MS DOS Command: GOTO

Reference from Microsoft MS-DOS cmd help

Description

Directs MS-DOS to a line in a batch program that is marked by a label you specify. You can use this command only in batch programs.

The GOTO command directs MS-DOS within a batch program to a line identified by a label. When MS-DOS finds the label, it processes the commands beginning on the next line.

Syntax

GOTO label

Parameters

label

Specifies the line in a batch program to which MS-DOS should go.

Remarks

Valid values for label

The label parameter cannot include separators such as spaces, semicolons or equal signs.

GOTO uses the first eight characters of each label

The GOTO command uses only the first eight characters of a label. Therefore, the labels "hithere01" and "hithere02" are both equivalent to "hithere0".

Matching the label parameter with the label in the batch program

The label value you specify on the GOTO command line must match a label in the batch program. The label within the batch program must be preceded by a colon.

If your batch program does not contain the label that you specify, the batch program stops and MS-DOS displays the following message:

Label not found

MS-DOS recognizes a batch-program line beginning with a colon (:) as a label and does not process it as a command. If a line begins with a colon, MS-DOS ignores any commands on that line.

Using GOTO for conditional operations

GOTO is often used on the same command line with other commands to perform conditional operations. For more information about using GOTO for conditional operations, see the IF command.

Examples

The following batch program formats a disk in drive A as a system disk. If the operation is successful, the GOTO command directs MS-DOS to a label named "end".

• echo off
• format a: /s
• if not errorlevel 1 goto end
• echo An error occurred during formatting.
• :end
• echo Successfully formatted the disk in drive A.