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1. Command Name
The DOS command
name is the name you enter to start the DOS program (a few of the DOS commands
can be entered using shortcut names). The DOS command name is always entered
first. In this book, the command is usually printed in uppercase letters, but
you can enter command names as either lowercase or uppercase or a mix of both.
2. Space
Always leave a space after the command
name.
3. Drive Designation
The drive designation
(abbreviated in this book as "d:") is an option for many DOS commands. However,
some commands are not related to disk drives and therefore do not require a
drive designation. Whenever you enter a DOS command that deals with disk drives
and you are already working in the drive in question, you do not have to enter
the drive designator. For example, if you are working in drive A (when the DOS
prompt A> is showing at the left side of the screen) and you want to use the
DIR command to display a directory listing of that same drive, you do not have
to enter the drive designation. If you do not enter a drive designation, DOS
always assumes you are referring to the drive you are currently working in
(sometimes called the "default" drive).
4. A Colon
When
referring to a drive in a DOS command, you must always follow the drive
designator with a colon (:) (this is how DOS recognizes it as a drive
designation).
5. Pathname
A pathname (path) refers to the
path you want DOS to follow in order to act on the DOS command. As described in
Chapter 3, it indicates the path from the current directory or subdirectory to
the files that are to be acted upon.
6. Filename
A filename
is the name of a file stored on disk. As described in Chapter 1, a filename can
be of eight or fewer letters or other legal characters.
7. Filename
Extension
A filename extension can follow the filename to further
identify it. The extension follows a period and can be of three or fewer
characters. A filename extension is not required.
8.
Switches
Characters shown in a command syntax that are represented by
a letter or number and preceded by a forward slash (for example, "/P") are
command options (sometimes known as "switches"). Use of these options activate
special operations as part of a DOS command's functions.
9.
Brackets
Items enclosed in square brackets are optional; in other
words, the command will work in its basic form without entering the information
contained inside the brackets.
10. Ellipses
Ellipses (...)
indicate that an item in a command syntax can be repeated as many times as
needed.
11. Vertical Bar
When items are separated by a
vertical bar (|), it means that you enter one of the separated items. For
example: ON | OFF means that you can enter either ON or OFF, but not
both.