Friday, March 25, 2011

OPERATING SYSTEM BASICS:8 . Command-line Shortcuts On MS-Windows

Command-line Shortcuts


Microsoft operating systems provide some command line shortcuts through the keyboard's function keys. Some of the most notable are the F1 and F3 function keys.

  • The F1 key will bring the previous command back from the command line buffer, one character at a time. 
  • Likewise, the F3 key will bring back the entire previous command through a single keystroke.

When using filenames in command line operations, the filename is displayed at the end of the directory path in the source and destination locations.
The [*] notation is called a wild card and allows operations to be performed with only partial source or destination information. Using the notation as [*.*] indicates the software to perform the designated command on any file found on the disk using any filename and extension.


A question mark [?] can be used as a wild card to represent a single character in a filename or extension. Multiple question marks can be used to represent multiple characters in a filename or extension.

Data from a command can be modified to fit a prescribed output format through the use of filter commands. The main filter commands are More, Find, and Sort. The filter command is preceded by a pipe symbol [ | ] on the command line, when output from another command is to be modified. For example, to view the content of a batch file that is longer than the screen display can present at a time, type Type
C:\xxx.bat|more.
If the information to be modified is derived from another file, the less than [<] symbol is used.

Hint:Memorize the command line wild card characters and be able to use their variations.
           

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