start (command)

In computing, start is a command of the IBM OS/2,[1] Microsoft Windows[2] and ReactOS[3] command-line interpreter cmd.exe[4] (and some versions of COMMAND.COM) to start programs or batch files or to open files or directories using the default program. start is not available as a standalone program. The underlying Win32 API is ShellExecute.

start
The ReactOS start command
Developer(s)IBM, Microsoft, ReactOS Contributors
Operating systemOS/2, Microsoft Windows, ReactOS
TypeCommand

The command is also one of the basic commands implemented in the Keyboard Monitor (KMON) of the DEC RT-11 operating system.[5] The TOPS-10[6] and TOPS-20[7] operating systems also provide a start command. It is used to start a program in memory at a specified address.

Other environments

Description of the START command of RT-11SJ displayed on a VT100.
  • Typical Unix shells (bash, etc.) have no built-in registry of file types and associated default applications. Linux command-line tools with similar functions include xdg-open[8] and run-mailcap.
  • On Cygwin, the command is implemented as the cygstart executable.[9]
  • In PowerShell, the Invoke-Item cmdlet is used to invoke an executable or open a file.[10]
  • On Apple macOS, the corresponding command is open.
  • On Stratus OpenVOS it is start_process.[11]

Syntax

Windows, ReactOS

start "title" [/D path] [options] "command" [parameters]

Examples

Windows, ReactOS

C:\>start notepad file.txt
C:\>start "C:\My Music\My Song.mp3"
C:\>start www.wikipedia.org

See also

References

Further reading

  • Kathy Ivens; Brian Proffit (1993). OS/2 Inside & Out. Osborne McGraw-Hill. ISBN 978-0078818714.
  • Frisch, Æleen (2001). Windows 2000 Commands Pocket Reference. O'Reilly. ISBN 978-0-596-00148-3.
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