CL commands

A control language (CL) command is a single statement to request a system function.

CL command names
The command name identifies the function that will be performed by the program that is called when the command is run. Most command names consist of a combination of a verb (or action) followed by a noun or phrase that identifies the receiver of the action (or object being acted on): (command = verb + object acted on).
CL command parts
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.
CL command definition
Command definition allows you to create additional control language commands to meet specific application needs. These commands are similar to the system commands.
CL command coding rules
This summary of general information about command coding rules can help you properly code CL commands.
CL command information and documentation
IBM provides documentation for CL commands. In addition, you can write documentation for your own commands.
CL commands that operate on IBM i objects
Each of the IBM® i object types has a set of commands that operates on that object type.
CL commands that operate on multiple objects
In addition to the commands that operate on single object types, there are commands that operate on several object types. These commands are more powerful because they can operate on several objects of different types at the same time.

Parent topic: CL concepts

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