DOS Files

2008 Oct 18

File Names

Filenames and pathnames:
   drive:\path1\path2\...\filename.ext

Wildcards: (allowed in some commands)
   * : matches zero or more characters
   ? : matches any one character

Legal filename.ext characters:
   a..z A..Z _ 0..9 & @ ^ _ { } $ ! # ( ) ' ` ~ % -

*drive:*	Represents drive letter (colon is required)
*path1,path2*	Represents the subdirectories
*filename*	Represents the 1-8 (or more) character name of the file
*.ext*	Represents the 0-3 (or more) character file extension
...	An ellipses indicates preceeding parameter can be repeated one or more times

Note: the case of a letter in a file name does not matter in
DOS and Windows (unlike unix/linux where it does matter).

**Input/Output Redirection (DOS 2.0 and later)**
>	Sends stdout to a named file, overwriting if it exists
>>	Appends stdout to a named file, creating if it does not exist
<	Redirects stdin from keyboard to read a file
\|	Pipes stdout from command on left to stdin of command on right

**DOS Reserved Names**
AUX	The primary serial port (usually COM1).
COMx	The serial ports.
CON	The standard device for input and output (normally the keyboard on input and the video display for output).
LPTx	The printer (parallel) ports (e.g. LPT1).
NUL	The null device; the computer ignores everything written to it.
PRN	The primary printer port (usually LPT1).

2005-2008