Using wildcards in commands

Wildcards allow you to use a single specification to indicate a number of resources whose names match the wildcard pattern.

System commands use three kinds of wildcards:
  • Multiple-character trailing asterisk (*): The * indicates zero, one, or more characters, up to the maximum length of the string. This * must be at the end and cannot appear alone. For example, ABC* matches ABC or ABCVWXYZ or ABC1 or ABCZZZ. Use this wildcard in:
    • CANCEL
    • DISPLAY
    • MODIFY
    • SETPROG
    • SLIP parameters, as indicated in their descriptions
    • STOP
  • Multiple-character asterisk (*) within the value: The * indicates zero, one, or more characters, up to the maximum length of the string. This * can be in any position and can appear alone to indicate all values. For example:
    • A*BC matches ABC or ACBC or AWXYZBC or A3BC
    • * matches all values
    • *BC matches BC or WXYZBC or ZZZBC
    Use this wildcard in the JOBLIST and DSPNAME parameters of the SLIP command.
  • Single-character question mark (?): The ? indicates any single character. The ? can be in any position. For example:
    • A?C matches ABC or A1C
    • ABC?E?? matches ABCXEYZ or ABC1E23
    • ?BC matches ABC and ZBC
    Use this wildcard in SLIP parameters, as indicated in their descriptions.
In some SLIP command parameters, you can use more than one type of wildcard. For example:
  • A?C* matches ABC or AXCYZ or A5CZ2
  • A*C? matches ABCD or AZZZZC1 or A123CZ or ACD
You can use wild cards to reduce the number of system commands needed for a task. For example, you can enter one command to display information about all jobs and started tasks beginning with the characters XYZ: 
DISPLAY A,XYZ*