batch file (operating system) (Or script) A text file containing operating system commands which are executed automatically by the command-line interpreter. In Unix, this is called a "shell script" since it is the Unix shell which includes the command-line interpreter. Batch files can be used as a simple way to combine existing commands into new commands.
In Microsoft Windows, batch files have filename extension, ".bat" or ".cmd". A special example is autoexec.bat which MS-DOS runs when Windows starts. Last updated: 2009-09-14
