Developer(s) | Microsoft, IBM, Novell, ReactOS contributors |
---|---|
Initial release | 1991, 31–32 years ago |
Operating system | MS-DOS, PC DOS, OS/2, eComStation, ArcaOS, Novell DOS 7, DR-DOS, Windows, ReactOS |
Platform | Cross-platform |
Type | Command |
Website | docs |
DOSKEY is a command for DOS, IBM OS/2, [1] Microsoft Windows, [2] and ReactOS [3] that adds command history, macro functionality, and improved editing features to the command-line interpreters COMMAND.COM
and cmd.exe
.
The command was included as a terminate-and-stay-resident program with MS-DOS and PC DOS versions 5 and later, [4] then Windows 9x, [5] and finally Windows 2000 [6] and later.
In early 1989, functionality similar to DOSKEY
was introduced with DR-DOS 3.40 with its HISTORY
CONFIG.SYS directive. This enabled a user-configurable console input history buffer and recall as well as pattern search functionality on the console driver level, that is, fully integrated into the operating system and transparent to running applications. In the summer of 1991, DOSKEY
was introduced in MS-DOS/PC DOS 5.0 in order to provide some of the same functionality. DOSKEY
also added a macro expansion facility, though special support was required before applications such as command line processors could take advantage of it. Starting with Novell DOS 7 in 1993, the macro capabilities were provided by an external DOSKEY
command as well. In order to also emulate the DOSKEY
history buffer functionality under DR-DOS, the DR-DOS DOSKEY
worked as a front end to the resident history buffer functionality, which remained part of the kernel.
DOSKEY
has also been included in IBM OS/2 Version 2.0. [7]
In current Windows NT-based operating systems, the DOSKEY
functionality is built into CMD.EXE, although the DOSKEY
command is still used to change its operation.
The DOSKEY
command is not available in FreeDOS, which has such features built into the command interpreter. [8]
DOSKEY allows the use of several command switches:
DOSKEY [/switch ...] [macroname=[text]]
During a DOSKEY session, the following keyboard shortcuts can be used:
DOSKEY implements support for command macros, a simple text-substitution facility which is used somewhat like command line aliases in other environments.
The absence of a command history in COMMAND.COM
was a serious inconvenience ever since the earliest versions of MS-DOS. Numerous third-party programs have been written to address the issue; many were available long before Microsoft supplied DOSKEY. Some of them, including JP Software's 4DOS and NDOS, also provide additional editing capabilities lacking in DOSKEY, such as filename completion. Some of the better-known DOSKEY alternatives are Jack Gersbach's DOSEDIT
, Chris Dunford's CED
, Sverre Huseby's DOSED
, Ashok Nadkarni's CMDEDIT
, Steven Calwas's ANARKEY
, Eric Tauck's TODDY
, and enhanced DOSKEY written by Paul Houle.
Paul Houle's Enhanced DOSKEY [9] is designed to be an enhanced drop-in replacement for the DOSKEY.COM that ships with MS-DOS and Windows 9x/Windows Me. It also has a smaller disk and memory-resident footprint. The primary added feature is command and file "auto-completion" via the Tab key. Version 2.5, released in 2014, also adds full support for long filenames (LFN).
In computer data storage, drive letter assignment is the process of assigning alphabetical identifiers to volumes. Unlike the concept of UNIX mount points, where volumes are named and located arbitrarily in a single hierarchical namespace, drive letter assignment allows multiple highest-level namespaces. Drive letter assignment is thus a process of using letters to name the roots of the "forest" representing the file system; each volume holds an independent "tree".
COMMAND.COM is the default command-line interpreter for MS-DOS, Windows 95, Windows 98 and Windows Me. In the case of DOS, it is the default user interface as well. It has an additional role as the usual first program run after boot, hence being responsible for setting up the system by running the AUTOEXEC.BAT configuration file, and being the ancestor of all processes.
The cd
command, also known as chdir
, is a command-line shell command used to change the current working directory in various operating systems. It can be used in shell scripts and batch files.
In computing, dir
(directory) is a command in various computer operating systems used for computer file and directory listing. It is one of the basic commands to help navigate the file system. The command is usually implemented as an internal command in the command-line interpreter (shell). On some systems, a more graphical representation of the directory structure can be displayed using the tree
command.
In computing, the working directory of a process is a directory of a hierarchical file system, if any, dynamically associated with each process. It is sometimes called the current working directory (CWD), e.g. the BSD getcwd function, or just current directory. When the process refers to a file using a simple file name or relative path (as opposed to a file designated by a full path from a root directory), the reference is interpreted relative to the working directory of the process. So for example a process with working directory /rabbit-shoes that asks to create the file foo.txt will end up creating the file /rabbit-shoes/foo.txt.
CONFIG.SYS is the primary configuration file for the DOS and OS/2 operating systems. It is a special ASCII text file that contains user-accessible setup or configuration directives evaluated by the operating system's DOS BIOS during boot. CONFIG.SYS was introduced with DOS 2.0.
In computing, more
is a command to view the contents of a text file one screen at a time. It is available on Unix and Unix-like systems, DOS, Digital Research FlexOS, IBM/Toshiba 4690 OS, IBM OS/2, Microsoft Windows and ReactOS. Programs of this sort are called pagers. more
is a very basic pager, originally allowing only forward navigation through a file, though newer implementations do allow for limited backward movement.
Long filename (LFN) support is Microsoft's backward-compatible extension of the 8.3 filename naming scheme used in DOS. Long filenames can be more descriptive, including longer filename extensions such as .jpeg
, .tiff
, .html
, and .xhtml
that are common on other operating systems, rather than specialized shortened names such as .jpg
, .tif
, .htm
, or .xht
. The standard has been common with File Allocation Table (FAT) filesystems since its first implementation in Windows NT 3.5 of 1994.
The line-oriented debugger DEBUG.EXE
is an external command in operating systems such as DOS, OS/2 and Windows.
Computer hardware or software is said to be bug compatible if it exactly replicates even an undesirable feature of a previous version. The phrase is found in the Jargon File.
In computing, ATTRIB
is a command in Intel ISIS-II, DOS, IBM OS/2, Microsoft Windows and ReactOS that allows the user to change various characteristics, or "attributes" of a computer file or directory. The command is also available in the EFI shell.
In computing, type is a command in various command-line interpreters (shells) such as COMMAND.COM
, cmd.exe
, 4DOS/4NT and Windows PowerShell used to display the contents of specified files on the computer terminal. The analogous Unix command is cat.
In computing, del
is a command in command-line interpreters (shells) such as COMMAND.COM
, cmd.exe
, 4DOS, NDOS, 4OS2, 4NT and Windows PowerShell. It is used to delete one or more files or directories from a file system.
In computing, find
is a command in the command-line interpreters (shells) of a number of operating systems. It is used to search for a specific text string in a file or files. The command sends the specified lines to the standard output device.
In computing, label
is a command included with some operating systems. It is used to create, change, or delete a volume label on a logical drive, such as a hard disk partition or a floppy disk. Used without parameters, label
changes the current volume label or deletes the existing label.
In some operating systems, vol
is a command within the command-line interpreters (shells) such as COMMAND.COM
and cmd.exe
. It is used to display the volume label and volume serial number of a logical drive, such as a hard disk partition or a floppy disk, if they exist.
In computing, LOADHIGH
is an internal DOS command in COMMAND.COM that is used to load a program into the upper memory area (UMA) instead of conventional memory.
In computing, choice
is a command that allows for batch files to prompt the user to select one item from a set of single-character choices. It is available in a number of operating system command-line shells.
In computing, findstr is a command in the command-line interpreters (shells) of Microsoft Windows and ReactOS. It is used to search for a specific text string in computer files.