General rules for adapter commands

Following is a list of the general rules that apply when specifying adapter commands:

  • Each command must begin with a hyphen.
  • Command characters can be uppercase, lowercase, or mixed-case.
  • Command strings are parsed in left-to-right order.
  • The order of commands is not important.
  • Command files can contain multiple lines. Line breaks can be used in place of the required space that must exist between commands. The line breaks are converted to spaces before processing.
  • Space characters:
    • Spaces preceding the first command are ignored.
    • At least one space between commands is required (for example: -KEEP -TRACE).
    • A space is required preceding a variable value (for example: -TRACE+S full_pathname).
  • The value of the Command setting (adapter-specific commands) in input and output cards and in a GET or PUT function within a map rule may not exceed 2000 bytes. The expansion of the resource value is included in this limitation.

For platform-specific information about using specific adapter commands with execution commands, refer to the following: