cmd.exe

"Command Prompt" redirects here. For the concept, see command prompt.
Command Prompt (cmd.exe)
A component of Microsoft Windows

Command Prompt in Windows 10
Details
Type Command-line interpreter
Included with
Replaces COMMAND.COM
Related components

Command Prompt, also known as cmd.exe or cmd (after its executable file name), is the command-line interpreter on Windows NT, Windows CE, OS/2 and eComStation operating systems. It is the counterpart of COMMAND.COM in DOS and Windows 9x systems (where it is also called "MS-DOS Prompt"), and analogous to the Unix shells used on Unix-like systems. The initial version of Command Prompt for Windows NT was developed by Therese Stowell.[1]

Operation

Command Prompt interacts with the user through a command-line interface. In Windows, this interface is implemented through Win32 console. Command Prompt may take advantage of features available to native programs of its own platform. For example, in OS/2, it can use real pipes in command pipelines, allowing both sides of the pipeline to run concurrently. As a result, it is possible to redirect the standard error stream. (COMMAND.COM uses temporary files, and runs the two sides serially, one after the other.)

New features

In Windows, Command Prompt is compatible with COMMAND.COM but provides the following extensions over it:

Internal commands have also been improved:

See also

References

  1. Zachary, G. Pascal (1994). Showstopper! The Breakneck Race to Create Windows NT and the Next Generation at Microsoft. Warner Books. ISBN 0-02-935671-7.
  2. "Windows 2000 delayed environment variable expansion.". Windows IT Pro. Retrieved 13 July 2015.
  3. "Setlocal". Microsoft. Retrieved 13 January 2015.

Further reading

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