AS400 COMMANDS, INTRODUCTION

23 Most Common
AS400 Commands
What is an AS400 command ? AS400 commands are CL
(Control Language) commands. Most of them were written by
IBM developers to...

Written by AS400i
Oct 12 ·
4 min read

What is an AS400 command ?

AS400 commands are CL (Control Language) commands. Most of them were
written by IBM developers to perform system-level tasks like compiling
programs, backing up data, changing system configurations, displaying system
object details, or deleting them. Commands are not limited to systems-level
concerns and can be drafted for user applications as well. Most common AS400
commands are obviously commands which use most of the times by
programmers, system administrators and users.

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What is a CL command ?
A CL command usually is made up of three-character words; up to 10 characters
(usually three words) can be merged to form commands.

Therefore first 3 (or 4) letters of a command will be a VERB,

Eg:

WRK for Work

DSP for Display
CHG for Change
CRT for Create
STR for Start
DLT for Delete
EDT for Edit
HLD for Hold
OVR for Override

Etc…

Next letters will be a SUBJECT

Eg:

OBJ for Object

 SPLF for Spool File
MSG for Message
PF for Physical File
LF for Logical File
PRT for Print

Etc…

The command WRKSYSSTS, therefore, is translated as Work with the System

Status. command CHGPWD means Change Password

Understanding this basic structure will help you in forming the commands
yourself when you are not sure of the exact one. You can suffix a * (wildcard) on
any commands and press enter to get the list of all of them. For eg: DSP* will give
the list of all commands starting with DSP like DSPFD, DSPSYSSTS, DSPNETA,
etc…

AS400 / CL commands can be entered on the command line or executed from

within a program. When commands are entered via a program or menu, the user
selects options that are displayed in a more friendly, English-type format. The
program then translates the selected option into the appropriate CL command or
commands.

In case you don’t know/remember command syntax, just type GO VERB on the
command line and you will get the list of commands ordered by their functions
like add, audit, configuration, compare, allocate, de-allocate, etc..

13

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 GO VERB

Guardar


The AS400 commands depend on user requirements. It can be broadly classified
Reply in the following categories

Work
 WORK Commands – (WRK*)

These types of commands will always start with WRK. If you type WRK* and
press enter, you will get a list of all commands starting with WRK.

e.g.:

1. WRKOBJ – It will give the details of an object from a library. If *ALL is

specified in the library, it will display the list of all objects with that name in
the system.

WORK OBJECT – (WRKOBJ)

2. WRKSPLF – It will display the list of all spooled files created for the current
user. Additionally, you can also specify additional selection criteria pressing
F4 like spool files for a user or a job.

3. WRKJOBQ – It will display the list of all the job queues in the system along
with the number of jobs currently being processed in that job queue and
status whether held or released and subsystem name.

4. WRKACTJOB – It will display the list of all the jobs currently active in the
system. It allows to work with performance and status information for those
jobs.

Create
These types of commands will always start with CRT. If you type CRT* and press
enter, you will get a list of all commands starting with CRT.

e.g.:

5. CRTUSRPRF – It will create a new user profile in the system with the details
like user name, password, password expiry date, the initial menu option for
the user, etc.

CREATE USER PROFILE – (CRTUSRPRF)

6. CRTOUTQ– It will create a new output queue if a user desires to process the
job in a new output queue.

7. CRTDUPOBJ – It will create a copy of an existing object in the different

libraries with or without data as specified by the user.

Change

CHANGE Commands – (CHG*)

These types of commands will always start with CHG. If you type CHG* and press
enter, you will get a list of all commands starting with CHG.

e.g.:

8. CHGPF – It will change physical file attributes like adding or deleting a new
field etc without the loss of existing data.
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9. CRGPRTF – It will change printer file attributes like line per inch, overflow
line number, etc.

10. CHGPRF – It will change the attributes of the current user profile like
Message Queue, Output Queue, etc.

Display

DISPLAY Commands – (DSP*)

These types of commands will always start with DSP. If you type DSP* and press
enter, you will get a list of all commands starting with DSP.

e.g.:

11. DSPNETA – It will display the current network attributes like Local Network
Id, Server network ID/control point name.

12. DSPSYSSTS – It will display the current system status like disk space
storage used, no. of users signed in.
 DISPLAY SYSTEM STATUS – (DSPSYSSTS)

13. DSPDTAARA – It will display the current value of the local/named data area
as specified by the users.

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Start
These types of commands will always start with STR. If you type STR* and press
enter, you will get a list of all commands starting with STR.

e.g.:

14. STRSQL – It will start an interactive SQL session where users can run their
SQL commands.

START SQL – (STRSQL)

15. STRDBG – It will allow users to debug a program line by line in case of any
issues or program/data flow monitoring.

16. STRRLU – It will allow users to start report layout utility to design the
reports.
Edit

EDIT Commands – (EDT*)

These types of commands will always start with EDT. If you type EDT* and press
enter, you will get a list of all commands starting with EDT.

e.g.:

17. EDTLIBL – It allows the user to change the current library list by adding a
new library or removing the existing library.

Delete
These types of commands will always start with DLT. If you type DLT* and press
enter, you will get a list of all commands starting with DLT.

e.g.:

18. DLTSPLF – It deletes a spool file or all spooled files for a user depending
upon user selection.

Hold
These types of commands will always start with HLD. If you type HLD* and press
enter, you will get a list of all commands starting with HLD.

e.g.:

19. HLDJOBQ – It will allow the users to hold the jobs in a job queue.

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Override
These types of commands will always start with OVR. If you type OVR* and press
enter, you will get a list of all commands starting with OVR.

e.g.:
20. OVRDBF – It will allow the users to override a database file for a member or
set of data based on user input.

Others
21. CALL – This command is used to call a program

CALL Command – (CALL)

22. FTP – This allows users to start a TCP/IP File Transfer to transfer data to
another server.

23. RCLRSC – It will allow the users to reclaim the resources of the system.

Another point to note is the OS version, new commands get added with new OS
release. In some rare cases, old commands get attribute changed, which means
the actual command itself will change with OS versions.

Conclusion
Most useful/common AS400 commands are highly depend on the user category.
as an example if you are an system administrator, you will use one set of
commands in your day to day activities but at the same time a programmer will
use another set of common commands.

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