cmd.exe interacts with the user through a command-line interface. On Windows, this interface is implemented through the Win32 console. cmd.exe may take advantage of features available to native programs of its own platform. For example, on OS/2 and Windows, it can use real pipes in command pipelines, allowing both sides of the pipeline to run concurrently. As a result, it is possible to redirect the standard error stream. (COMMAND.COM uses temporary files, and runs the two sides serially, one after the other.)
Multiple commands can be processed in a single command line using the command separator &&.[8]
When using this separator in the Windows cmd.exe, each command must complete successfully for the following commands to execute. For example:
C:\>CommandA && CommandB && CommandC
In the above example, CommandB will only execute if CommandA completes successfully, and the execution of CommandC depends on the successful completion of CommandB. To process subsequent commands even if the previous command produces an error, the command separator & should be used.[9] For example:
C:\>CommandA & CommandB & CommandC
On Windows XP or later, the maximum length of the string that can be used at the command prompt is 8191 (213-1) characters. On earlier versions, such as Windows 2000 or Windows NT 4.0, the maximum length of the string is 2047 (211-1) characters. This limit includes the command line, individual environment variables that are inherited by other processes, and all environment variable expansions.[10]
On Windows, cmd.exe is mostly compatible with COMMAND.COM but provides the following extensions over it:
More detailed error messages than the blanket "Bad command or file name" (in the case of malformed commands) of COMMAND.COM. In OS/2, errors are reported in the chosen language of the system, their text being taken from the system message files. The HELP command can then be issued with the error message number to obtain further information.
Supports using of arrow keys to scroll through command history. (Under DOS this function was only available under DR DOS (through HISTORY) and later via an external component called DOSKEY.)
Adds rotating command-line completion for file and folder paths, where the user can cycle through results for the prefix using the Tab ↹, and ⇧ Shift+Tab ↹ for reverse direction.
Treats the caret character (^) as the escape character; the character following it is to be taken literally. There are special characters in cmd.exe and COMMAND.COM (e.g. "<", ">" and "|") that are meant to alter the behavior of the command line processor. The caret character forces the command line processor to interpret them literally.
Supports delayed variable expansion with SETLOCAL EnableDelayedExpansion, allowing values of variables to be calculated at runtime instead of during parsing of script before execution (Windows 2000 and later), fixing DOS idioms that made using control structures hard and complex.[16] The extensions can be disabled, providing a stricter compatibility mode.
Internal commands have also been improved:
The DELTREE command was merged into the RD command, as part of its /Sswitch.
SetLocal and EndLocal commands limit the scope of changes to the environment. Changes made to the command line environment after SetLocal commands are local to the batch file. EndLocal command restores the previous settings.[17]
The Call command allows subroutines within batch file. The Call command in COMMAND.COM only supports calling external batch files.
An expansion of the For command supports parsing files and arbitrary sets in addition to file names.
The new PushD and PopD commands provide access past navigated paths similar to "forward" and "back" buttons in a web browser or File Explorer.
The conditional IF command can perform case-insensitive comparisons and numeric equality and inequality comparisons in addition to case-sensitive string comparisons. (This was available in DR-DOS, but not in PC DOS or MS-DOS.)
^"Command Processor Shell (Windows CE .NET 4.2)". Microsoft Docs. June 30, 2006. from the original on August 31, 2022.
^"Command Processor Shell (Windows CE 5.0)". Microsoft Docs. September 14, 2012. from the original on August 28, 2022.
^"Command Processor Shell (Windows Embedded CE 6.0)". Microsoft Docs. 2012. from the original on September 5, 2022.
^Zachary, G. Pascal (1994). Showstopper! The Breakneck Race to Create Windows NT and the Next Generation at Microsoft. The Free Press. ISBN0-02-935671-7.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Windows Command Prompt.
Wikibooks has a book on the topic of: Windows Batch Scripting
"Command-line reference A-Z". Microsoft. April 26, 2023.
. Microsoft Windows XP Product Documentation. Microsoft. Archived from the original on September 2, 2011. Retrieved May 24, 2006.
. windows Help. Microsoft. Archived from the original on April 22, 2015. Retrieved April 20, 2015.
"An A–Z Index of the Windows CMD command line". SS64.com.
. windowscmd.com. Archived from the original on January 11, 2022. Retrieved January 4, 2022.
January 01, 1970
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Not to be confused with COMMAND COM For other uses see CMD Command Prompt redirects here For the concept see Command prompt Command Prompt also known as cmd exe or cmd is the default command line interpreter for the OS 2 1 eComStation ArcaOS Microsoft Windows Windows NT family and Windows CE family and ReactOS 2 operating systems On Windows CE NET 4 2 3 Windows CE 5 0 4 and Windows Embedded CE 6 0 5 it is referred to as the Command Processor Shell Its implementations differ between operating systems but the behavior and basic set of commands are consistent cmd exe is the counterpart of COMMAND COM in DOS and Windows 9x systems and analogous to the Unix shells used on Unix like systems The initial version of cmd exe for Windows NT was developed by Therese Stowell 6 Windows CE 2 11 was the first embedded Windows release to support a console and a Windows CE version of cmd exe 7 The ReactOS implementation of cmd exe is derived from FreeCOM the FreeDOS command line interpreter 2 Command Prompt cmd exe Other namesWindows Command ProcessorDeveloper s Microsoft IBM ReactOS contributorsInitial releaseDecember 1987 36 years ago 1987 12 Operating systemWindows NT family Windows CE family OS 2 eComStation ArcaOS ReactOSPlatformIA 32 x86 64 ARM and historically DEC Alpha MIPS PowerPC and Itanium PredecessorCOMMAND COMTypeCommand line interpreter Contents 1 Operation 2 Internal commands 2 1 OS 2 2 2 Windows NT family 2 3 Windows CE 2 4 ReactOS 3 Comparison with COMMAND COM 4 See also 5 References 6 Further reading 7 External linksOperation editcmd exe interacts with the user through a command line interface On Windows this interface is implemented through the Win32 console cmd exe may take advantage of features available to native programs of its own platform For example on OS 2 and Windows it can use real pipes in command pipelines allowing both sides of the pipeline to run concurrently As a result it is possible to redirect the standard error stream COMMAND COM uses temporary files and runs the two sides serially one after the other Multiple commands can be processed in a single command line using the command separator amp amp 8 When using this separator in the Windows cmd exe each command must complete successfully for the following commands to execute For example C gt CommandA amp amp CommandB amp amp CommandCIn the above example CommandB will only execute if CommandA completes successfully and the execution of CommandC depends on the successful completion of CommandB To process subsequent commands even if the previous command produces an error the command separator amp should be used 9 For example C gt CommandA amp CommandB amp CommandC On Windows XP or later the maximum length of the string that can be used at the command prompt is 8191 213 1 characters On earlier versions such as Windows 2000 or Windows NT 4 0 the maximum length of the string is 2047 211 1 characters This limit includes the command line individual environment variables that are inherited by other processes and all environment variable expansions 10 Quotation marks are required for the following special characters 8 amp lt gt and white space Internal commands editOS 2 edit nbsp OS 2 Window cmd exe on Microsoft OS 2 Version 1 3 The following is a list of the Microsoft OS 2 internal cmd exe commands 11 break chcp cd chdir cls copy date del detach dir dpath echo erase exit for goto if md mkdir path pause prompt rd rem ren rename rmdir set shift start time type ver verify vol Windows NT family edit nbsp cmd exe on Windows 11 The following list of internal commands is supported by cmd exe on Windows NT and later 12 assoc break call cd chdir cls color copy date del dir dpath echo endlocal erase exit for ftype goto if keys md mkdir mklink introduced in Windows Vista move path pause popd prompt pushd rd rem ren rename rmdir set setlocal shift start time title type ver verify vol Windows CE edit nbsp Pocket CMD v 3 0 cmd exe on Windows CE 3 0 The following list of commands is supported by cmd exe on Windows CE NET 4 2 13 Windows CE 5 0 14 and Windows Embedded CE 6 0 15 attrib call cd chdir cls copy date del dir echo erase exit goto help if md mkdir move path pause prompt pwd rd rem ren rename rmdir set shift start time title type In addition the net command is available as an external command stored in Windows net exe ReactOS edit nbsp Command Prompt cmd exe on ReactOS The ReactOS implementation includes the following internal commands 2 alias assoc beep call cd chdir choice cls color copy ctty date del delete delay dir dirs echo echos echoerr echoserr endlocal erase exit for free goto history if memory md mkdir mklink move path pause popd prompt pushd rd rmdir rem ren rename replace screen set setlocal shift start time timer title type ver verify volComparison with COMMAND COM editOn Windows cmd exe is mostly compatible with COMMAND COM but provides the following extensions over it More detailed error messages than the blanket Bad command or file name in the case of malformed commands of COMMAND COM In OS 2 errors are reported in the chosen language of the system their text being taken from the system message files The HELP command can then be issued with the error message number to obtain further information Supports using of arrow keys to scroll through command history Under DOS this function was only available under DR DOS through HISTORY and later via an external component called DOSKEY Adds rotating command line completion for file and folder paths where the user can cycle through results for the prefix using the Tab and Shift Tab for reverse direction Treats the caret character as the escape character the character following it is to be taken literally There are special characters in cmd exe and COMMAND COM e g lt gt and that are meant to alter the behavior of the command line processor The caret character forces the command line processor to interpret them literally Supports delayed variable expansion with SETLOCAL EnableDelayedExpansion allowing values of variables to be calculated at runtime instead of during parsing of script before execution Windows 2000 and later fixing DOS idioms that made using control structures hard and complex 16 The extensions can be disabled providing a stricter compatibility mode Internal commands have also been improved The DELTREE command was merged into the RD command as part of its S switch SetLocal and EndLocal commands limit the scope of changes to the environment Changes made to the command line environment after SetLocal commands are local to the batch file EndLocal command restores the previous settings 17 The Call command allows subroutines within batch file The Call command in COMMAND COM only supports calling external batch files File name parser extensions to the Set command are comparable with C shell further explanation needed The Set command can perform expression evaluation An expansion of the For command supports parsing files and arbitrary sets in addition to file names The new PushD and PopD commands provide access past navigated paths similar to forward and back buttons in a web browser or File Explorer The conditional IF command can perform case insensitive comparisons and numeric equality and inequality comparisons in addition to case sensitive string comparisons This was available in DR DOS but not in PC DOS or MS DOS See also editComparison of command shells List of DOS commands COMMAND COM PowerShell Windows TerminalReferences edit Notes on using the default OS 2 command processor CMD EXE www tavi co uk a b c reactos reactos GitHub December 4 2021 Command Processor Shell Windows CE NET 4 2 Microsoft Docs June 30 2006 Archived from the original on August 31 2022 Command Processor Shell Windows CE 5 0 Microsoft Docs September 14 2012 Archived from the original on August 28 2022 Command Processor Shell Windows Embedded CE 6 0 Microsoft Docs 2012 Archived from the original on September 5 2022 Zachary G Pascal 1994 Showstopper The Breakneck Race to Create Windows NT and the Next Generation at Microsoft The Free Press ISBN 0 02 935671 7 Douglas McConnaughey Boling 2001 Programming Microsoft Windows CE 2nd ed Microsoft Press ISBN 978 0735614437 a b cmd Microsoft Learn September 12 2023 Archived from the original on November 21 2023 Command Redirection Pipes Windows CMD SS64 com ss64 com Retrieved September 23 2021 Command prompt Cmd exe command line string limitation Microsoft Operating System 2 User s Reference PDF Microsoft 1987 Hill Tim 1998 Windows NT Shell Scripting Macmillan Technical Publishing ISBN 978 1578700479 Command Processor Commands Windows CE NET 4 2 Microsoft Docs June 30 2006 Archived from the original on August 31 2022 Command Processor Commands Windows CE 5 0 Microsoft Docs September 14 2012 Archived from the original on August 31 2022 Command Processor Commands Windows Embedded CE 6 0 Microsoft Docs January 5 2012 Archived from the original on September 6 2022 Windows 2000 delayed environment variable expansion Windows IT Pro Archived from the original on July 13 2015 Retrieved July 13 2015 Setlocal TechNet Microsoft September 11 2009 Retrieved January 13 2015 Further reading editDavid Moskowitz David Kerr 1994 OS 2 2 11 Unleashed 2nd ed Sams Publishing ISBN 978 0672304453 Stanek William R 2008 Windows Command Line Administrator s Pocket Consultant 2nd ed Microsoft Press ISBN 978 0735622623 External links edit nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Windows Command Prompt nbsp Wikibooks has a book on the topic of Windows Batch Scripting Command line reference A Z Microsoft April 26 2023 Cmd Microsoft Windows XP Product Documentation Microsoft Archived from the original on September 2 2011 Retrieved May 24 2006 Command Prompt frequently asked questions windows Help Microsoft Archived from the original on April 22 2015 Retrieved April 20 2015 An A Z Index of the Windows CMD command line SS64 com Windows CMD com Hub of Windows Commands windowscmd com Archived from the original on January 11 2022 Retrieved January 4 2022 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Cmd exe amp oldid 1221178653, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
