A batch file is nothing more than a collection of DOS commands placed into an ASCII text file. When DOS executes a batch file, each line in the file is treated as a DOS command and is executed as if you had typed the command at the system prompt. Their main use is to automate DOS command sequences you repeat often or are hard to remember.

Each line in the file is treated as a DOS command and is executed as if you had typed the command at the system prompt.

In addition to standard DOS commands, batch files also have their own subset of commands which allow you to actually write a batch file as a small program. Branching and iteration are allowed in these programs.

Also, batch commands may have external parameters passed to them at the time you execute the file.

A batch file must have the extension .BAT and you execute the commands in it like any other DOS command: by typing the file's root name, without the extension, at the system prompt.

Parameters