The SPAWN command creates a sub-process for access to OpenVMS CLI (usually DCL) without terminating the current LKE environment. Use the SPAWN command to suspend a session and issue DCL commands such as DIRECTORY or SHOW LOGICAL.

The format of the SPAWN command is:

                
            SP[AWN] [DCL command]
                
         

The SPAWN command has no qualifiers.

                LKE> SPAWN "DIR *.DAT"
                

This command invokes an OpenVMS directory listing of all files in the current default directory with a .DAT extension. The sub-process terminates when the directory listing completes.