COPY

Detailed Command Description

COPY

Copies one or more files to the location you specify.

This command can also be used to combine files. When more than one file is

copied, MS-DOS displays each filename as the file is copied.

Syntax

COPY [/Y|/-Y] [/A|/B] source [/A|/B] [+ source [/A|/B] [+

...]][destination [/A|/B]] [/V]

Parameters

source

Specifies the location and name of a file or set of files from which you

want to copy. Source can consist of a drive letter and colon, a

directory name, a filename, or a combination.

destination

Specifies the location and name of a file or set of files to which you

want to copy. Destination can consist of a drive letter and colon, a

directory name, a filename, or a combination.

Switches

/Y

Indicates that you want COPY to replace existing file(s) without

prompting you for confirmation. By default, if you specify an existing

file as the destination file, COPY will ask you if you want to overwrite

the existing file. (Previous versions of MS-DOS would simply replace the

existing file.) If the COPY command is part of a batch file, COPY will

behave as in previous versions. Specifying this switch overrides all

defaults and the current setting of the COPYCMD environment variable.

/-Y

Indicates that you want COPY to prompt you for confirmation when

replacing an existing file. Specifying this switch overrides all

defaults and the current setting of the COPYCMD environment variable.

/A

Indicates an ASCII text file. When the /A switch precedes the list of

filenames on the command line, it applies to all files whose names

follow the /A switch, until COPY encounters a /B switch, in which case

the /B switch applies to the file whose name precedes the /B switch.

When the /A switch follows a filename, it applies to the file whose name

precedes the /A switch and to all files whose names follow the /A

switch, until COPY encounters a /B switch, in which case the /B switch

applies to the file whose name precedes the /B switch.

An ASCII text file can use an end-of-file character (CTRL+Z) to indicate

the end of the file. When combining files, COPY treats files as ASCII

text files by default.

/B

Indicates a binary file. When the /B switch precedes the list of

filenames on the command line, it applies to all files whose names

follow the /B switch, until COPY encounters an /A switch, in which case

the /A switch applies to the file whose name precedes the /A switch.

When the /B switch follows a filename, it applies to the file whose name

precedes the /B switch and to all files whose names follow the /B

switch, until COPY encounters an /A switch, in which case the /A switch

applies to the file whose name precedes the /A switch.

The /B switch specifies that the command interpreter is to read the

number of bytes specified by the file size in the directory. The /B

switch is the default value for COPY unless COPY is combining files.

/V

Verifies that new files are written correctly.

Related Command

For information about copying directories and subdirectories, see the

XCOPY command.

COPY--Notes

Setting the COPYCMD environment variable

You can set the COPYCMD environment variable to specify whether you want the

COPY, MOVE, and XCOPY commands to prompt you for confirmation before

overwriting a file, whether issued from the command prompt or a batch file.

To force the COPY, MOVE, and XCOPY commands to prompt you before overwriting

in all cases, set the COPYCMD environment variable /-Y. To force these

commands to overwrite in all cases without prompting you, set the COPYCMD

environment variable to /Y.

Typing any of these commands with the /Y or /-Y switch overrides all

defaults and the current setting of the COPYCMD environment variable.

Copying to and from devices

You can substitute a device name for one or more occurrences of source or

for destination.

Using or omitting the /B switch when copying to a device

When destination is a device (for example, COM1 or LPT1), the /B switch

causes MS-DOS to copy data to the device in binary mode. In binary mode, all

characters (including such special characters as CTRL+C, CTRL+S, CTRL+Z, and

carriage return) are copied to the device as data. Whereas, omission of the

/B switch causes MS-DOS to copy data to the device in ASCII mode. In ASCII

mode, such special characters as those previously listed may cause MS-DOS to

take special action during the copying process.

Using the default destination file

If you do not specify a destination file, MS-DOS creates a copy with the

same name, creation date, and creation time as the original file, placing

the new copy in the current directory on the current drive. If the source

file is on the current drive and in the current directory and you do not

specify a different drive or directory for the destination file, the COPY

command stops and MS-DOS displays the following error message:

File cannot be copied onto itself

0 File(s) copied

Using the /V switch

If MS-DOS cannot verify a write operation, it displays an error message.

Although recording errors rarely occur with the COPY command, the /V switch

lets you verify that critical data has been correctly recorded. The /V

switch also slows down the COPY command, because MS-DOS must check each

sector recorded on the disk.

Using the /A and /B switches

The effect of an /A or /B switch depends upon its position on the command

line. When the /A or /B switch follows the source filename, COPY performs as

shown in the following list:

/A

Treats the file as an ASCII (text) file and copies data that precedes

the first end-of-file character. COPY does not copy the first

end-of-file character or the remainder of the file.

/B

Copies the entire file, including any end-of-file character.

When the /A or /B switch follows the destination filename, COPY performs as

shown in the following list:

/A

Adds an end-of-file character as the last character of the file.

/B

Does not add an end-of-file character.

Combining files with the COPY command

If you specify more than one source, separating entries with a plus sign

(+), COPY combines the files, creating a single file. If you use wildcards

in source but specify a single filename in destination, COPY combines all

files matching the filename in source and creates a single file with the

filename specified in destination.

In either case, COPY assumes the combined files are ASCII files unless you

specify the /B switch. (Do not combine non-ASCII files without specifying

the /B switch; doing so can result in truncated files, since most binary

files contain CTRL+Z characters which cause COPY to behave as if it has

reached the end of the file.)

If the name of the destination file is the same as the name of one of the

files being copied (except the first file), the original contents of the

destination file are lost. When this happens, COPY displays the following

message:

Content of destination lost before copy

Copying files in subdirectories

To copy all of a directory's files and subdirectories, you should use the

XCOPY command.

Copying zero-length files

COPY does not copy files that are 0 bytes long; instead, it deletes such

files. Use XCOPY to copy these files.

Changing the time and date of a file

If you want to assign the current time and date to a file without modifying

the file, use a command in the following format. The commas indicate the

omission of the destination parameter.

copy /b source+,,

COPY--Examples

The following command copies a file and ensures that an end-of-file

character is at the end of the copied file:

copy memo.doc letter.doc /a

To copy the NOTE.TXT file from the current drive and directory to the

directory MYNOTES, and to prevent MS-DOS from prompting you before

overwriting the destination file (if it already exists), type the following

command:

copy note.txt mynotes /y

To copy a file named ROBIN.TYP from the current drive and directory to an

existing directory named BIRDS that is located on drive C, type the

following command:

copy robin.typ c:\birds

If the BIRDS directory doesn't exist, MS-DOS copies the file ROBIN.TYP into

a file named BIRDS that is located in the root directory on the disk in

drive C.

To copy several files into one file, list any number of files as source

parameters on the COPY command line. Separate filenames with a plus sign (+)

and specify a filename for the resulting combined file, as the following

example shows:

copy mar89.rpt + apr89.rpt + may89.rpt report

This command combines the files named MAR89.RPT, APR89.RPT, and MAY89.RPT

from the current drive and directory and places them in a file named REPORT

in the current directory on the current drive. When files are combined, the

destination file is created with the current date and time. If you omit

destination, MS-DOS combines the files and stores them under the name of the

first specified file. For example, if a file named REPORT already exists,

you can use the following command to combine all four files in REPORT:

copy report + mar89.rpt + apr89.rpt + may89.rpt

You can also combine several files into one by using wildcards, as the

following example shows:

copy *.txt combin.doc

This command combines all files in the current directory on the current

drive that have the extension .TXT into one file named COMBIN.DOC, also in

the current directory on the current drive.

If you want to combine several binary files into one by using wildcards,

include the /B switch, as the following example shows:

copy /b *.exe combin.exe

This prevents MS-DOS from treating CTRL+Z as an end-of-file character.

CAUTION: If you combine binary files, the resulting file might not be

usable due to internal formatting.

In the following example, COPY combines each file that has a .TXT extension

with its corresponding .REF file. The result is a file with the same

filename but with a .DOC extension. Thus, COPY combines FILE1.TXT with

FILE1.REF to form FILE1.DOC. Then COPY combines FILE2.TXT with FILE2.REF to

form FILE2.DOC, and so on.

copy *.txt + *.ref *.doc

The following COPY command combines first all files with the .TXT extension,

then all files with the .REF extension into one file named COMBIN.DOC:

copy *.txt + *.ref combin.doc

Copying information from the keyboard

The following COPY command copies what you type at the keyboard to the

OUTPUT.TXT file:

copy con output.txt

After you type this command and press ENTER, MS-DOS copies everything you

type to the file OUTPUT.TXT. When you are finished typing, press CTRL+Z to

indicate that you want to end the file. The CTRL+Z character will appear on

the screen as "Z". You can also end a COPY CON command by pressing the F6

key. When you press F6, it generates the CTRL+Z character, which appears on

the screen as Z.

The following example copies information from the keyboard to the printer

connected to LPT1:

copy con lpt1

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