DOS Commands are instructions to perform tasks on files and
directories. They are case insensitive. And as you already know, file is the
area where we store group of information or data, and collection of group of
files is called a directory. In MS-DOS the file name follow 8dot3 format and is
divided into two parts - primary name and secondary name. Primary name is up to
8 characters long and secondary name is up to 4 characters with dot. For
example, in the image file-name logo.jpg Logo is the primary name and .JPG is
the secondary name. Secondary names are fixed for particular type of file,
meaning for system files the secondary name is designated as .sys, for text
files it is .txt and so on. Here is the list of some of the important types of
files with their default secondary names:
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Text file
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.txt
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Command file
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.com
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System file
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.sys
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Programme file
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.prg
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Database file
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.dbm
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Library file
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.lib
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Batch file
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.bat
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Executable file
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.exe
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DOS Commands are divided into 2 types:
- Internal
Commands
These are for performing basic operations on files and directories and
they do not need any external file support.
- External
Commands
These external commands are for performing advanced tasks and they do
need some external file support as they are not stored in COMMAND.COM
Cursor gives our position.
In MS-DOS keyboard shortcuts involving handy ones like
Functional keys, arrows along with ESC are of great help for recalling to
searching to clearing command line etc., Here are few of them:
- UP (↑) and DOWN (↓) arrows recall previously
entered commands.
- ESC clears the present
command line.
- F7 key displays command
history and ALT+F7/ESC hides it.
- F9 is used to selects a
command by number. Just enter the command number and it fetches the
command line for you.
Most Commonly Used Internal DOS Commands
- DATE
This command is used to display the system current date setting and
prompt you to enter a new date. The syntax is: DATE [/T | date]
If you type DATE without parameters then it displays current date and
prompts to enter new date. We should give new date in mm-dd-yy format. If you
want to keep the same date just Press ENTER. DATE command with /T switch tells
the command to just output the current system date, without prompting for a new
date.
- TIME
This command is used to displays or set the system time.
The syntax is: TIME [/T | time]
Same as DATE command, typing TIME with no parameters displays the
current time and a prompt for a new one. Press ENTER to keep the same time.
TIME command used with /T switch tells the command to just output the current
system time, without prompting for a new time.
- COPY CON
It is used to create a file in the existing directory. Syntax is: COPY CON
filename after that press Enter and start typing your text and after you're
done typing your text, to save and exit hit F6 key.
- TYPE
This command is used to display the contents of a text file or files.
The syntax is: TYPE [drive:][path]filename Now, lets try to display
the contents of the file named filename we've created earlier using COPY CON
command.
- CLS
It is used to clear the screen. Syntax is CLS
- REN
This command is used to change/modify the name of a file or files.
Syntax is: REN [drive:] [path] filename1
filename2.
Here, filename1 is source file for which you wanted to change the name, and
filename2 will obviously becomes your new file name. Also note that you cannot
specify a new drive or path for your destination file.
- DIR
This command displays a list of files and subdirectories in a directory.
Syntax is: DIR [drive:] [path] [filename]
[/A[[:]attributes]] [/B] [/C] [/D] [/L]
[/N] [/O[[:]sortorder]] [/P] [/Q]
[/S] [/T[[:]timefield]] [/W] [/X] [/4]
Here,
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[drive:][path][filename]
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Specifies drive, directory, and/or files to list.
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/A:attributes
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Displays files with specified attributes. The possible
attributes are as follow: D →
Directories, R → Read-only files, H → Hidden files, A → Files ready for archiving, S →
System files, - Prefix meaning not
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/B
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display in bare format with no heading information or
summary
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/C
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Using this attribute with dir by default displays the
thousand separator in file sizes. To disable display or separator use /-C
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/D
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Displays file list sorted by column.
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/L
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Uses lowercase in listing file names and
sub-directories.
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/N
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Display in new long list format where filenames are on
the far right.
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/O:sortorder
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Displays list by files in sorted order. The sortorder
attributes are as follow: N → By name
(alphabetic), S → By size (smallest first), E → By extension (alphabetic), D → By date/time (oldest first), G → Group directories first, - Prefix to reverse
order
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/P
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Display page wise pausing after each screenful of
information and prompts to press any key to continue.
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/Q
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Displays the owner of a file or files.
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/S
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Displays files in specified directory and all
subdirectories. Bear caution in using this in your root directory as you may
end up in overflowing information. To stop the screen overflow at any point
hit Pause-Break key.
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T:timefield
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This sorts and displays the list based on time field
specified. C for Creation, A for Last Access, W for Last Written
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/W
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Displays list width wise or wide list format.
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/X
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This is used to display the short names generated for
non-8dot3 file names.
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VER
This command displays the version of the Microsoft Windows
running on your computer.
VOL
It displays the disk volume label and serial number, if
they exist for the drive specified. If no drive is specified it displays for
the active drive.
Syntax is VOL [drive:]
DEL/ERASE
Used to delete one or more files. Syntax is DEL
[/P] [/F] [/S] [/Q]
[/A[[:]attributes]] names
Here,
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names
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Specifies a list of one or more files or directories.
Wildcards * and ? may be used to delete multiple files. * indicates group of
unknown characters whereas using wildcard ? in file-names is for single
unknown character. And using this command if a directory is specified, all
files within the directory will be deleted.
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/P
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Prompts for (Y)es/(N)o confirmation before deleting each
file.
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/F
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Used to force delete read-only files.
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/S
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Delete specified files from all subdirectories. If
Command Extensions are enabled DEL
and ERASE change while using /S switch such that it shows you only the files
that are deleted, not the ones it could not find.
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/Q
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Delete in quite mode and do not ask if ok to delete on
global wildcard
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/A:attributes
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Delete files based on specified attribute. The
attributes are: R for Read-only files, S for System files, H for Hidden
files, A for files ready for archiving and - Prefix meaning not.
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COPY
This command is useful in copying one or more files to
another file or location. Syntax is COPY [/D]
[/V] [/N] [/Y | /-Y] [/Z] [/A |
/B ] source [/A | /B] [+ source [/A | /B] [+ ...]]
[destination [/A | /B]]
The different switches that can be used with this command as follow along with
their use.
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source
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It specifies the file or files to be copied.
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/A
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Indicates an ASCII text file.
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/B
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This switch indicates a binary file.
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/D
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This allows the destination file to be created with
decryption.
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destination
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This specifies the directory and/or filename for the new
file or files.
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/V
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Helps to verify new files to be written correctly.
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/N
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Specifying this switch uses short filename, if
available, when copying a file with a non-8dot3 file name.
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/Y
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If destination file already exists, this switch
suppresses prompting to confirm you want to overwrite it and does it asap.
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/-Y
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Contrary to above switch, this causes prompting to
confirm you want to overwrite an existing destination file.
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/Z
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Copies networked files in restartable mode.
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For appending multiple files for source use wildcard or file1+file2+file3
format and make sure to specify a single file for destination.
MD, CD and RD
- MD (or MKDIR) command stand for make
directory and it is used to create a directory.
Syntax is MD [drive:]path
- CD (or CHDIR) stands for create or change
directory and it allows to display the name of or change the current
directory or rather we can say come out of a directory. Syntax is CD
[/D] [drive:][path]
→ Typing CD drive:
displays the current directory in the specified drive. This CD (or CHDIR)
command does not treat spaces as delimiters due to which it allows to CD
into a subdirectory name that contains a space without surrounding the
name with quotes.
For example:
CHDIR \program files\mozilla firefox
is the same as:
CHDIR "\program files\mozilla firefox"
→ If you type CD
without any parameters it displays current drive and directory. CD..
specifies that you want to change to the higher directory in the current
path. Whereas, using CD\ you can directly change to parent/root
directory from any location in the current drive.
→Using /D switch changes
current drive in addition to current directory for a drive.
- RD (or RMDIR) command removes or deletes a
directory. There are two conditions to remove any directory - (1)
Directory to be removed should be empty. and (2) We should be outside the
directory we are commanding to delete.
Syntax is RD [/S] [/Q] [drive:]path
Here, using the switch /S removes a directory tree meaning it removes all
directories and files in the specified directory in addition to the
directory itself. And using /Q is the quiet mode that doesn't asks for ok
approval to remove a directory tree.
Source:- any Blog or using Internet
