An operator display terminal (ODT) is any data comm terminal or workstation that is connected to the system through the System Control Processor (SCP) or the ODT-DLP. The system provides ODTs with access to two operational modes: system command mode and data comm mode. When an ODT is in data comm mode, you can log on to the Transaction Server and use various programs that run under the Transaction Server, such as MARC. When an ODT is in system command mode, you can enter system commands or view automatic displays of system information.

The following subsections discuss tasking capabilities and programming considerations for an ODT running in system command mode. For details about any of the system commands, refer to the System Commands Reference.