Article ID: 71247 - Last Review: May 12, 2003 - Revision: 2.0

Semicolon, Equal Sign As Arguments in Batch File

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SUMMARY

When a semicolon (;) or equal sign (=) is used as a command line argument in a batch file, it is treated as a blank space.

MORE INFORMATION

For example, in the following batch file, TEST.BAT, 
   echo %1 %2 %3
the command line and resulting output appear as follows: 
   Command Line       Output
   ------------       ------

   test a=b           a b
   test a;b           a b
   test ;ab           ab
   test =             ECHO is on (parsed as test)
   test ;             ECHO is on
For more information, query on the following words:
equal and sign and characters and batch
APPLIES TO
  • 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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KB71247
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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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