                            PATH

PATH is an internal command that tells DOS to search certain directories when 
looking for a file that ends in .COM, .EXE, or .BAT in addition to the current 
directory.  PATH is useful because many DOS commands, programs not part of DOS,
and batch files are external, which means that they are separate program files.
While DOS external commands usually exist in the same directory as DOS, other
programs will be in other directories. If you set the PATH to search the 
directory that DOS resides in, then your external command will execute no 
matter what the current directory is. Also, commands to execute other programs
will work no matter what the current directory is. A PATH command is typically
included in the AUTOEXEC.BAT file to define the directories DOS should search.

    PATH [[d1:]pathname1][;[d2:]pathname2][;...]

[[d:]pathname] is the directory to search for a file.

Multiple directories are specified for the search by separating several 
[[d:]pathname]'s by semicolons (;). The order of the directory search is 
the same as the order they were specified with the PATH command, but the
current directory is always searched first. Don't use any special characters,
like space or tab, between the pathnames. Remember that . and .. are valid
pathnames.

PATH with no options will display the current path. A PATH command can only 
be 127 characters long. A long PATH with many pathnames may exceed this limit. 
A pathname cannot be more than 63 characters long. Careful use of the SUBST 
command before executing PATH can alleviate this limitation. The PATH is 
stored in DOS environment space, so the SHELL line in CONFIG.SYS may need to 
increase the size of DOS environment space if a long PATH is desired. The 
command

    SET PATH=x

is equivalent to

    PATH x
