The assembler command line arguments are either options or source file names. Any argument that does not start with a dash (-) character, is assumed to be a source file name. Those arguments starting with a dash are processed as overrides to the options read from the option files. The options may be specified in either upper or lower case.
Most of the options have both a normal and an abbreviated form. Either form may be used when specifying options in either the command line or in option files. The normal form is usually used within the option files, whereas the abbreviated form is available to shorten the assembler command line.
An example command line is:
x390 -term -flag(rent) source "-sysparm('X Y')"
As you can see, options may be mixed in any order with source file names. However, source files and options are processed in the order specified. Using the abbreviated forms, this same command line is:
x390 -t -fre source "-sp'X Y'"
In the abbreviated forms, the parentheses surrounding option parameters may be omitted. If many options are specified, the command line may be further shortened by combining the options as follows:
x390 -"t fre sp'X Y'" source
Some of the options allow a string parameter to be specified. If the string contains any blanks or special characters, the string must be preceded and followed by either single quotes (') or double quotes ("). In option files, either type of quote may be used. On the command line, any option containing a blank must be surrounded by double quotes. This is due to processing performed on the command line arguments done before they are passed to the assembler; and is in addition to the assembler requirement for string parameters. This processing removes double quotes from the options unless the double quote is preceded by a back-slash (\).
Note: For the UNIX command line, parentheses are special characters and must be surrounded by quotes.