Utilities can be initiated at the ODT by way of the ??RUN or the PRIMITIVE RUN command or the WFL RUN statement. There are other system commands that initiate specific utilities, such as the TDIR (Tape Directory) command, which initiates the FILEDATA utility to list the directory of a tape, and the DA (Dump Analyzer) system command, which initiates the DUMPANALYZER utility.

Two WFL statements that initiate specific utilities can be entered at the ODT. The LOG statement initiates the LOGANALYZER utility, and the PB statement initiates the BACKUP utility. To use the WFL PB statement at the ODT, you must prefix it with a question mark (?); otherwise, the system interprets it as the PB (Print Backup) system command, which does not initiate the BACKUP utility.