All routines are executed by command line entry with various options. In IDL, optional switches can be included on the command line in a comma separated list. For example, to load a TM file one might use:
qload, /nolook, tmdir='\\egse\tm\'
switches preceded by a forward slash, as in /nolook in the example above, are for true/false options. General options can be input with an equal sign, as in the above example which tells the routine where to look for the TM data.