Batch file part -1

MS-DOS users

To create a basic batch file in MS-DOS, follow the below steps that give you an example of how to create a basic batch file.

1. Open an MS-DOS command window or get to MS-DOS. Additional information about doing this can be found on document CHDOS.
2. At the MS-DOS prompt, type: edit test.bat and press enter.
3. If typed properly, you should now be in a blue screen. Within the screen, type:
   
   pause
   dir c:\windows
   dir c:\windows\system
   
   
4. Once the above three lines have been typed in, click File and choose exit; when prompted to save, click "Yes." Users who do not have a mouse cursor can accomplish this same task by pressing ALT+F to access the file menu, then pressing "X" to exit, and pressing enter to save changes.
5. Once you are back at the MS-DOS prompt, type: test and press enter. This will execute the test.bat file and begin running the file. Because the first line is pause, you will first be prompted to press a key. Once you press a key the batch file will run line-by-line; in this case, listing the files in the windows and windows\system directories.

If you wish to add more lines to this batch file you would simply type "edit test.bat" to edit the file again.

Additional information about the MS-DOS edit command can be found on our edit command page. Some versions of MS-DOS and bootable diskettes may not have the edit command; if this is the case, you would either need to obtain the edit.com file to access this file or use the copy con command.