.TH dosformat "" "" Command
.PC "Build an MS-DOS file system"
\fBdosformat [\-v] \fIdevice\^\fB:\fR
.PP
.HS
.SH Option
.IC \fBv\fR
Verbose.
Describe each action as it is executed.
.HE
.II "MS-DOS^build file system on a floppy disk"
.II "file system^build MS-DOS system on a disk"
.B dosformat
builds an \*(MD file system on a floppy disk.
The disk must first have been formatted with the command
.BR "fdformat \-v" .
.I device
names the floppy-disk drive that holds the disk to receive the file system,
such as
.BR /dev/fha0 .
See the Lexicon entry
.B "floppy disks"
for a table of the \*(CO floppy-disk devices.
You can also build a file of aliases so that
you can access the drives as
.BR A ,
.BR B ,
etc.
For details, see the Lexicon entry for
.BR doscp ,
which explains how to set up defaults for the \fBdos\fR family of commands.
Note that the device name must always be suffixed with a
colon `:', just like an MS-DOS device name.
.PP
The option \fB\-v\fR,
tells
.B dosformat
to provide additional information about each action it performs.
.SH Example
The following example formats a disk.
It assumes that you have defined \fBa\fR as a default for a device upon which
is set an \*(MD file system:
.DM
	dosformat a:
.DE
.SH Files
\fB/etc/default/msdos\fR \(em Setup file
.SH "See Also"
.Xr "commands," commands
.Xr "dos," dos
.Xr "fdformat" fdformat
.SH Notes
To create a double-sided, double-density formatted floppy disk in drive 0
(drive A), use
.B /dev/fqa0
for 3.5-inch disks, or
.B /dev/f9a0
for 5.25-inch disks.
