XSPEC retains a memory of previous commands. These commands can be reviewed or rerun using the history and !n commands. A log of the session can be written to an ASCII file using the log command.
A more complete description of the session can be written to a binary file using the xhistory command. The dump command writes the current data and model into the history file. The amount of output that XSPEC writes is set by the chatter command, which takes two arguments applying to the terminal and to the log file.
Information on the current XSPEC status can be printed out using the show command. The save command writes the current XSPEC status to a command file, which later can be run to reset XSPEC to the same configuration. XSPEC has a mechanism to automatically save the current status and this is controlled through the autosave command. During the fitting procedure, XSPEC sometimes will ask the user whether he or she wishes to continue. This question can be suppressed with the query command. The time command writes out system-timing information. Finally, XSPEC can be terminated with the exit or quit commands.