You start a CICS transaction by pressing the CLEAR key to clear the screen, and entering the transaction identifier, either by itself or followed by data, on the command line of the screen. The command line is a single line, usually at the top of the screen.
You can type the transaction identifier by itself and follow the prompts until a complete transaction command is built up, or you can type the complete transaction command on the command line. If you do not enter enough information, or if the information you enter is wrong, you are prompted to complete or correct your input.
For example, in the following transaction, CEMT is the transaction identifier and the additional data is INQUIRE PROGRAM(PROG1).
CEMT INQUIRE PROGRAM(PROG1)
When the transaction starts, it processes the additional data. At the completion of this transaction, you get the following message:
STATUS: SESSION ENDED
After a transaction has completed, press the CLEAR key to clear the screen in readiness for the next transaction. You can cancel any request by typing CANCEL on the command line.