System command

System commands provide services or information associated with the workspace and the environment. They are not part of the APL language itself.

APL system commands start with a right parenthesis, e.g., )save, )pcopy.

List of system commands

ISO/IEC 13751:2001

ISO/IEC 13751:2001 standard defined the following system commands:

Command	Description
)CLEAR	Clear active workspace.
)COPY	􏰝 Copy library workspace / 􏰝 Copy library workspace object.
)DROP	Drop library workspace.
)ERASE	Erase global referent.
)FNS	Lists global function names.
)LIB	􏰝 List library directory.
)LOAD	􏰝 Load library workspace.
)NMS	List global names and their name class.
)OPS	􏰝 List global operator names.
)SAVE	􏰝 Save active workspace / 􏰝 Save active workspace with name.
)SI	List state indicator.
)SIC	Clear state indicator.
)SINL	List state indicator and local names.
)VARS	􏰝 List global variable names.
)WSID	􏰝 List workspace identification / Change workspace identification.

Dyalog APL

Dyalog APL supports the following system commands:

Command	Description
)classes	Lists the APL classes in the active workspace.
)clear	Clear the workspace.
)cmd {Y}	Executes an operating system command; equivalent to )sh.
)continue	Saves the active workspace as Continue and terminate APL.
)copy {Y}	Copies all or selected objects from a saved workspace into the active workspace.
)cs {Y}	Change current namespace.
)drop {Y}	Deletes a named workspace.
)ed Y	Opens an object in the editor.
)erase Y	Deletes objects from the active workspace.
)events	Lists the events that the current GUI namespace may generate.
)fns {Y}	Lists global functions in the active workspace.
)holds	Lists the tokens acquired or requested by :Hold.
)interfaces	List the currently active interfaces.
)lib {Y}	Lists all available workspaces or workspaces in a directory Y.
)load {Y}	Replace the active workspace by a saved workspace.
)methods	List methods in GUI namespace or object.
)ns {Y}	Create a global namespace / Query the name of the current namespace.
)obs {Y}	List the global namespaces in the active workspace. Synonym: )objects {Y}.
)off	Terminate APL immediately.
)ops {Y}	Lists global operators in the active workspace.
)pcopy {Y}	Protected copy. Similar to )copy, but does not overwrite existing objects.
)props	List properties of GUI namespace or object.
)reset	Clears the execution stack (Reset the state indicator).
)save {Y}	Saves the active workspace to disk.
)sh {Y}	Executes an operating system command; equivalent to )cmd.
)si	State Indicator.
)sic	Clear State Indicator.
)sinl	State Indicator with local Name List.
)tid {Y}	Switches to suspended thread, or lists the current thread number.
)vars {Y}	Lists global variables in the active workspace.
)wsid {Y}	Query / Set the identity of the active workspace.
)xload Y	Load a workspace without executing its Latent Expression (⎕LX).

External links

Tutorials

• Bernard Legrand. Mastering Dyalog APL (page 805). Dyalog Ltd. November 2009.

Documentation

• Dyalog APL: System Commands – Introduction
• APLX: Introduction, List of system commands