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., <source lang=apl inline>)save</syntaxhighlight>, <source lang=apl inline>)pcopy</syntaxhighlight>.

List of system commands

ISO/IEC 13751:2001

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

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

Dyalog APL

Dyalog APL supports the following system commands:

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

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