. This information is displayed at your terminal in response to your request for help.

Note: When you use the HELP command to display the syntax for a RACF command, the brackets and braces shown in the syntax diagrams in this book are not displayed on your terminal, and a blank can appear in place of a bracket or brace. If you are unsure whether an operand is optional or required, you should refer to the syntax diagrams contained in this book.

Authorization required

You need no special attribute or authority to use the HELP command. Any user who can log on to TSO can issue this command.

Issuing options

The following table identifies the eligible options for issuing the HELP command:

As a RACF TSO command?	As a RACF operator command?	With command direction?	With automatic command direction?	From the RACF parameter library?
Yes	No	No	No	No

For information on issuing this command as a RACF TSO command, refer to RACF TSO commands.

Syntax

For the key to the symbols used in the command syntax diagrams, see Syntax of RACF commands and operands. The complete syntax of the HELP command is:


{ HELP \| H }
	[ command-name ]
	[ ALL ]
	[ FUNCTION ]
	[ OPERANDS [ (operand …)] ]
	[ SYNTAX ]

Parameters

command-name: Specifies the name of the command about which you want information.
If you specify this operand, it must be the first operand following HELP. If you omit this operand, you obtain a list of all the TSO commands. However, this list does not contain any RACF commands. Therefore, if you want information about a particular RACF command, you must specify the RACF command name following HELP. Help information is available for all RACF commands that are documented in this book.
ALL: Specifies that you want to see all the available information about the command. This information includes the function, syntax, and operands of the command. If no other operand is specified, ALL is the default value.
FUNCTION: Specifies that you want to see information about the purpose and operation of the command.
OPERANDS[(operand …)]: Specifies that you want to see information about the operands of the command. When you specify OPERANDS and omit any values, all operands for the command is described. To obtain information about a particular operand, specify that operand within parentheses following OPERANDS. If you specify more than one operand, separate the operand names by either commas or blanks.
SYNTAX: Specifies that you want to see information about the proper syntax of the command.

Examples


Example 1	Operation	User LQJ0 wants to see all available information for the ADDUSER command.
	Known	User LQJ0 is RACF-defined.
	Command	`HELP ADDUSER`
	Defaults	`ALL`
Example 2	Operation	User JXN01 wants to see a description of the AUDIT, ADDMEM, DATA, and SECLEVEL operands for the RDEFINE command.
	Known	User JXN01 is RACF-defined.
	Command	`HELP RDEFINE OPERANDS(AUDIT ADDMEM DATA SECLEVEL)`
	Defaults	None.
Example 3	Operation	User MJW02 wants to see a description of the function and syntax of the SETROPTS command.
	Known	User MJW02 is RACF-defined.
	Command	`HELP SETROPTS FUNCTION SYNTAX`
	Defaults	None.