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Working with the Command- Line Interface

Chapter 5, 6, 14

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Overview

• In this chapter, you will learn to

– Explain the operation of the command-line interface

– Execute fundamental commands from the command line

– Manipulate files and folders from the command line

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Historical/Conceptual

• IBM invented the PC in the late ’70s but needed an operating system– Digital Research had an OS but turned them down– IBM went to a small company (Bill Gates at

Microsoft) that had created BASIC– Microsoft had never written an OS but accepted

the challenge• Gates found an OS called Quick-and-Dirty-Operating-

System (QDOS) and purchased it from the person who wrote it

• Microsoft released it as MS-DOS V 1.1 (Microsoft Disk Operating System)

• MS-DOS 6.22 ultimately released in 1994• DOS used a command-line interface

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Deciphering the Command-Line Interface

IT Technician

CompTIA A+Technician

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Command-Line Interface (CLI)

• How does a command-line interface work?– Begins with a prompt indicating the computer is

ready to do something

– Type in a command and press ENTER

– The command is executed

– A new prompt is displayed—ready for the next command

– CLI executes commands like the Windows GUI• In CLI, type the command and press ENTER• In GUI, point and click to execute commands

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Accessing the Command Line

• In Windows 2000 use the Run dialog box– Start | Run– Type cmd

• You may also access the command line through the Start | All Programs menu

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The Command Prompt

• The command prompt is always focused on a specific folder– Any commands operate on the files and folders in

the folder in which you are focused– You must first focus on the drive and folder where

you want to work

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Filenames and File Formats

• Each program or piece of data is stored as a file on the drive

• Filenames have two parts– Filename

• In DOS, up to 8 characters long– Extension

• In DOS, up to 3 characters long• Optional

• The filename and extension are separated by a dot– Called the 8.3 naming system

• These characters may not be used/ \ [ ] | ÷ + = ; , * ?

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Filenames and Formats

• Windows does not restrict the filename to 8.3 (can be up 255 characters)– To be backward-compatible with DOS you need to

follow the 8.3 standard– Windows creates two filenames for every file to

ensure backward-compatibility

• The extension tells the computer the type of file– .exe, .doc, .xls

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File Formats

• All files written in binary format

• American Standard Code for Information Interchange (ASCII) used for text– Universal file format– Defines 256 8-bit characters

• Unicode– Uses 16-bit code to cover every character for the

most common languages

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ASCII Character Chart

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Drives and Folders

• At boot, Windows assigns partitions and a drive letter– Floppy drives are usually assigned A: or B:– Hard drive partitions may be assigned C: to Z:– CD-ROM drives are named after hard drives

• Windows uses a hierarchical directory tree– Files are put into groups called folders

• In DOS we call folders directories– The root directory is at the beginning of the

hierarchical structure with folders underneath

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Folders and Files

• Folders and files must be unique– Can’t be the same name in the same folder

• C:\ represents the root directory of C

• To describe a subfolder, add the name of the folder– C:\TEST

• The location of a file is called the path– The path of C:\test\file.txt is C:\test

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Directory Tree

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Mastering Fundamental Commands

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Structure: Syntax and Switches

• The command line requires the exact syntax for each command

• Type the name of the command and desired or allowed switches

– Switches modify the behavior of the command– Multiple switches may be allowable

– DIR /W /PDisplays the directory in wide mode and one page at a time

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Help

• Help with any command is readily available in one of three ways– HELP gives a one-line description of each

command– HELP command gives specific help for the

command– Command /? gives specific help for the command

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DIR Command

• The DIR command lists the contents of a particular directory– The DIR/W command lists only the filenames

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DIR Command Switches

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Directories: CD Command

• The CD (or CHDIR) command is used to change the focus to a different directory

• The CD\ command is used to return to the root directory

• CD .. Goes up one directory

• To switch between drives, type the drive letter followed by a colon– C:– D:

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Making and Removing Directories

• The MD (or MKDIR) command is used for creating a directory

• The DEL command is used for deleting files, and the RD (RMDIR) command is used for deleting directories and subdirectories

• The DELTREE command is used for deleting directories containing files and subdirectories

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Running a Program

To run a program:– Change the DOS focus to the directory where the

program is stored CD C:\Program Files\My Program

– Type the filename with or without its extension and press ENTER

Setup.exe

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Working with Files

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Working with Files

• Attributes (H, R, S, A) are special values assigned to a file– Hidden: hides the file– Read-only: protects a file

from being deleted or modified– System: identifies system files– Archive: identifies files that

have not been backed up

• The ATTRIB.EXE program is used to inspect and change file attributes

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Attrib

• Attrib can be used to change the attributes

– Use + to add attribute- Use – to remove attribute

Attrib +R AILOG.TXT Makes it read only

Attrib –H AILOG.TXT Makes it no longer hidden

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Working with Files

Wildcards:– Wildcards are special characters that enable

commands to act on more than one file at a time– The * represents any number of characters– The ? represents a single character

DIR *.TXT Lists all files that end in .TXTDIR *.?XT Lists all files that end in XT

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Working with Files

• REN command is used to rename files

• DEL and ERASE commands are used to delete files

• COPY command is used for making a copy of the file in a new location

• MOVE command is used for moving the file to a new location

• XCOPY command is used for working with multiple directories

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Mike’s Five-Step COPY/MOVE Process

1. Point the command prompt to the directory containing the files to be copied or moved

C:\> CD \DOCS2. Type COPY or MOVE and a space

C:\DOCS> COPY 3. Type the name(s) of the file(s) to be

copied/moved and a spaceC:\DOCS> COPY *.doc

4. Type the path of the new location for the files

C:\DOCS> COPY *.doc c:\Steam5. Press ENTER

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Working with Batch Files

• Batch files are text files that store a series of commands– One command on each line– Batch files use the .BAT extension– Batch files may be edited with any text editor

• Notepad• EDIT

– Batch files get their own type of icon

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EDIT

• EDIT is a command-line command that starts a basic text editor

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Creating a Batch File

• Using EDIT, type in some commands on their own line (such as cd:\ and Dir)

• Save the file with a .BAT extension– C:\test.bat

• Launch a command prompt and run the batch fileC:\> CD \C:\> Test.bat

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Additional Commands

• Some additional commands are

– VER shows the current version of Windows

– ECHO tells the batch file to put text on the screen

– TYPE displays the contents of a batch file on the screen

– SET display settings that Windows has loaded by default

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ECHO Command

• ECHO will display text on the screen

• ECHO OFF turns off the display of text on the screen

• @ at the beginning of a line prevents displaying the command, but not the result of the command

• @ECHO OFF is frequently used in batch files to “clean up” the appearance when the batch file is run

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SET and PATH Commands

• SET will display the list of settings that Windows loads by default

• Programs (and batch files) are run from the location where the prompt is– If the program is not located in the current folder,

you receive an error message– To tell your command to look in other places, use

the PATH command• PATH by itself lists the current list of places to look for

a program• PATH= location; location; location; … will add locations

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Beyond A+

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Using Special Keys

• F1 function key brings back the previous command one letter at a time

• F3 function key brings back the entire command at once

• The DOSKEY command stores a list of all previously typed commands and can be accessed by using the up arrow key– Type DOSKEY– Windows XP/2000 automatically starts the program

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COMPACT Command

• COMPACT– Displays or alters the compression state of files– compact /c

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CIPHER Command

• CIPHER– Displays or alters the encryption state of files– /e specifies encryption operation– /a says to apply it to the files as well as the

directory