MS DOS Command: PAUSE

Reference from Microsoft MS-DOS cmd help

Description

Suspends processing of a batch program and displays a message that prompts the user to press any key to continue. You can use this command only within batch programs.

Syntax

Remarks

Prompting the user to continue the program

MS-DOS displays the following message in response to the PAUSE command:

Press any key to continue . . .

Dividing a batch file into sections

If you press CTRL+C to stop a batch program, MS-DOS displays the following message:

Terminate batch job (Y/N)?

If you press Y (for yes) in response to this message, the batch program ends and control returns to the operating system. Therefore, you can insert the PAUSE command before a section of the batch file you may not want to process. While PAUSE suspends processing of the batch program, you can press CTRL+C and then Y to stop the batch program.

Examples

Suppose you want a batch program to prompt the user to change disks in one of the drives. To do this, you might create the following file:

• @echo off
• :begin
• copy a:*.*
• echo Please put a new disk into drive A
• pause
• goto begin

In this example, all the files on the disk in drive A are copied to the current directory. After the displayed comment prompts you to place another disk in drive A, the PAUSE command suspends processing so that you can change disks and then press any key to resume processing. This particular batch program runs in an endless loop. The GOTO BEGIN command sends the command interpreter to the begin label of the batch file. To stop this batch program, press CTRL+C and then Y.