Directory

If you need more help in orienting yourself, it sometimes helps to take a look at the files and directories available where you are by using the DIR command (short for directory).

C:\>dir

This will give you a listing of all the files and directories contained in the current directory in addition to some information about the directory itself. You will see the word volume in this information. Volume is simply another word for a disk that the computer has access to. Your hard disk is a volume, your floppy disk is a volume, a server disk (hard disk served over a network) is a volume. Now you know fancy words for all the parts of the format DOS uses to represent a file.

Volume: C:
Pathname: \DEMO\DOS&WIN\SAMPLES\
Filename: SAMPLE

Here are some helpful extensions of the DIR command:

·         C:\>dir | more
(will display the directory one screen at a time with a < more> promptÑ--use control-C to escape)

·         C:\>dir /w
(wide: will display the directory in columns across the screen)

·         C:\>dir /a
(all: will display the directory including hidden files and directories)

Now that we have a grasp on where we are in DOS and how to find out, let's take a look at how we manage the files.

If you need more help in orienting yourself, it sometimes helps to take a look at the files and directories available where you are by using the DIR command (short for directory).

C:\>dir

This will give you a listing of all the files and directories contained in the current directory in addition to some information about the directory itself. You will see the word volume in this information. Volume is simply another word for a disk that the computer has access to. Your hard disk is a volume, your floppy disk is a volume, a server disk (hard disk served over a network) is a volume. Now you know fancy words for all the parts of the format DOS uses to represent a file.

Volume: C:
Pathname: \DEMO\DOS&WIN\SAMPLES\
Filename: SAMPLE

Here are some helpful extensions of the DIR command:

·         C:\>dir | more
(will display the directory one screen at a time with a < more> promptÑ--use control-C to escape)

·         C:\>dir /w
(wide: will display the directory in columns across the screen)

·         C:\>dir /a
(all: will display the directory including hidden files and directories)

Now that we have a grasp on where we are in DOS and how to find out, let's take a look at how we manage the files.