A program operator is an application program that is authorized to issue certain VTAM® commands and receive VTAM messages. A program operator can be used to:

• Enter VTAM commands (except for commands to start or halt VTAM) from a terminal in the domain
• Monitor and control elements in the domain at program execution speed
• Define specialized commands (for example, to display the status of the entire domain)
• Reformat responses to VTAM commands (such as to reformat the status display of the entire domain to fit on a 3270 display screen)