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|---------------B A T C H L R N  H E L P  S Y S T E M-----------------|
|command: IF EXIST                                                    |
|use: The IF EXIST cmnd. allows CONFIRMATION of a file or condition.  |
|                                                                     |
|how: Type:IF EXIST <filename.ext> or <condition> [then]  <cmnd.> O-R |
|          IF NOT EXIST <same as above>                               |
|                                                                     |
|example: IF EXIST %1 GOTO EXISTS                                     |
|         ECHO     . . . T H E  F I L E  D O E S N ' T  E X I S T !   |
|         :EXISTS                                                     |
|         ECHO  ...%1 IS AN EXISTING FILE IN THE CURRENT DIRECTORY!   |
|								      |
| If you were to type:"EXIST SWELL.TXT" and it DID NOT EXIST the      |
| statement would be FALSE and the batch file would move to the next  |
| line, displaying: ...THE FILE DOES NOT EXIST! If you typed the same |
| phrase, and the file WAS in the CURRENT directory the statement     |
| would be true and the batch file would JUMP to the label "EXISTS".  |
| It would then display the message: ...SWELL.TXT [that's the %1] IS  |
| AN EXISTING FILE IN THE CURRENT DIRECTORY! Using this basic shell   |
| you can create many IF EXIST batch processing files to make your    |
| work easier. FOR CROSS-REFERENCE SEE THE IF.HLP FILE!               |
|NOTES: When <condition> is TRUE, DOS or batch <command> is performed.|
| When <condition> is NOT TRUE,the <command> is IGNORED and the next  |
| line in the batch processing file is performed.                     |
| The<condition> we are "testing" here, IF EXIST o-r NOT EXIST is ill-|
| illustrated by these two examples:                                  |
|                                                                     |
|         IF EXIST = True if and only if <filename> exists.           |
|                                                                     |
|     IF NOT EXIST = True if and only if <condition> is false.        |
|                                                                     |
|      Another example of IF EXIST (>Condition 3) is as follows:      |
|   >Condition 3:The logical test for checking for the existence of a |
| file has as its format: EXIST C:<filename.ext>                      |
| You can use this test to check and see if a file is in C: drive     |
| (as in the example). EXIST B:<filename.ext> might be used to check  |
| to see if B: drive has a DOS disk in the drive. Explore other uses  |
| after examining files on this disk with "EXIST". Note: you cannot   |
| use pathnames for checking on a file's existence.                   |
|							              |
|READER NOTE:The IF & IF EXIST cmnds are important to you. Review THIS|
| file & IF.HLP,then s-t-u-d-y the "EXIST".BAT files.YOU'LL HAVE IT!  |
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|----------------- T  I  M  E  M  A  S  T  E  R  ---------------------|
