Q63071: Only First 8 Characters in a Batch Label Recognized

Article: Q63071
Product(s): Microsoft Disk Operating System
Version(s): MS-DOS:4.01,5.x,6.0,6.2,6.21,6.22
Operating System(s): 
Keyword(s): 
Last Modified: 17-DEC-2000

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The information in this article applies to:

- Microsoft MS-DOS operating system versions 4.01, 5.0, 5.0a, 6.0, 6.2, 6.21, 6.22 
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SUMMARY
=======

MS-DOS recognizes only the first eight characters of a batch file label;
subsequent characters are ignored.

NOTE: This eight-character limitation also applies to the %config% variable
passed to the AUTOEXEC.BAT file in MS-DOS versions 6.0 or later when you use
multi-boot configurations.

For example, the labels LATESTCHANGE and LATESTCHANGES are identical to MS- DOS.
The line "GOTO LATESTCHANGE" (without the quotation marks) transfers to the
first label in the file that has same first eight characters as LATESTCHANGE.

MORE INFORMATION
================

The following examples illustrate this limitation.

Example 1
---------

The following example

  goto latestch
  : latestchanges
  echo two
  : latestch
  echo three

displays the following

  two
  three

rather than displaying the following:

  three

Example 2
---------

The following example

  :latestch
  echo zero
  :latestchanges
  echo one
  goto latestchanges

displays the following until CTRL+C is pressed, terminating the batch file:

  zero
  one
  zero
  one
  zero
  one
  etc.

Additional query words: 6.22 4.01 5.00 5.00a 6.00 6.20 multiboot

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Keywords          :  
Technology        : kbMSDOSSearch kbMSDOS621 kbMSDOS622 kbMSDOS620 kbMSDOS600 kbMSDOS500 kbMSDOS401 kbMSDOS500a
Version           : MS-DOS:4.01,5.x,6.0,6.2,6.21,6.22

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