Command Aliases

Abstract

Command aliases are a powerful addition to any shell scripter’s toolbox. For decades, UNIX shell users have been able to alias a command to something shorter and friendlier. Unfortunately, the DOS-based shells, command.com and cmd.exe, lacked that feature. In practice, external tools like doskey.exe allow users to define an alias for a command, but they are not built into the shell, and users have to learn their quirky syntax. PowerShell finally fills that gap in Windows shells and provides built-in support for command aliases.