Escape Character

CMD.EXE recognizes a user-definable escape character.  This character 
gives the following character a special meaning; it is not the same as the 
ASCII ESC that is often used in ANSI and printer control sequences. 

The default escape character is a caret [^]. 

If you don't like using the default escape character, you can pick another 
character using the SETDOS /E command, the Options 1 page of the OPTION 
dialogs, or the EscapeChar directive in your .INI file.  If you plan to 
share aliases or batch files between CMD.EXE and 4DOS, 4NT, or Take 
Command, see Special Character Compatibility for details about choosing 
compatible escape characters for two or more products. 

Ten special characters are recognized when they are preceded by the escape 
character.  The combination of the escape character and one of these 
characters is translated to a single character, as shown below.  These are 
primarily useful for redirecting codes to the printer; ^e is also useful 
to generate ANSI "escape sequences" in your PROMPT, ECHO, or other output 
commands.  The special characters which can follow the escape character 
are:    

        b   backspace 
        c   comma 
        e   the ASCII ESC character (ASCII 27) 
        f   form feed 
        k   back quote 
        n   line feed 
        q   double quote 
        r   carriage return 
        s   space 
        t   tab character 
 
 If you follow the escape character with any other character, the escape 
 character is removed and the second character is copied directly to the 
 command line.  This allows you to suppress the normal meaning of special 
 characters (such as ? * / \ | " ` > < and &). For example, to display a 
 message containing a > symbol, which normally indicates redirection: 

 
         [c:\] echo 2 is ^> 4
 

 To send a form feed followed by the sequence ESC Y to the printer, you 
 can use this command: 

 
         [c:\] echos ^f^eY > prn
 

 The escape character has an additional use when it is the last character 
 on any line of a .BAT or BTM batch file.  CMD.EXE recognizes this use of 
 the escape character to signal line continuation:  the command processor 
 removes the escape character and appends the next line to the current 
 line before executing it.