CICS command syntax notation

In CICS® documentation, CICS commands are presented in a standard way. You interpret the syntax by following the arrows from left to right.

The “EXEC CICS” that always precedes each command's keyword is not included; nor is the “END-EXEC” statement used in COBOL or the semicolon (;) used in PL/I and C that you must code at the end of each CICS command. In the C language, a null character can be used as an end-of-string marker, but CICS does not recognize this; you must therefore never have a comma or period followed by a space (X'40') in the middle of a coding line.

The conventions are:

Symbol	Action
	A set of alternatives—one of which you must code.
	A set of alternatives—one of which you must code. You may code more than one of them, in any sequence.
	A set of alternatives—one of which you may code.
	A set of alternatives — any number (including none) of which you may code once, in any sequence.
	Alternatives where A is the default.
Name	Use with the named section in place of its name.
Punctuation and uppercase characters	Code exactly as shown.
Lowercase characters	Code your own text, as appropriate (for example, name).