Chapter 6 (a) - MS-DOS Command Referance ; 
		    Intro / Batch Commands. 
 
This chapter is a complete reference for the commands supplied with MS-DOS 6. It includes an 
explanation of command syntax, a description of each command, and notes and examples.
This chapter is a printed version of the online Help available in MS-DOS 6. To view the command 
reference online, type help followed by the command name at the command prompt. To see the Help 
table of contents, type help with no parameters. For a list of MS-DOS commands, type fasthelp at the 
command prompt.

Batch Commands

A batch file or batch program is an unformatted text file that contains one or more MS-DOS commands 
and is assigned a .BAT extension. When you type the name of the batch program at the command 
prompt, the commands are carried out as a group. 

Any MS-DOS command you use at the command prompt can also be put in a batch program. 
In addition, the following MS-DOS commands are specially designed for batch programs: 

call		for		pause
choice		goto		rem
echo		if		shift

CONFIG.SYS Commands

The CONFIG.SYS file is a text file that contains special commands. These commands configure your 
computer’s hardware components so that MS-DOS and applications can use them. When MS-DOS 
starts, it carries out the commands in the CONFIG.SYS file. Typically, the CONFIG.SYS file is located 
in the root directory of drive C. 

The following CONFIG.SYS commands can be used only in the CONFIG.SYS file: 

buffers		drivparm	numlock
country		fcbs		shell
device		files		stacks
devicehigh	install		switches
dos		lastdrive
	
The following commands are commonly used in the CONFIG.SYS file and can also be typed at the 
command prompt: 

break
rem
set

The following special CONFIG.SYS commands are used only to define multiple configurations within 
the CONFIG.SYS file: 

include		menuitem
menucolor	submenu
menudefault
	
For more information about defining multiple configurations, see Commands for Defining Multiple 
Configurations. 

The CONFIG.SYS file can also contain the following special characters: 

;	Specifies that the current line is a descriptive comment and should not be carried out. Insert 
	this character at the beginning of the line. (You can also insert a comment by using the rem 
	command.)

?	Specifies that MS-DOS is to ask for confirmation before carrying out the current command. 
	Insert this character just before the equal sign (=). For example, to have MS-DOS ask for 
	confirmation before carrying out the dos=high command, you would change the command to
	read dos?=high.

Bypassing CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT Commands

If you are having system problems that you suspect are caused by one or more commands in your 
CONFIG.SYS file, you might want to bypass some or all of the commands in your CONFIG.SYS file.
 
To bypass all the commands in your CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT files, press the F5 key 
immediately after starting your computer, when you see the text “Now starting MS-DOS...”. 

To bypass individual CONFIG.SYS commands, press the F8 key instead. MS-DOS will then prompt 
you to carry out or bypass each CONFIG.SYS command. To carry out all remaining startup commands,
press F5. To bypass all remaining startup commands, press ESC. 

To disable this feature, add the switches /n command to your CONFIG.SYS file. 
For more information about your CONFIG.SYS file, see the chapter “Configuring Your System” in the 
MS-DOS 6 User’s Guide. 

Device Drivers

The following installable device drivers are provided with MS-DOS: 

ANSI.SYS		HIMEM.SYS
CHKSTATE.SYS	INTERLNK.EXE
DBLSPACE.SYS	POWER.EXE
DISPLAY.SYS		RAMDRIVE.SYS
DRIVER.SYS		SETVER.EXE
EGA.SYS		SMARTDRV.EXE
EMM386.EXE
	
The files COUNTRY.SYS and KEYBOARD.SYS are not device drivers. They are data files for the 
country and keyb commands, respectively. Do not try to load either of these files with the device 
command. If you do, your system halts, and you cannot restart MS-DOS. For information about loading 
COUNTRY.SYS, see the country command. For information about loading KEYBOARD.SYS, see the 
keyb command. 

International Commands

The following commands are useful when changing country-specific settings and character sets 
(code pages): 

chcp		mode
country		nlsfunc
keyb	

Commands for Defining Multiple Configurations

A single CONFIG.SYS file can define several different system configurations. 
To define multiple configurations, you use the following special CONFIG.SYS commands: 

include		menuitem
menucolor	submenu
menudefault
	
To define multiple configurations, follow these general steps: 

1.	Define a startup menu in the CONFIG.SYS file by using a [menu] header followed by one or 
more menuitem commands. The menudefault, menucolor and submenu commands can be used to 
define special characteristics of the startup menu. 

2.	Create a configuration block in the CONFIG.SYS file for each configuration you want. A 
configuration block begins with a block header — a name surrounded by square brackets. To each 
block add the CONFIG.SYS commands that you want MS-DOS to carry out when that configuration is 
selected from the startup menu. 

3.	(Optional) In the AUTOEXEC.BAT file, use batch commands such as goto and if to have 
MS-DOS carry out different AUTOEXEC.BAT commands depending on the startup configuration. 
When a configuration is selected from the startup menu, MS-DOS defines an environment variable 
named CONFIG and sets it to the name of the selected configuration block. To have MS-DOS carry out 
different sets of commands for different CONFIG values, add a goto %config% command to your 
AUTOEXEC.BAT file. 

For more information about defining multiple configurations, see the chapter “Configuring Your System” 
in the MS-DOS 6 User’s Guide. 

Defining Multiple Configurations in Your CONFIG.SYS File

The following CONFIG.SYS file defines two configurations: 
  
[Menu]
menuitem=Steve
menuitem=Lisa

[Common]
dos=high
buffers=15
device=c:\dos\himem.sys

[Steve]
files=20
device=c:dos\emm386 2048

[Lisa]
files=40
device=c:\net\network.sys

[Common]
  
This CONFIG.SYS file configures the computer for either Steve or Lisa. For both configurations, 
MS-DOS carries out the three commands in the first [common] section: dos=high, buffers=15, and device=c:\dos\himem.sys. Steve uses a desktop publishing program that requires expanded memory, 
so his configuration includes a command for EMM386. He does not use the network. Lisa uses the 
network but not desktop publishing. Her configuration starts the network driver. 

Defining Multiple Configurations in Your AUTOEXEC.BAT File

When a configuration is selected from the startup menu, MS-DOS defines an environment variable 
named CONFIG and sets it to the name of the selected configuration block. In the AUTOEXEC.BAT file, 
you can use the goto command to have MS-DOS carry out different sets of commands for different 
CONFIG values. 

The following AUTOEXEC.BAT file uses the goto command with the CONFIG variable to carry out 
different sets of commands. This AUTOEXEC.BAT file is designed to work with the sample 
CONFIG.SYS file in the preceding section. 
  
c:\dos\smartdrv.exe
set temp=c:\temp
c:\dos\msav

; Go to the section that matches the current
; value of the CONFIG variable
goto %config%

:Steve
path=c:\dos;c:\deskpub;c:\typeset
c:\mouse\mouse.com
deskpub`
; now skip Lisa’s section & go to end
goto end

:Lisa
path=c:\dos;c:\network;c:\utility
doskey
net logon lisa
goto end

:end
  
When MS-DOS runs this AUTOEXEC.BAT file, it starts SmartDrive, sets the TEMP environment 
variable, and starts the MS-DOS Anti-Virus program. MS-DOS then goes to the section that matches 
the value of  the CONFIG variable. 
If the name of the selected configuration is “Steve,” MS-DOS goes to the Steve section. It then sets the 
search path for Steve, loads the MOUSE.COM program from the C:\MOUSE directory, and runs the 
desktop publishing program. The goto end command instructs MS-DOS to skip to the End section; this 
prevents the commands in the Lisa section from being carried out for Steve’s configuration. 
If the current configuration is “Lisa,” the search path is set differently, MS-DOS runs the Doskey program
and a Logon command instructs the network driver (loaded from the CONFIG.SYS file) to connect the 
computer to the network. 

 