List of DOS commands: Difference between revisions

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This article lists notable [[command (computing)|commands]] provided by the [[MS-DOS]] compatible [[disk operating system]]s (DOS), especially as used on an [[IBM PC compatible]]s [[computer]]. ManyOther unrelatedDOS diskvariants operatingas systemswell as the uselegacy [[Windows]] [[shell (computing)|shell]], [[Command Prompt]] (cmd.exe), provide many of these commands. Many other DOS variants [[List of disk operating systems called DOS|theare DOSinformally acronymcalled ''DOS'']], andbut are not partincluded ofin the scope of thisthe list. The highly related variant, [[IBM PC DOS]], is included. The list is not intended to be exhaustive, but does include commands covering the various releases.

InA the list below, commandscommand that can acceptaccepts more than one [[file name,]] or includes a filename includingwildcard wildcardscharacter ({{code|*}} and {{code|?}}), areis said to accept a ''<kbdcode>[[filespec]]</kbdcode>'' (file specification) parameter. CommandsA command that can accept onlyaccepts a single file name areis said to accept a ''<kbdcode>filename</kbdcode>'' parameter. Additionally, command line switches, or other parameter strings, can be supplied on the command line. Spaces and symbols such as a "/" or a "-" may be used to allow the command processor to parse the command line into filenames, file specifications, and other options.

Some commands are implemented as [[shell builtin|built-in]] to the [[command-line interpreter|command interpreter]] while others are external [[application software|applications]]. Over multiple generations, commands were added for additional functions. In [[Windows]], the legacy shell [[Command Prompt]] provides many of these commands.

Each command is implemented either as [[shell builtin|built-in]] to the [[command-line interpreter|command interpreter]], [[COMMAND.COM]], or as an external [[computer program|program]].

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==Commands==

==Command processing==

The command interpreter for DOS runs when no application programs are running. When an application exits, if the transient portion of the command interpreter in memory was overwritten, DOS will reload it from disk. Some commands are internal—built into COMMAND.COM; others are external commands stored on disk. When the user types a line of text at the operating system command prompt, COMMAND.COM will parse the line and attempt to match a command name to a built-in command or to the name of an executable program file or [[batch file]] on disk. If no match is found, an error message is printed, and the command prompt is refreshed.

External commands were too large to keep in the command processor, or were less frequently used. Such utility programs would be stored on disk and loaded just like regular application programs but were distributed with the operating system. Copies of these utility command programs had to be on an accessible disk, either on the current drive or on the command [[PATH (variable)|path]] set in the command interpreter.

In the list below, commands that can accept more than one file name, or a filename including wildcards (* and ?), are said to accept a ''<kbd>[[filespec]]</kbd>'' (file specification) parameter. Commands that can accept only a single file name are said to accept a ''<kbd>filename</kbd>'' parameter. Additionally, command line switches, or other parameter strings, can be supplied on the command line. Spaces and symbols such as a "/" or a "-" may be used to allow the command processor to parse the command line into filenames, file specifications, and other options.

The command interpreter preserves the case of whatever parameters are passed to commands, but the command names themselves and file names are case-insensitive.

Many commands are the same across many DOS systems, but some differ in command syntax or name.

==DOS commands==

A partial list of the most common commands for [[MS-DOS]] and [[IBM PC DOS]] follows below.

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== See also ==

* [[:Category:Windows commands]]

* {{Annotated link|COMMAND.COM}}

* {{Annotated link|cmd.exe}}

* [[List of CONFIG.SYS directives]]

* [[Timeline of DOS operating systems]]