Introduction › Documentation Presentation Standards

Documentation Presentation Standards

IBM has developed a documentation convention for the IBM i Control Language (CL) that, once learned, is both concise and precise. Central to the convention is a special notation for explaining i OS commands - the Command Syntax Diagram.

All of the CA 2E Toolkit utilities are accessible via CL commands, and each command is documented strictly according to the i OS convention. For each command there are:

• Definition the function command
• Description of each parameter in the command
• Notes on any restrictions or extra considerations
• An example or examples of using the command

Some parameters, common to several commands, are described centrally in the Appendix "Expanded Parameter Definitions."

For those experienced with CA 2E, the command syntax diagrams and their parameters can be the most useful. For those are not familiar with command diagrams, refer to the IBM i Control Language Reference Manual Volume 1, Chapter 2, for a detailed description of the CL command syntax conventions.

Wherever possible, existing i OS parameter keywords and definitions have been used. This manual can be regarded as an extension of the i OS manual. Appendix E contains a list of all the CA 2E abbreviations and keywords that are additional to the i OS canon.