User Commands
User commands are tools that are available at any time, in any workspace, as extensions to the Dyalog development environment.
New user commands are added periodically; see the end of this page for instructions on installing updates. For additional information on user commands, see the 
User Commands User Guide.
User commands are invoked in an APL Session by starting an input line with a ] character. For example, the ]Boxing user command enables "boxed" output (and can be used to change other details of the way output is formatted):
]Boxing on
Was OFF
'Hello' (1 2 3)
┌→────┬─────┐
│Hello│1 2 3│
└────→┴~───→┘
For a summary of the user command syntax, enter ]Help (Dyalog version 16.0 and earlier) or ] (version 17.0 and later).
For a list of the user commands available in your Session, enter ]?.
For example, with Dyalog version 16.0 (in July 2017):
]?
83 commands:
ARRAY Compare Edit
CALC Factors FromHex PivotTable ToHex
EXPERIMENTAL DBuild DTest
FILE CD Collect Compare Edit Find Replace Split ToLarge ToQuadTS Touch
FN Align Calls Compare Defs DInput Latest ReorderLocals
MSWIN Assemblies Caption CopyReg FileAssociations GUIProps KeyPress Open ToHTML
NS ScriptUpdate Summary Xref
OUTPUT Box Boxing Disp Display Find Format Layout Rows
PERFORMANCE Profile RunTime SpaceNeeded
SALT Clean Compare List Load Refresh RemoveVersions Save Settings Snap
SPICE UUpdate
TOOLS ADoc Calendar Chart Demo Version
TRANSFER In Out
UCMD UDebug ULoad UMonitor UNew UReset USetup
WS Check Compare Document FindRefs FnsLike Locate Map NamesLike Nms
ObsLike Peek SizeOf VarsLike
Updates to Dyalog-supplied User Commands and to SALT
User commands and SALT are continually improved. So that users can benefit from fixes, zip files are uploaded from time to time containing the latest complete set of SALT and Dyalog-supplied user command files. To update SALT and the Dyalog-supplied user commands in your installation, follow the instructions below.:
- Identify the [DYALOG] installation directory by entering the following in a Dyalog Session:
⎕←2 ⎕NQ'.' 'GetEnvironment' 'DYALOG' - Download the appropriate .zip file from the table below.
- On Microsoft Windows:
- Extract the contents of the .zip file to a temporary directory.
- Copy the newly-extracted SALT directory (with its files and subdirectores) to the [DYALOG] installation directory. If prompted you need to overwrite/replace existing files and directories.
This might need administrator privileges.
- On all other operating systems:
- In a terminal window, with root permissions:
- Change directory to the [DYALOG] installation directory.
- Unzip the downloaded .zip file.
- In a terminal window, with root permissions:
- In a Dyalog session, run ]UReset user command to ensure that that all cached user command-related information has been updated.
| APL Version | Date of Latest Update | Download Links |
|---|---|---|
| 14.0, 14.1 and 15.0 | 2017-08-22 |  |
| 16.0 | 2018-04-23 | |
| 17.0 | 2021-06-21 | |
| 17.1 and 18.0 | 2021-11-03 | |
| 18.2 | 2024-02-28 | |
| 19.0 | 2024-02-28 | |
For earlier versions of Dyalog, please contact support@dyalog.com.