What does this command line mean.

I found it in a mag.

DIR c: /w /a:d

Type dir/? and it should tell you what all those mean.

Displays a list of files and subdirectories in a directory.

DIR [drive:][path][filename] [/P] [/W] [/A[[:]attributes]]
[/O[[:]sortorder]] [/S] [/B] [/L] [/V] [/4]

[drive:][path][filename]
Specifies drive, directory, and/or files to list.
(Could be enhanced file specification or multiple filespecs.)
/P Pauses after each screenful of information.
/W Uses wide list format.
/A Displays files with specified attributes.
attributes D Directories R Read-only files
H Hidden files A Files ready for archiving
S System files - Prefix meaning not
/O List by files in sorted order.
sortorder N By name (alphabetic) S By size (smallest first)
E By extension (alphabetic) D By date & time (earliest first)
G Group directories first - Prefix to reverse order
A By Last Access Date (earliest first)
/S Displays files in specified directory and all subdirectories.
/B Uses bare format (no heading information or summary).
/L Uses lowercase.
/V Verbose mode.
/4 Displays year with 4 digits (ignored if /V also given).

Switches may be preset in the DIRCMD environment variable. Override
preset switches by prefixing any switch with - (hyphen)--for example, /-W.

Simple answer - Type it and see.

It will do no damage

What it will do is carry out a
Directory Listing (DIR)
of the Root Directory of C:/ (C:/)
in a Wide Format (/W)
Listing only files with the D attribute (Directories) /A:D)

(Note - Under MS-DOS Windows 'Folders' are called 'Directories' - Hence DIR)

Will that help with your homework?

After running in DOS to produce some COBOL list files, I have found that my Win 98SE box has somehow switched modes , into "Drive C: is using MS-DOS compatibility- mode file system". Is there a 'mode switch' to revert back to the usual 32 file system ??

thankx Beamer

i knew all this but forgot the tricks :)

this /? works on any dos command.