Skip to main content

Section 4 Introduction

Introduction

Section 3 introduced you to the Dir command. You used it to display a list of filenames. This section provides more information about filenames and disk directories, sometimes called file paths.

Filenames are given to text, data, and program files that reside on a disk. Directory (or path) names are also given to disk directories, which are convenient subdivisions in which categories or families of files may te collected and maintained. Several commands are available to create, list, or delete filenames and directory names. These include:
MKDIR (or MD)            Make (or create a new sub directory.

CHDIR (or CD)            Change to (or log) a named directory.

RMDIR (or RD)            Remove a named directory.

PATH                            Provide automatic access to program and batch files located within one or more named directories.

TREE                           List all directory names or directory and file-names on a specified                                               disk.  

PROMPT                     Change the appearance of the DOS prompt.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Path

The PATH command is used to provide access to files located in other directories or on other disks. The PATH command is usually entered as a line in an AUTOEXEC.BAT (or batch) file, which most often contains one or more DOS commands. The AUTOEXEC.BAT file is automatically executed upon system turn-on to run one or more desired programs without the need for user intervention. Other batch  files are executed upon command. When an AUTOEXEC.CAT file is used, each command contained in the file executes as it is encountered. The creation and use of batch files is described in Section 8. To illustrate the PATH command, assume you have a program named GATOR.COM that is located in a sub directory. You are not sure if it is cn disk C or disk A, so you want to search both disks and execute the command when found. To complicate matters, you are not sure if the program is in the SWAMP sub directory or the MUD sub directory. Here is where the PATH command comes to your rescue. To set up a search...

Filenames

It is important to understand DOS file naming conventions and their use. Here, filenames and some special filename "tools" called wild cards and literals are described. What is a File name?   Every program and data file is given a name to differentiate it from other programs and data files. A program is one or more computer instructions collected into a file. A data file is normally a collection of characters (or data) that make up a document, like a letter, or a database, like a collection of accounting transactions or customer records. Descriptive filenames are normally used. For example, if you create and save a letter to Mom, you might give it the filename MOM.LTR. A letter to Dad could be called DAD.LTR. A word processing program file might have the filename WP.COM. Examine these filenames a little closer. First, notice that each filename is meaningful. This is important if you want to know what is in a file by looking at its name. Obscure filenames are of little u...