| ECHO |
|
| Displays or hides the text in batch programs when the program is running. |
| Also indicates whether the command-echoing feature is on or off. |
|
| When you run a batch program, MS-DOS typically displays (echoes) the batch |
| program's commands on the screen. You can turn this feature on or off by |
| using the ECHO command. |
|
| Syntax |
|
| ECHO [ON|OFF] |
|
| To use the echo command to display a message, use the following syntax: |
|
| echo [message] |
|
| Parameters |
|
| ON|OFF |
| Specifies whether to turn the command-echoing feature on or off. To |
| display the current ECHO setting, use the ECHO command without a |
| parameter. |
|
| message |
| Specifies text you want MS-DOS to display on the screen. |
|
| Related Command |
|
| For information about suspending the execution of a batch program, see the |
| PAUSE command. |
|
|
| ECHO--Notes |
|
| Using a message with the ECHO command |
|
| The ECHO message command is useful when ECHO is off. To display a message |
| that is several lines long without displaying other commands, you can |
| include several ECHO message commands after the ECHO OFF command in your |
| batch program. |
|
| Hiding the command prompt |
|
| If you use the ECHO OFF command on the command line, the command prompt does |
| not appear on your screen. To redisplay the command prompt, type ECHO ON. |
|
| Preventing MS-DOS from echoing a line |
|
| You can insert an at sign (@) in front of a command in a batch program to |
| prevent MS-DOS from echoing that line. |
|
| Echoing a blank line |
|
| To echo a blank line on the screen, you can type ECHO and then a period |
| (ECHO.). There must be no intervening space. |
|
| Displaying pipes and redirection characters |
|
| You cannot display a pipe (|) or redirection character ( or ) by using the |
| ECHO command. |
|
| ECHO--Examples |
|
| The following example shows a batch program that includes a three-line |
| message preceded and followed by a blank line: |
|
| echo off |
| echo. |
| echo This batch program |
| echo formats and checks |
| echo new disks |
| echo. |
|
| If you want to turn ECHO off and you do not want to echo the ECHO command |
| itself, include an at sign (@) before the command, as follows: |
|
| @echo off |
|
| You can use the IF and ECHO commands on the same command line, as follows: |
|
| if exist *.rpt echo The report has arrived. |
|
|
