In computing, help
is a command in various command line shells such as COMMAND.COM
, cmd.exe
, Bash, 4DOS/4NT, Windows PowerShell, Singularity shell, Python and GNU Octave. It provides online information about available commands and the shell environment. The command is also available in the DEC RT-11 operating system. On Unix, the command is part of the Source Code Control System and prints help information for the SCCS commands.
Arguments:
The help command is available in MS-DOS 5.x and later. If no arguments are provided, the command lists the contents of DOSHELP.HLP
. In MS-DOS 6.x this command exists as FASTHELP. In DR-DOS, HELP is a batch file that launches DR-DOS' internal help program, DOSBOOK.
The 4DOS/4NT help command uses a text user interface to display the online help.
Used without parameters, help lists and briefly describes every system command. Windows NT-based versions use MS-DOS 5 style help. Versions before Windows Vista also have a Windows help file (NTCMDS.HLP
or NTCMDS.INF
) in a similar style to MS-DOS 6.