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