Dir (command)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In computing, dir (directory) is a command used for file and directory listing, specifically in the command line interface (CLI) of these operating systems: RT-11, CP/M, VMS, DOS, OS/2, Singularity, and Microsoft Windows. It is analogous to the Unix ls command.

Because it is the primary means of displaying the files and directories on disk or other storage medium within a command window, the dir command is one of the most basic commands employed by users of the command line interface to MS-DOS and subsequent versions of Microsoft Windows.^[1]

The dir command has existed as a DOS command since the initial release of MS-DOS. It is built into the DOS command shell, and is not provided as a separate standalone program.

In DOS and Microsoft Windows, dir checks for switches in the %dircmd% environment variable.

In Windows PowerShell, dir is a predefined command alias for the Get-ChildItem Cmdlet which basically serves the same purpose.

Sample usage

The following example demonstrates the output of the dir command on Windows 7, given no- and one argument(s):

 C:\Users\Public\Pictures\Sample Pictures>dir
  Volume in drive C is System
  Volume Serial Number is C8D0-76E2
 
  Directory of C:\Users\Public\Pictures\Sample Pictures
 
 14-07-2009  06:41    <DIR>          .
 14-07-2009  06:41    <DIR>          ..
 14-07-2009  06:52           879,394 Chrysanthemum.jpg
 14-07-2009  06:52           845,941 Desert.jpg
 14-07-2009  06:52           595,284 Hydrangeas.jpg
 14-07-2009  06:52           775,702 Jellyfish.jpg
 14-07-2009  06:52           780,831 Koala.jpg
 14-07-2009  06:52           561,276 Lighthouse.jpg
 14-07-2009  06:52           777,835 Penguins.jpg
 14-07-2009  06:52           620,888 Tulips.jpg
                8 File(s)      5,837,151 bytes
                2 Dir(s)  57,925,980,160 bytes free
 
 C:\Users\Public\Pictures\Sample Pictures>dir /w
  Volume in drive C is System
  Volume Serial Number is C8D0-76E2
 
  Directory of C:\Users\Public\Pictures\Sample Pictures
 
 [.]                 [..]                Chrysanthemum.jpg   Desert.jpg          Hydrangeas.jpg      Jellyfish.jpg
 Koala.jpg           Lighthouse.jpg      Penguins.jpg        Tulips.jpg
                8 File(s)      5,837,151 bytes
                2 Dir(s)  57,925,992,448 bytes free
 
 C:\Users\Public\Pictures\Sample Pictures>

References

↑ Baril, Suzanne (2000-01-10). "Learning MS-DOS Basics - A Tutorial". Archived from the original on 2007-07-09. Retrieved 2007-08-08.

v t e Windows command-line programs and built-ins

COMMAND.COM · Command Prompt · Windows PowerShell · Recovery Console

File system navigation	cd (chdir) dir popd pushd tree

File management	attrib cacls cipher compact copy del (erase) deltree expand icacls makecab md (mkdir) move rd (rmdir) recover ren (rename) replace rmdir robocopy xcopy

Disk management	chkdsk convert defrag diskcomp diskcopy diskpart fdisk format label subst scandisk sys vol vssadmin

Processes	at exit kill powercfg runas sc schtasks shutdown start taskkill tasklist

Registry	assoc ftype reg regini regsvr32

User environment	date mode path set setx systeminfo time title ver whoami winsat

File contents	comp edit edlin fc type

Shell programming	choice cscript doskey echo for goto if more pause prompt rem

Networking	hostname ipconfig net use netsh netstat nslookup PathPing ping route tracert

Searching	find findstr

Boot management	bcdedit bootcfg fixboot fixmbr

Miscellaneous	clip cls debug exe2bin help lpq lpr msiexec ntbackup sfc print w32tm WBAdmin wmic

List of DOS commands · Environment variables

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike; additional terms may apply for the media files.

Dir (command)

Sample usage

See also

References