Table of Contents
Note: This API call is for DOS and Win16 personality only. Use Family API for portability.
Int 21H, AH=37H, AL=00H
Version
2 and higher
Brief
GET SWITCH CHARACTER
Family API
Input
AX = 3700h
Return
AL = status
00h successful
DL = current switch character
FFh unsupported subfunction
Macro
Notes
Determine the character which is used to introduce command switches. This setting is ignored by MS-DOS commands in version 4.0 and higher, but is honored by many third-party programs and by Novell DOS 7 external commands
BUG: Novell DOS 7's COMMAND.COM (prior to Update 15) fails to honor the SwitChar setting for internal commands even though COMMAND.COM honors it in its own command tail (i.e. COMMAND /?); even in Update 15, internal commands fail to honor SwitChar for the /? help option
documented in some OEM versions of some releases of DOS
supported by OS/2 compatibility box
always returns AL=00h/DL=2Fh for MS-DOS 5+ and DR DOS 3.41-6.0
Novell DOS 7 COMMAND.COM indicates switch characters other than '/' by changing the first backslash (and only the first one) in the path it prints for PROMPT $p with a forward slash
See also
AX=3701h
Note
Text based on Ralf Brown Interrupt List Release 61
| osFree Macro Library | |
|---|---|
| Video I/O | @SetMode @SetCurSz @SetCurPos @GetCur @SetPage @ScrollUp @ScrollDn @Scroll @GetChAtr @PutChAtr @PutCh @SetPalet @SetColor @SetDot @GetDot @WrtTTY @VideoState @GetMode @GetDisplay @GetVideoState @GetEGAInfo @Cls |
| Hardware info | @Equipment @MemSize |
| Serial I/O | @AuxInit @AuxSendChar @AuxRecieveChar @AuxStatus |
| Tape I/O | @TapeOn @TapeOff @TapeRead @TapeWrite |
| Keyboard I/O | @KbdStatus @CharIn @CharPeek |
| Printer I/O | @PrnPrint @PrnInit @PrnStatus |
| Disk I/O | @DskReset @DskStatus @DskRead @DskWrite @DskVerify @DskFormat |
| Date and Time | @SetTime @GetTime |
| Mouse | @MouInit @MouShowPointer @MouStatus @MouSetPos @MouSetMickey @MouRegion |
| Memory manager | @ModBlok SET_BLOCK |