Equal-Sign Characters as Arguments in Batch Files

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This article was previously published under Q35938

Using batch files in MS-DOS, it is not possible to include an equal sign as an argument to a batch file. The batch file parser considers this to be a delimiter, such as a space or tab character. Thus, using the following one-line batch file (named TEST.BAT):

echo %1 %2

If the following is entered:

TEST one=two

it would produce the following output

one two

which shows that the batch file parser considers "one" the first argument, and "two" the second argument, with the equal sign being a delimiter. This makes it impossible to enter equal signs in batch files as command-line options.

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APPLIES TO

Microsoft MS-DOS 3.1
Microsoft MS-DOS 3.2 Standard Edition
Microsoft MS-DOS 3.21 Standard Edition
Microsoft MS-DOS 3.3 Standard Edition
Microsoft MS-DOS 3.3a
Microsoft MS-DOS 4.0 Standard Edition
Microsoft MS-DOS 4.01 Standard Edition
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

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KB35938

Retired KB Content Disclaimer

This article was written about products for which Microsoft no longer offers support. Therefore, this article is offered "as is" and will no longer be updated.

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