We also saw how to access help for the DOS commands and interpret the syntax descriptions in the help. In this tutorial we will learn a little more about the way MS-DOS works together with a few more commands. The command interpreter reads each line of input which is typed and tries to interpret it as a command. The command interpreter accepts the command line when the Enter key is pressed and parses it, i.e. it determines its component parts. Having done this it looks for the command or program corresponding to the command name.
Commands are really just programs.
If the command name matches one of these then it is run instantly. If it does not find this it then tries extension com and then exe . If it finds the appropriate file it assumes it stores a program, loads it into memory and executes it. The sequence bat, com, exe still applies. For an explanation of environment variables and path in particular, click here .