z/VM: CP Commands and Utilities Reference - z/VM - IBM

DEFINE ALIAS
Usage Notes
120 z/VM: CP Commands and Utilities Reference
ABBRevlength nn
is the length of the smallest acceptable abbreviation of the alias that you are
defining. The variable nn is a decimal number between 1 and the length of the
full alias name.
DISAble
tells CP not to activate this alias until you enable it. (For more information about
enabling aliases, see Usage Note 5.) If omitted, DISABLE is the default.
ENable
tells CP to immediately activate this alias.
IBMclass *
tells CP to define aliases for all versions of the specified command or
subcommand. If omitted, IBMCLASS * is the default.
IBMclass c
tells CP to define an alias for a specific version of the specified command or
subcommand. The variable c can be any 1 of the following:
A this is a system-control command to be used by the primary system
operator.
B this is a command for operational control of real devices.
C this is a command to alter system storage.
D this is a command for system-wide control of spool files.
E this is a command to examine system storage.
F this is a command for service control of real devices.
G this is a general-use command used to control the functions of a virtual
machine.
0 (zero) this command has no specific IBM class assigned.
1. You can create many aliases for one command, but you cannot create an alias
for an alias. For example, the CP MSG command is actually an alias for the CP
MESSAGE command:
MSG ----> MESSAGE
You can create another alias for the MESSAGE command:
MSG ----> MESSAGE MSG ----> MESSAGE
2. If you specify the QUERY, QUERY VIRTUAL, or SET operands, you are
creating an alias for a subcommand, not a command. For example, suppose
you created alias TUBE for the CP QUERY VIRTUAL GRAF command. To
invoke your new alias, you would enter QUERY VIRTUAL TUBE, not QUERY
TUBE or just TUBE.
3. When specifying an alias name, you can use special characters in the name.
However, we do not recommend that you use the pattern matching characters (*
and %). You can use these characters to define aliases, but they may seem
confusing when you issue other commands that allow you to use the pattern
matching characters because CP will interpret the % or * in your alias name as
a pattern matching character.
CP places no restriction on the use of special characters such as *, %, comma,
(, ), blank, /, ;, $, #, and @ in command names. However, some External
Security Managers (EMSs) restrict their use. Please consult your ESM
documentation for information on restricted characters.