Most command suites include multiple operation codes. The AFS Backup Command Reference describes each operation code in detail, and the AFS System Administrator's Guide describes how to use them in the context of performing administrative tasks. In general, the issuer should provide a command's arguments in the order prescribed in its AFS Backup Command Reference command description and the online help. For instance, the switch -server usually indicates that the argument names a file server machine. The instance specifies a particular entity of the type specified by the preceding switch.
Some arguments accept lists of instances, rather than just one instance.
The number and prescribed order of list-taking arguments in a command affects when it is legal to omit the switches. Some commands have one or more -flags , which specify the manner in which the command interpreter or server process should execute the command or what kind of output it should produce. Flags are preceded by hyphens like switches, but they take no instances. Although the command descriptions and online help generally list all flags after all instances, there is no prescribed order for flags. They may appear anywhere on the command line following the operation code, except in between a switch and its instances.