Syntax batch files

The choice and set commands allow you to have options in your batch file. Further information about each of these commands is on the choice and set pages. Like the DOS command, cls would clear your screen. Run the cls command at the top of your batch file to clear any previous commands or output. This action makes the batch file output easier to find and read.

Echo a message in the batch file. If you'd like to create a blank line, type ECHO. Exits out of the DOS window if the batch file is running from Windows. See the exit command page for further information on this command. Jumps to a label or section of a batch file. The goto function makes it easier to jump back to the start of a batch file if a condition is met, or an error occurs.

Used to check for a certain condition if the condition exists. If that condition exists, it performs that function. See the if command for further information on this command. The batch command ATTRIB is used to display the file attributes or set an attribute to a file in the working directory. Now let us suppose we have a file note. We will display its file attributes and then make it hidden and read only by adding 'ah' and 'r' attributes to it. And finally, we will remove some attributes we added as well.

The batch command CD helps in navigating through different directories and changing directories or displaying current directory. The batch command COMP compares the size of two files and checks if they are different in size. This script will ask for users permission to check the properties of disk partition and if allowed, will display following output in the console depending on disk properties. This output shows the fraction of drivers list with their properties and installed date.

Besides printing message, echo is also used for deciding whether or not to display the command itself. Like in this example as well, in the first line we have turned OFF echo, which makes sure that commands themselves are not printed. In this example, as soon as HI is printed in the console, EXIT command will terminate the program and close the output console.

This script will extract all the contents of xyz. The batch command FC finds the difference between the two files and displays them to console. The batch command FIND search the given file to find the desired string and if located, it displays the corresponding line in which the string exists. This might be the one of the most important batch file commands because with this HELP command we can know about all the other commands used in batch file or command prompt.

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