It is assumed that you are familiar with the functions of the operating system where DB2 is installed.
The following DB2 messages are accessible from the operating system command line:
As well, the message text associated with SQLSTATE values is available on-line.
Message identifiers consist of a three character message prefix (see above list), followed by a four or five digit message number. The single digit letter at the end which describes the severity of the error message is optional.
To access help on these error messages, enter the following at the operating system command prompt:
db2 "? XXXnnnnn" where XXX represents the message prefix and where nnnnn represents the message number.
Therefore, the following commands will produce the same result:
If the message text is too long for your screen, use the following command (on unix-based systems and others which support 'more'):
db2 "? XXXnnnnn" | more
Help can also invoked in the interactive input mode. To enter the interactive input mode, enter the following at the operating system command prompt:
db2
Once in the interactive input mode, you can enter commands at the following command prompt:
db2 =>
To get DB2 message help in this mode, type the following at the command prompt:
? XXXnnnnn
The message text associated with a given SQLSTATE value can be retrieved by issuing:
db2 "? nnnnn" or db2 "? nn"
where nnnnn is a five digit SQLSTATE (alphanumeric) and nn is the two digit SQLSTATE class code (first two digits of the SQLSTATE value).