Command Reference

HELP

Permits the user to invoke help from the Information Center.

This command is not available on UNIX based systems.

Authorization

None

Required Connection

None

Command Syntax

>>-HELP--+------------------+----------------------------------><
         '-character-string-'
 

Command Parameters

HELP character-string

Any SQL or DB2 command, or any other item listed in the Information Center.

Examples

Following are examples of the HELP command:

• db2 help

  This command opens the DB2 Information Center, which contains information about DB2 divided into categories, such as tasks, reference, books, and so on. This is equivalent to invoking the db2ic command with no parameters.

• db2 help drop

  This command opens the Web browser, and displays information about the SQL DROP statement. This is equivalent to invoking the following command: db2ic -j drop. The db2ic command searches first the SQL Reference, and then the Command Reference, for a statement or a command called DROP, and then displays the first one found.

• db2 help 'drop database'

  This command initiates a more refined search, and causes information about the DROP DATABASE command to be displayed.

Usage Notes

The Information Center must be installed on the user's system. HTML books in the DB2 library must be located in the \sqllib\doc\html subdirectory.

The command line processor will not know if the command succeeds or fails, and cannot report error conditions.