SYNTAX NOTATION
---------------

	     The  HELP command provides a description of the MSX-DOS
	commands using the following notation:

Words  in upper case

	     These are keywords and must be entered as shown in  any
	mixture of upper or lower case.

Items in lower case

	     These  are  parameters  which must be supplied  to  the
	command at this point in the command line.

Items  in square brackets ('[' and ']')

	     These  are  optional  items.  The  brackets  themselves
	should not be included in the command line.

Items  separated by a vertical bar ('|')

	     This indicates that one only of the items is  required.
	The  vertical  bar  itself  should not be  included  in  the
	command line.

	     The following is a list of items which can appear on  a
	command line:

d:

	     This  indicates that a drive name is required  (A:,  B:
	etc.).

	     If d:  is shown as optional and is not specified,  then
	the  currently logged-on drive,  as indicated by the command
	prompt, is assumed.

path

	     This indicates that a directory path is  required,  the
	syntax of which is similar to MS-DOS.  Each directory in the
	path  is  separated by a backslash '\'.  A backslash at  the
	start of the path indicates that the path starts at the root
	directory,   otherwise  the  path  starts  at  the   current
	directory  as indicated by the CHDIR command.  Frequently  a
	filename  follows  a  path,  in which case the two  must  be
	separated by a backslash.

	     Two consecutive dots '..' signify the immediate  parent
	directory  in  the  path.  A single dot  '.'  signifies  the
	current  directory in the path and therefore usually has  no
	value in a path specification.

	     On  non-English MSX machines,  the backslash  character
	'\' may be replaced by some other character.  In particular,
	on Japanese MSX machines the Yen character is used.

	     If  a  path is shown as optional and is not  specified,
	then the current directory as indicated by the CHDIR command
	is assumed.

	     The  syntax of the directory names that make up a  path
	name follows that for filenames given below.

filename

	     This indicates that the name of a file is required, the
	syntax  of  which  is similar to MS-DOS and  MSX-DOS  1.  An
	ambiguous  filename  is  one  that  contains  '*'  and   '?'
	characters and may match more that one file on disk,  whilst
	one that does not contain these is an unambiguous filename.

	     A filename has the following syntax:-

	       mainname[.[suf]]

	where  mainname is a sequence of up to 8 characters and  suf
	is  a  sequence  of  up  to  3  characters  inclusive.   Any
	characters  beyond  these  fields  are  ignored.  A  '*'  in
	the  main name or suffix is equivalent to filling from  that
	character position to the end of the field with '?'.  If the
	suffix is given then it must be separated from the main part
	of the filename by a single dot '.'.

	     The following characters cannot be used in filenames:-

	     Control codes and SPACE (in the range 0 to 20h)

	     : ; . , = + \ < > | / " [ ]

	     All  characters  are  converted  to  upper  case  where
	appropriate   and therefore lower and upper case  characters
	have  the  same meaning.  Note that  extended  two-character
	Japanese characters are allowed.

	     If  a  filename  is  shown  as  optional  and  is   not
	specified, then a filename of *.* is assumed.

filespec

	     This is used to identify a file or several files in the
	same directory on a disk. It's syntax is:-

		  [d:][path][filename]

	where  at  least  one of the three optional  items  must  be
	given.  Where this is used to specify existing files, /H may
	be given to allow hidden files to be found.

	     Generally,  d:  if  not given defaults to the currently
	logged on drive,  path if not given defaults to the  current
	directory  of that drive and filename if not given  defaults
	to a filename of *.*.

compound-filespec

	     This  is used in many commands to specify the files  or
	directories  to which the command is  applied.  It's  syntax
	is:-

		  filespec [+ filespec [+ filespec ...]]

	     Thus  several  filespecs  (see  above)  can  be  given,
	separated  by '+' symbols,  with spaces etc. allowed  either
	side of the +. The effect of this in commands is exactly the
	same as if all the matched files could have been matched  by
	a single filespec.

	     Where  a compound-filespec is used to specify  existing
	files,  /H may be given after each filespec (see above),  in
	which case it will take effect only for the files matched by
	that single filespec.  If a /H is given before the compound-
	filespec, then it will apply over all the filespecs.

volname

	     This indicates that a volume name is required. A volume
	name is a sequence of up to 11 characters, which can include
	the characters not valid for filenames with the exception of
	control  codes  and  '/',  although leading spaces  will  be
	deleted.

device

	     This indicates one of the five standard MSX-DOS devices
	is required. These and their meaning are:

	     CON  - screen/keyboard I/O
	     NUL  - 'null' device, does nothing
	     AUX  - auxiliary I/O (eg. RS232 serial)
	     LST  - printer output
	     PRN  - printer output

	     Unlike on some other systems,  a colon is not  required
	after the device name.

	     Device  names can generally be used wherever  filenames
	can be used.  For example,  the command COPY MYFILE PRN will
	read the file MYFILE and write it to the printer.

	     When  using the CON device as an input filename,  lines
	can be typed in and edited in the same way as command  lines
	(see  HELP EDITING on  Editing Command Lines).  To  end  the
	operation,  control-Z  (^Z) must be typed at the start of  a
	line.  For example,  a small text file called MYFILE can  be
	created with the command COPY CON MYFILE.  Lines of text can
	then  be  typed  in,  and they will be written to  the  file
	MYFILE.   The  command  will  then  complete  when  a   line
	containing a single control-Z is entered.

	     If  the NUL device is written to,  then the  characters
	written  are simply ignored.  If read from,  then an end-of-
	file   condition  is  returned  straight  away   (which   is
	equivalent to typing the control-Z in the example above).

	     For  most  commands,  it is not sensible to  specify  a
	device  (the  CON device cannot be deleted using  the  ERASE
	command,  for example). The commands that devices are likely
	to  be used with those that read and write data from and  to
	files, such as CONCAT, COPY and TYPE.

number

	     This  indicates that a number is required.  This may be
	in  the  range  0  to 255 or 0 to  65535  depending  on  the
	command.
