I. Lesson 1

A. Hardware and Software differences.

B. What is DOS?

C. Why You Need DOS.

D. Set the Date and Time.

E. Check the Date and Time.

II. Lesson 2

A. Directory Command.

B. Scroll Through the Directory Listing.

C. Pause a Directory Listing.

D. View a Wide Listing of Files.

E. Recall a DOS Command.

F. Print a Directory Listing.

G. Check for a Single File.

H. Check for a Group of Files.

I. List Files with the Same Extension.

J. Clear the Screen.

III. Lesson 3

A. Create a DOS File.

B. Copy a File.

C. Copy a File with a New Extension.

D. Type a File with DOS.

E. Rename a File

F. Rename a Group of Files

IV. Lesson 4

A. Create a Subdirectory.

B. Move to a Subdirectory.

C. Set the DOS Prompt.

D. Move to the Parent Directory.

E. Copy a File into a Subdirectory.

F. Copy a Group of Files into a Subdirectory.

G. List Files in the Root from the Subdirectory.

H. Select the Directory List.

I. List Subdirectories.

V. Lesson 5

A. Delete a Single File.

B. Delete a Group of Files.

C. Delete all Files in a Subdirectory.

D. Remove a Subdirectory.

A. Format a Floppy Disk.

B. Change the Default Drive.

C. Diskcopy Command.

D. Copying a File from the Hard Drive to a Floppy.

The World of DOS - Creating Batch Files

Introduction(1)
History(1)
DOS/Win3.11/95/98 vs. NT/ME/XP/2000(1)
Command Index(1)
Navigating DOS(2)
Tips and Tricks(2)
Network/Harware Utilities(3)
How to make and use bootable floppy disks(3)
Batch Files(4)
Creating Batch Files(4)
Batch file utilities and commands(4)
BREAK CALL CHOICE CLS ECHO EXIT FOR GOTO IF LASTDRIVE MSCDEX PAUSE REM SET

The AUTOEXEC.BAT file(4) autoexec.nt config.sys
Types of Batch and System Files(4)
Parameters in batch files(4)
Batch File Library(5)
Subject Index(5)
Helpful DOS Links(5)

What are batch files? Batch files are not programs, pre se, they are lists of command line instructions that are batched together in one file. For the most part, you could manually type in the lines of a batch file and get the same results, but batch files make this work easy. Batch files do not contain "compiled" code like C++ so they can be opened, copied and edited. They are usually used for simple routines and low-level machine instruction, but they can be very powerful. If you look in your C:\, C:\WINDOWS, or C:\WINNT folder you will see a multitude of .BAT, .SYS, .CFG, .INF and other types. These are all kinds of batch files. This may shock you, but while most applications are writen in Basic or C++ they sit on a mountain of batch files. Batch files are the backbone of the Windows operating system, delete them and you"ve effectively disabled the OS. There is a reason for this. The system batch files on each computer are unique the that computer and change each time a program is loaded. The operating system must have access to these files and be able to add and delete instructions from them.

Creating Batch files

Simple instructions

1. Open a text editor like notepad(NOT word or wordpad)
2. Type or copy this text:

   @ECHO OFF ECHO. ECHO This is a batch file ECHO. PAUSE CLS EXIT

3. Save this as batchfile.bat, make sure there is no .txt extension after the .bat
4. Double-click the file icon

This is a little batch file I wrote that I use every day. It deletes the cookies that get dumped to my hard drive every time I go online. I could set my browser preferences not to accept cookies, but sometimes cookies are useful. Some CGI pages are unusable with cookies, sometimes when you enter a password for a Website, the site uses a cookie to remember your password. I just do not need hundreds of cookie files taking up space after I close my browser. With this batch file, all I have to do is double-click it and it deletes my cookies. Feel free to cut and paste this code to your Notepad or Wordpad. Save it as cookiekill.bat on your Desktop.

GOTO
To go to a different section in a batch file. You may create different sections by preceding the name with a colon.

Programmers may find this similar to funtions or sub-routines.

Skip sections of a batch file

Looping with GOTO

Use with CHOICE

IF, IF EXIST, IF NOT EXIST

Use with "errorlevel"
The generic paramater errorlevel refers to the output another program or command and is also used with the CHOICE structure. If you try and run a command in a batch file and produces an error, you can use errorlevel to accept the returned code and take some action. For example, let"s say you have a batch file that deletes some file.

If "file.txt" doesn"t exist, you will get the error: COULD NOT FIND C:\FILE.TXT. Instead, use a structure like this to create the file, then copy it by accepting the error.

an errorlevel of 1 means there was an error, errorlevel of 0 means there was no error. You can see these levels by adding this line after any line of commands:

Details.

PAUSE
Pauses until the user hits a key.

This s the familiar "Press any key to continue..." message.

REM
Allows a remark to be inserted in the batch .

ECHO
Setting ECHO "on" will the batch process to the screen, setting it to "off" will hide the batch process.

ECHO can also be used in batch file to send output to the screen:

ECHO. sends a blank line.

To echo special characters, precede them with a caret:

ECHO ^<
ECHO ^>
Otherwise you will get an error.

The @ before ECHO OFF suppresses the of the initial ECHO OFF command. Without the @ at the beginning of a batch file the results of the ECHO OFF command will be ed. The @ can be placed before any DOS command to suppress the .

Breaking long lines of code
You may break up long lines of code with the caret ^. Put it at the end of a line, the next line must have space at the begining. Example:

SET
Use to view or modify environment variables. More.

LASTDRIVE
Sets the last drive in the system.

MSCDEX
Loads the CD-ROM software extensions(drivers), usually so an operating system can be then loaded from CD. See the AUTOEXEC.BAT section for special instructions concerning CD ROM installation. Installing windows from a CD when the CDROM is not yet configured

EXIT
Exits the command-line process when the batch file terminates

BREAK
When turned on, batch file will stop if the user presses < Ctrl >-< Break > when turned off, the will continue until done.

CALL
Calls another batch file and then returns control to the first when done.

Call another program

Details.

CHOICE
Allows user input. Default is Y or N.
You may make your own choice with the /C: switch. This batch file s a menu of three options. Entering 1, 2 or 3 will a different row of symbols. Take note that the IF ERRORLEVEL statements must be listed in the reverse order of the selection. CHOICE is not recognized in some versions of NT.

FOR...IN...DO
Runs a specified command for each file in a set of files. FOR %%dosvar IN (set of items) DO command or command strcuture.
%%dosvar is the variable that will hold items in the list, usually a single leter: %%a or %%b. Case sensitive, %%a is different from %A. The items in the (set) are assigned to this variable each time the loop runs.

(set of items) is one item or multiple items seperated by commas that determine how many times the loop runs.

command or command strcuture is the operation you want to perform for each item in the list.

This code will run through the set (A, B, C), when it gets to B it will print the message: "B is in the set!"

So, you may create your own list or use various s like files to determine the loop run.
Details.

What does the batch file do? The first line has the command cls. cls clears the screen window of any previous data. The next three lines start with REM for "remark." Lines begining with REM do not contain commands, but instructions or messages that will be ed for the user. The next two lines begin with the command deltree, deltree not only deletes files but directories and sub-directories. In this case the file is deleting the directory cookies and all the files inside. This directory is automatically rebuilt. The deltree has been passed the parameter /y, this informs the process to answer "YES" to any confirmation questions. Sometimes you type the DEL or one of its cousins, the system will ask "Are sure you want to do this?" setting /y answers these prompts without interupting the process. The pause command halts the process temporarily and shows the users a list of all the files being deleted. cls clears the screen again, another REM line tells the user that the files are deleted. The last line contains only :end and returns the process to the command prompt. This version was created to show the user everything that is taking place in the process. The version bellow does the same thing without showing the user any details.

cls
@echo off

deltree /y c:\windows\cookies\*.*
deltree /y c:\windows\tempor~1\*.*

cls


Without REM lines there are no comments. The @echo off command keeps the process from being "echoed" in the DOS window, and without the pause and :end lines, the process runs and exits without prompting the user. In a process this small it is okay to have it be invisible to the user. With more a complex process, more visual feedback is needed. In computing there is fine line between too much and too little information. When in doubt give the user the oportunity to see what is going on.

This version is a little more thurough, deletes alot of junk