Command format

You write SPI commands in the same way as API commands. SPI commands begin with the words EXECUTE CICS, usually abbreviated EXEC CICS, followed by the command name, a verb, or verb-and-option combination.

For example, an SPI command could look as follows:
  • INQUIRE FILE
  • PERFORM SHUTDOWN
  • SET SYSTEM

Options that indicate details of what you want to do follow the command name. The order of the options is unimportant except when the first one is part of the command name (the FILE in INQUIRE FILE, for example).

SPI commands are translated into the language of the program by the same CICS translator that converts API commands, and you can mix the two categories of commands in the same program. However, you must specify the translator option SP when SPI commands are present, or the translator will not recognize them. This feature allows an installation to limit use of the SPI at compile time. Other security features restrict its use at execution time; these are described in Security checking.

The EXEC CICS that begins a command tells the translator when to begin translating. In high-level languages, you must also tell the translator when to stop, by putting a terminator at the end of the command. In COBOL, the terminator is END-EXEC. In C and PL/I, it is a semi-colon. You do not need one in assembler, because the translator assumes that the command ends on the current line unless a continuation character is present. So a command that looks like this in assembler: 
EXEC CICS SET FILE(TAXPGM) OPEN
becomes 
EXEC CICS SET FILE(TAXPGM) OPEN END-EXEC
in COBOL, and 
EXEC CICS SET FILE(TAXPGM) OPEN;
in C or PL/I.

For more information about translating the commands, see Using a CICS translator for translator options, and Installing application programs