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- DOS SPECIAL CHARACTERS
-
- <Tab> an alternative to <space>.
- <space> (entered by pressing the space bar) separates the command name,
- filename, and option fields on command lines.
- " on command lines, lets <, >, and | be included as part of a string
- of characters. Normally they are DOS special characters (see below).
- % replacable parameters and environment variables in BATCH files.
- & not used by DOS. Separates multiple commands on a line in OS/2.
- && not used by DOS. Used for conditional execution of commands in OS/2.
- ( not used by DOS. Groups multiple commands on a line in OS/2.
- ) not used by DOS. Groups multiple commands on a line in OS/2.
- * a wildcard character.
- + COPY command concatenation option
- , alternative to <space>. Also used by the COPY file reference date
- update function.
- . separates a filename from an extension. Also, the current subdirectory.
- .. specifies the parent directory of the current subdirectory (if any).
- / specifies an option to a command to cause it to change the way the
- command behaves or what it does.
- : separates a disk drive letter from a filename or pathname.
- ; an alternative to <space> on many commands (but not always).
- < redirection.
- = alternative to <space> on many commands (but not always).
- > redirection.
- >> concatenation.
- ? a wildcard character.
- [ part of escape sequence for PROMPT. Used in documents with ].
- \ separates directory names in a pathname.
- ] not used but reserved. Used in documents to indicate options.
- ^ control character display. Causes next input character to be treated
- as text in OS/2.
- | piping.
- || not used by DOS. Used for conditional execution of commands in OS/2.