DOS command equivalents

DOS command equivalents

This topic contains a table showing some common MS-DOS commands and their UnixWare system equivalents.

For more information about any of the UnixWare system commands, consult the manual reference pages.

The commands listed below are for working with UnixWare system files.

DOS command (A-M) What it does UNIX system equivalent Notes

cd change directories cd(1)

cls clear the screen clear(1)

copy copy files cp(1), tar(1) Use cp to copy files and tar to copy files or directories onto floppy disks or tapes.

date display the system date and time date(1), cal(1) On the UNIX system, date displays the date and the time. cal displays the date, the time, and a 3-month calendar.

del delete a file rm(1) Be careful when using rm with wildcard characters, like rm .

dir list the contents of a directory ls(1) There are a variety of options to ls including ls -l to see a long listing and ls -f to see a listing that indicates file types.

edlin line editor ed(1), ex(1), vi(1) vi is a full-screen text editor with powerful search and replace functions. ed and ex are predecessors of vi.

fc compare two files diff(1), diff3(1), cmp(1) diff compares two text files. diff3 compares three text files. Use cmp to compare binary files.

find find text within a file grep(1) grep (global regular expression parser) finds text within a file. The UNIX system's find(1) command finds files.

format format a disk format(1M) See /etc/default/format for the default drive to format. The format command formats a disk for use with UNIX system files.

mkdir make a directory mkdir(1)

more display output one screen at a time more(1)

DOS command (A-M)	What it does	UNIX system equivalent	Notes
cd	change directories	cd(1)
cls	clear the screen	clear(1)
copy	copy files	cp(1), tar(1)	Use cp to copy files and tar to copy files or directories onto floppy disks or tapes.
date	display the system date and time	date(1), cal(1)	On the UNIX system, date displays the date and the time. cal displays the date, the time, and a 3-month calendar.
del	delete a file	rm(1)	Be careful when using rm with wildcard characters, like rm .
dir	list the contents of a directory	ls(1)	There are a variety of options to ls including ls -l to see a long listing and ls -f to see a listing that indicates file types.
edlin	line editor	ed(1), ex(1), vi(1)	vi is a full-screen text editor with powerful search and replace functions. ed and ex are predecessors of vi.
fc	compare two files	diff(1), diff3(1), cmp(1)	diff compares two text files. diff3 compares three text files. Use cmp to compare binary files.
find	find text within a file	grep(1)	grep (global regular expression parser) finds text within a file. The UNIX system's find(1) command finds files.
format	format a disk	format(1M)	See /etc/default/format for the default drive to format. The format command formats a disk for use with UNIX system files.
mkdir	make a directory	mkdir(1)
more	display output one screen at a time	more(1)

DOS command (N-Z) What it does UNIX system equivalent Notes

print print files in the background lp(1) Use lp filename & to print in the background. You can run any UNIX system command in the background by adding & (ampersand) to the end of the command line.

ren rename a file mv(1)

rmdir remove an empty directory rmdir(1) Use rm -r to remove a directory that is not empty.

sort sort data sort(1)

type display a text file cat(1), more(1)

xcopy copy directories tar(1) Use tar if you want to copy directories onto disk or tape.

DOS command (N-Z)	What it does	UNIX system equivalent	Notes
print	print files in the background	lp(1)	Use lp *filename* & to print in the background. You can run any UNIX system command in the background by adding & (ampersand) to the end of the command line.
ren	rename a file	mv(1)
rmdir	remove an empty directory	rmdir(1)	Use rm -r to remove a directory that is not empty.
sort	sort data	sort(1)
type	display a text file	cat(1), more(1)
xcopy	copy directories	tar(1)	Use tar if you want to copy directories onto disk or tape.