Del (command)

Command in various operating systems

del / erase

The ReactOS `del` command

Developer(s)| DEC, Microware, Microsoft, IBM, DR, Datalight, Novell, JP Software, ReactOS Contributors
Operating system| RT-11, OS/8, RSX-11, OpenVMS, DOS, OS-9, MSX-DOS, FlexOS, SISNE plus, OS/2, Windows, ReactOS, KolibriOS, SymbOS, DexOS
Platform| Cross-platform
Type| Command

In computing, `del` (or `erase`) is a command in command-line interpreters (shells) such as `COMMAND.COM`, `cmd.exe`, 4DOS, NDOS, 4OS2, 4NT and Windows PowerShell. It is used to delete one or more files or directories from a file system.

## Implementations

[edit]

The command is available for various operating systems including DOS, Microware OS-9,[1] IBM OS/2,[2] Microsoft Windows[3] and ReactOS.[4] It is analogous to the Unix `rm` command and to the Stratus OpenVOS `delete_file` and `delete_dir`commands.[5]

DEC RT-11,[6] OS/8,[7] RSX-11,[8] and OpenVMS[9] also provide the `delete` command which can be contracted to `del`. AmigaDOS[10] and TSC FLEX[11] provide a `delete` command as well.

The `erase` command is supported by Tim Paterson's SCP 86-DOS.[12] On MS-DOS, the command is available in versions 1 and later.[13] It is also available in the open-source MS-DOS emulator DOSBox.

Datalight ROM-DOS also includes an implementation of the `del` and `erase` commands.[14]

While Digital Research DR-DOS supports `del` and `erase` as well, it also supports the shorthand form `era`, which derived from CP/M. In addition to this, the DR-DOS command processor also supports `delq`/`eraq`. These are shorthand forms for the `del`/`era`/`erase` command with an assumed `/Q` parameter (for 'Query') given as well.[15]

THEOS/OASIS[16] and FlexOS[17] provide only the `erase` command.

In PowerShell, `del` and `erase` are predefined command aliases for the `Remove-Item` cmdlet which basically serves the same purpose.

## Syntax

[edit]

>del filename
>erase filename

## See also

[edit]

* deltree
* rmdir
* List of DOS commands
* List of Unix commands

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Paul S. Dayan (1992). The OS-9 Guru - 1 : The Facts. Galactic Industrial Limited. ISBN 0-9519228-0-7.
2. ^ "JaTomes Help - OS/2 Commands". Archived from the original on 2019-04-14. Retrieved 2019-07-20.
3. ^ "Del". docs.microsoft.com. 31 August 2016.
4. ^ "reactos/reactos". GitHub. 3 January 2022.
5. ^ "Reference manual" (PDF). stratadoc.stratus.com. Retrieved 2020-09-14.
6. ^ "RT-11 HELP FILE". paleoferrosaurus.com. Archived from the original on 2018-07-17. Retrieved 2019-07-06.
7. ^ "Concise Command Language" (CCL)."OS/8 Handbook" (PDF). April 1974. Retrieved 28 November 2017.
8. ^ John F. Pieper (1987). RSX A Guide for Users (PDF). Digital Equipment Corporation. ISBN 0-932376-90-8. Retrieved 2020-09-19.
9. ^ "OpenVMS User's Manual". www.itec.suny.edu.[permanent dead link]
10. ^ Rügheimer, Hannes; Spanik, Christian (September 14, 1988). AmigaDOS quick reference. Grand Rapids, Mi : Abacus. ISBN 9781557550491 – via Internet Archive.
11. ^ "FLEX 2.0 User's Manual" (PDF).
12. ^ 86-DOS - Disk Operating System for the 8086 - User's Manual (PDF). Version 0.3 (Preliminary ed.). Seattle, Washington, USA: Seattle Computer Products, Inc. 1980\. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2019-07-14. Retrieved 2019-07-14. (59 pages)
13. ^ Wolverton, Van (2003). Running MS-DOS Version 6.22 (20th Anniversary Edition), 6th Revised edition. Microsoft Press. ISBN 0-7356-1812-7.
14. ^ "Datalight ROM-DOS User's Guide" (PDF). www.datalight.com.
15. ^ DR DOS 6.0 User Guide Optimisation and Configuration Tips
16. ^ THEOS/OASIS User′s Handbook
17. ^ "FlexOS User's Guide" (PDF). www.bitsavers.org. 1986. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2019-09-25. Retrieved 2020-09-14.

## Further reading

[edit]

* Wolverton, Van (1990). MS-DOS Commands: Microsoft Quick Reference, 4th Revised edition. Microsoft Press. ISBN 978-1556152894.
* Kathy Ivens; Brian Proffit (1993). OS/2 Inside & Out. Osborne McGraw-Hill. ISBN 978-0078818714.
* Frisch, Æleen (2001). Windows 2000 Commands Pocket Reference. O'Reilly. ISBN 978-0-596-00148-3.

## External links

[edit]

Wikibooks has a book on the topic of: Guide to Windows Commands

* del | Microsoft Docs

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* t
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Windows command-line programs and shell builtins

Ecosystem|

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|

Terminals|

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File system navigation|

* cd (chdir)
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File management|

* attrib
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* deltree
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Archiving|

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Disk management|

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* comp
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* choice
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Boot management|

* bcdedit
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Software development|

* break
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Miscellaneous|

* cls
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* List of DOS commands
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