Appendix B Qshell versus DOS

This reference is provided for the benefit of those who have used the DOS batch language and need to learn Qshell.

Case Sensitivity

Although Unix shell commands are case-sensitive, that is not true of Qshell. For example, to get a directory listing, you can use either form of the List directory contents (ls) shown here:

ls -l
LS -l

However, options are case-sensitive, so the following command is not equivalent to the previous two commands under Qshell:

LS -L

Options (Switches)

DOS options are preceded by the forward slash. Qshell options are preceded by a hyphen, or in some cases, by a plus sign. For example, in DOS, you would add an option to the directory command like this:

C:WINDOWS>

dir /p

In Qshell, you would do this:

ls -l

Separation of Tokens

Qshell requires that command-line tokens be separated from one another by white space. DOS permits tokens to immediately follow one another when no confusion arises. So, the following would be acceptable in DOS:

C:WINDOWS>

cd

C:>

In Qshell, however, it would lead to an error:

/home/THOLT $

cd/

qsh: 001-0014 Command cd/ not found.

Instead, you would need to enter the command as follows :

/home/THOLT $

cd/

/ $

Comparison of Commands

The following table gives a list of corresponding DOS and Qshell commands. Keep in mind that these are not exact equivalents ”the Qshell commands do not behave exactly like their DOS counterparts.

Corresponding DOS and Qshell Commands
Dos	Qshell	Function
assign	In	Link file.
attrib	chmod	Change file attributes.
call file	file	Execute a batch file (script).
cd	echo $PWD	Display the current directory.
cd, chdir	cd	Change the current directory.
cls	F13 key	Clear the display.
command	qsh, sh	Invoke a command shell.
copy	cp	Copy a file.
copy ... con	cat	Copy the contents of a file to stdout .
date	date	Display the date.
del	rm	Remove (delete) a file.
deltree	rm -r	Delete a directory and its contents.
dir	ls -l	Show directory contents.
dir /w	ls	Show directory contents.
echo	echo, print	Display text.
erase	rm	Remove (delete) a file.
find	grep	Search a file.
for	for	Execute a loop.
goto	None	Branch to an instruction
md,mkdir	mkdir	Create (make) a directory.
move	mv	Move a file to another directory.
path	echo $PATH.	Display the path.
pause	sleep	Suspend execution.
print	pr	Print to stdout.
prompt	PS1=value	Set the prompt string.
rd, rmdir	rmdir	Remove (delete) a directory.
prompt	PS1=value	Set the prompt string.
rem	#	Ignore a line. (In other words, include a comment.)
ren, rename	mv	Rename a file.
sort	sort	Sort stdin.
type	cat	Display the contents of a file.
xcopy	cp	Copy files.