The FORMAT command

If you want to redirect the input for the <FORMAT command, you should use 
one of the following techniques: 

 
  "type format.dat | format C:"

or 

 
  " program | format C:"

format.dat must be an ASCII file containing the user input for the FORMAT 
program; program can be any OS/2 program that writes the necessary user 
input for the FORMAT program to STDOUT (for example a REXX program). You 
can't use the ECHO command to pipe the input for the <FORMAT command.   

Note:  see also Navigate another program 

  OS/2 2.11 users may use the undocumented switch /NOF to force a quick 
 format. This is equal to the /Q switch in the OS/2 WARP format program.   

 Source:  The OS/2 WARP Survival Guide