COMMAND.COM

The MS-DOS operating system's default shell, command.com, has two distinct modes of work. First is the interactive mode, in which the user types commands which are then executed in front of his eyes. The second is the batch mode, which executes a pre-defined sequence of commands written down at a text file, with the extension .bat. Although not very useful by modern standards, the batch file format allowed for built-in scripting inside the MS-DOS, which was often a very useful feature.

Batch files use the following commands (the first two are often used during interactive work with command.com):

ECHO

This command allows text to be displayed.

SORT

This sorts the output of another command into a file or the like.

PAUSE

Halts execution of the program and displays a message asking the user to press any key to continue.

FOR

Iteration: repeats a command for each out of a specified set of files.

SHIFT

Replaces each of the 10 variables with the consequent one (e.g. %0←%1, %1←%2 etc.).

REM

Comment: any text following this command is ignored

IF

Conditional statement, allows to branch the program execution

CHOICE

Presents the user with a menu (MS-DOS 6 and higher).

GOTO

Moves execution to a specified label.