Dir

• Dir display a list of a directory's files and sub directories.
• Dir display the disk's volume label and serial number followed by a list of directories and files on the disk with name, date and time each was last modified.
• For files dir displays the name extension and the size in bytes.
• It also displays the total number of files and directories listed, their size and the free space remaining on the disk.

Syntax

Dir [Drive:][Path] [FileName] [/p] [/q] [/w] [/d] [/a[[:]Attributes]] [/o[:]SortOrder]] [/t[[:]TimeField]] [/s] [/b] [/l] [/n] [/x] [/c] [/4]

[Drive:][Path]

• Specifies the drive and directory for which you want to see a listing.

[FileName]

• Specifies a particular file or group of files for which you want to see a listing.
• You can use multiple filenames. Separate file names with spaces, commas or semicolons.
• You can use wildcard characters (? and *) in FileName to display a group of files or directories.

/p

• Displays one screen of the listing at a time. To see the next screen, press any key on the keyboard.

/q

• Display the ownership information.

/w

• Display the listing in wide format.

/d

• Same as /w but files are sorted as column.

/a [[:] Attributes]

• Displays only the names of those directories and files with the attributes you specify.
• If you omit /a, dir displays the names of all files except hidden and system files.
• If you use /a without specifying attributes, dir displays the names of all files, including hidden and system files.
• If you use /a with more than one value in attributes, dir displays the names of only those files with all the specified attributes.

Attributes

Value	Description
h	Hidden files
s	System files
d	Directories
a	Files ready for archiving
r	Read-only files
-h	Files that are not hidden
-s	Files other than system files
-d	Files only (not directories)
-a	Files that have not changed since the last backup
-r	Files that are not read-only

/o [[:]SortOrder]

• Controls the order in which dir sorts and displays directory names and file names.
• If you omit /o, dir displays the names in the order in which they occur in the directory.
• If you use /o without specifying SortOrder, dir displays the names of the directories and then displays the names of files sorted in alphabetic order.

Sort order

Value	Description
n	In alphabetic order by name
e	In alphabetic order by extension
d	By date and time, earliest first
s	By size, smallest first
g	With directories grouped before files
-n	In reverse alphabetic order by name (Z through A)
-e	In reverse alphabetic order by extension (.ZZZ through .AAA)
-d	By date and time, latest first
-s	By size, largest first
-g	With directories grouped after files

/t [[:]TimeField]

• Specifies which time field to display or use for sorting.
• The following list describes each of the values you can use for TimeField.

Value	Description
c	It will display according to creation time or date
a	Display according to last access
w	According to last written

/s

• Lists every occurrence, in the specified directory and all sub directories, of the specified file name.

/b

• Lists each directory name or file name, one per line, including the file name extension.
• /b does not display heading information or a summary, /b overrides /w.

/l

• Displays unsorted directory names and file names in lowercase.
• /l does not convert extended characters to lowercase.

/n

• Displays a long list format with file names on the far right of the screen.

/x

• Displays the short names generated for files on NTFS and FAT volumes.
• The display is the same as the display for /n, but short names are displayed after the long name.

/c

• Displays the thousand separator in file sizes.

/4

• Displays four-digit year format.

/?

• Displays help at the command prompt.

Using command redirection operator

• Redirection operators are used to redirect command input and output streams from the default locations to different locations.

Value	Description
>	Writes the command output to a file or a device, such as a printer, instead of the Command Prompt window.
<	Reads the command input from a file, instead of reading input from the keyboard.
>>	Appends the command output to the end of a file without deleting the information that is already in the file.
>&	Writes the output from one handle to the input of another handle.
<&	Reads the input from one handle and writes it to the output of another handle.
|	Reads the output from one command and writes it to the input of another command. Also known as a pipe.

My notes