Batch Script - Apases

Apases means creating shortcuts or keywords for existing commands. Suppose if we wanted to execute the below command which is nothing but the directory psting command with the /w option to not show all of the necessary details in a directory psting.

Dir /w

Suppose if we were to create a shortcut to this command as follows.

dw = dir /w

When we want to execute the dir /w command, we can simply type in the word dw. The word ‘dw’ has now become an apas to the command Dir /w.

Creating an Apas

Apas are managed by using the doskey command.

Syntax

DOSKEY [options] [macroname=[text]]

Wherein

macroname − A short name for the macro.

text − The commands you want to recall.

Following are the description of the options which can be presented to the DOSKEY command.

Example

Create a new file called keys.bat and enter the following commands in the file. The below commands creates two apases, one if for the cd command, which automatically goes to the directory called test. And the other is for the dir command.

@echo off
doskey cd = cd/test
doskey d = dir

Once you execute the command, you will able to run these apases in the command prompt.

Output

The following screenshot shows that after the above created batch file is executed, you can freely enter the ‘d’ command and it will give you the directory psting which means that your apas has been created.

Deleting an Apas

An apas or macro can be deleted by setting the value of the macro to NULL.

Example

@echo off
doskey cd = cd/test
doskey d = dir
d= 

In the above example, we are first setting the macro d to d = dir. After which we are setting it to NULL. Because we have set the value of d to NULL, the macro d will deleted.

Replacing an Apas

An apas or macro can be replaced by setting the value of the macro to the new desired value.

Example

@echo off
doskey cd = cd/test
doskey d = dir

d = dir /w

In the above example, we are first setting the macro d to d = dir. After which we are setting it to dir /w. Since we have set the value of d to a new value, the apas ‘d’ will now take on the new value.