You can use the command line processor to enter DB2 commands, SQL statements, and operating system commands. It operates in the following modes:
To invoke a DB2 Command window, do the following:
| You can also invoke the DB2 command window by entering the db2cmd command at an MS-DOS prompt. |
If you are entering commands via the Command Window, you must include the db2 prefix. For example:
db2 list database directory
| If the DB2 command contains characters that have special meaning on the
operating system you are using, you will need to enter the command in
quotation marks to ensure that it is run properly.
For example, the following command would retrieve all the information from the employee table, even if the * character has a special meaning on the operating system: db2 "select * from employee" |
If you need to enter a long command that does not fit on one line, use the line continuation character, \. When you have reached the end of the line, press the Enter key to continue entering the command on the next line. For example:
db2 select empno, function, firstname, lastname, birthdate, from \ db2 (cont.) => employee where function='service' and \ db2 (cont.) => firstname='Lily' order by empno desc
To invoke the command line processor in interactive input mode, do the following:
| You can also invoke the command line processor in interactive input mode by entering the db2cmd command followed by the db2 command at an MS-DOS prompt. |
In interactive input mode, the prompt looks like this:
db2 =>
In interactive input mode, you do not have to enter DB2 commands with a db2 prefix; instead, you just enter the DB2 command. For example:
db2 => list database directory
To enter operating system commands in interactive mode, precede the operating-system command with an exclamation mark (!). For example:
db2 => !dir
If you need to enter a long command that does not fit on one line, use the line continuation character, \. When you have reached the end of the line, press the Enter key to continue entering the command on the next line. For example:
db2 => select empno, function, firstname, lastname, birthdate, from \ db2 (cont.) => employee where function='service' and \ db2 (cont.) => firstname='Lily' order by empno desc
To end interactive input mode, enter the quit command.
For more information on advanced topics using the CLP, refer to the Command Reference.