Microsoft KB Archive/80751

= MS-DOS EXPAND.EXE Functionality =

Article ID: 80751

Article Last Modified on 11/16/2006

-

APPLIES TO


 * Microsoft MS-DOS 5.0 Standard Edition
 * Microsoft MS-DOS 5.0a
 * Microsoft MS-DOS 6.0 Standard Edition
 * Microsoft MS-DOS 6.2 Standard Edition
 * Microsoft MS-DOS 6.21 Standard Edition
 * Microsoft MS-DOS 6.22 Standard Edition

-



This article was previously published under Q80751



SUMMARY
Most of the Microsoft MS-DOS operating system files are compressed on disk. The MS-DOS Setup program decompresses these files when you install MS-DOS.

The MS-DOS EXPAND command is available to decompress and copy files individually. EXPAND is described in the &quot;Microsoft MS-DOS User's Guide and Reference&quot; for versions 5.x and in online help for MS-DOS versions 6.0 and later.

The following increased functionality was added to the EXPAND command beginning with MS-DOS version 5.0a:


 * Displays two status messages
 * Allows multiple source file arguments
 * Has interactive user input
 * Wildcard capability for the last character of an extension



MORE INFORMATION
When you decompress a file in MS-DOS 5.0a or later, EXPAND prints two status messages: one that details the full path of the source and target files, and one that details how many files were expanded.

In MS-DOS 5.0, if you enter the command EXPAND with no parameters, it displays the same help information as if you had entered the command EXPAND /? . However, in versions 5.0a and later, EXPAND is interactive. It prompts for the name of the compressed file and the name it should have in expanded form. For example:   c:\>EXPAND Type the location and name of the compressed file you want to expand. (Example: A:\EGA.SY_)

Compressed file: a:\himem.sy_

Type the location and/or name you want to give the expanded file. (Example: C:\DOS\EGA.SYS)

Expanded file: c:\dos\himem.sys

A:\HIMEM.SY_ ->  C:\DOS\HIMEM.SYS 1 file expanded Although the MS-DOS asterisk (*) and question mark (?) wildcards are not supported by the EXPAND command, a limited but useful form of wildcards has been introduced. If the specified source file does not exist, EXPAND attempts to find a file with the same name and extension, except that it changes the last character of the extension to an underscore (_). For example, if the file A:\EXAMPLE.BIN does not exist, the command   expand a:\example.bi_ c:\example.bin has the same effect as:   expand a:\example.bin c:\example.bin

-or-

  expand a:\example.bin c:\ If the target file is not specified, the EXPAND command in versions 5.0a and later uses the same name as the source.

Multiple source parameters are allowed. If multiple source parameters are used, the target must specify a single drive or directory. You can still use the following commands to re-expand the entire Shell for a VGA system in MS-DOS 5.0:   a:\>expand dosshell.co_         c:\dos\dosshell.com a:\>expand dosshell.ex_        c:\dos\dosshell.exe a:\>expand dosswap.ex_         c:\dos\dosswap.exe a:\>expand vga.vi_             c:\dos\dosshell.vid a:\>expand vga.gr_             c:\dos\dosshell.grb a:\>expand ega.in_             c:\dos\dosshell.ini However, you can also use the following sequence with 5.0a and later as follows:

  At the A: prompt, enter the following command on a single line:

expand dosshell.com dosshell.exe dosswap.exe vga.vid vga.grb

ega.ini c:\dos

The following is displayed:        DOSSHELL.CO_  ->  C:\DOS\DOSSHELL.COM DOSSHELL.EX_ -> C:\DOS\DOSSHELL.EXE DOSSWAP.EX_ ->  C:\DOS\DOSSWAP.EXE VGA.VI_ ->  C:\DOS\VGA.VID VGA.GR_ ->  C:\DOS\VGA.GRB EGA.IN_ ->  C:\DOS\EGA.INI 6 files expanded   At the A: prompt, enter the following command

copy c:\dos\?ga.* c:\dos\dosshell.*

and the following is displayed:      C:\DOS\VGA.VID C:\DOS\VGA.GRB C:\DOS\EGA.INI 3 file(s) copied 

Additional query words: 6.22 5.00 5.00a 6.00 6.20 uncompress

Keywords: KB80751

-

[mailto:TECHNET@MICROSOFT.COM Send feedback to Microsoft]

© Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.