:< .... >

outputs the text between the opening and closing angle brackets; may span multiple lines. This is the normal way to print operational messages on the screen from within CMD and DO files.

:t (trace)

causes all commands from that point forward to be traced—i.e., be displayed on the screen. This is very useful for debugging, but may be too verbose for normal use.

:r (respond)

causes just the output of commands to be displayed; the commands themselves do not display. This produces a somewhat cleaner looking result.

:s (silence)

silences all output. Unfortunately, this is the default, if neither :t or :r are supplied first.

:x (exit)

causes the CMD or DO file to exit. This is equivalent to the EXIT command.

:k (keyboard)

stops and waits for keyboard input. The input is then processed by whatever process is currently in effect (i.e. either a program or the command line processor itself). For example:

SET CTRLC
:<This command erases all files!!!
Hit ENTER to proceed or ^C to abort: >
:K           ; ^C will abort here; ENTER will just proceed
ERASE *.*

:p (partial)

may be used in conjunction with :k to append the keyboard input to a partial command line. For example:

:R
:<Enter name of file to display: >
:P
EZTYP
:K