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Copy (command)

Shell command for copying files From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Copy (command)
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copy is a shell command for copying files.[1][2]

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Different implementations provide various capabilities, such as:

  • Combining (concatenating) multiple files into a single file
  • If multiple source files are specified before the path to an existing directory, then files are copied to the directory
  • Support for text vs. binary data; for text, the command stops when it reaches an end-of-file (EOF) character; for binary, files are copied in their entirety; ignoring EOF
  • In DOS, a file can be copied to or from a device. For example, copy path con outputs the file at path to the console, and copy con path copies text typed at the console to a file at path
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Implementations

The command is available in RT-11,[3] OS/8,[4] RSX-11,[5] ISIS-II,[6] iRMX 86,[7] TOPS-10,[8] TOPS-20,[9] OpenVMS,[10] MetaComCo TRIPOS,[11] HDOS,[12] Z80-RIO,[13] OS-9,[14] DOS, FlexOS,[15] 4690 OS,[16] PC-MOS,[17] HP MPE/iX,[18] OS/2,[19] Windows,[20] ROM-DOS,[21] ReactOS,[22] SymbOS, DexOS, and 86-DOS.[23]

Under IBM PC DOS/MS-DOS the command is available since version 1.[24]

Some shells provide a copy command with a different name. In Unix-based systems, the copy command is cp. In CP/M, the command is PIP. in OpenVOS, the command is copy_file.[25].

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DOS

The following copies existing file fromfile to path tofile'.

copy fromfile tofile

A file can be copied to a device. The following sends a file to the printer on lpt1.

copy letter.txt lpt1

The following outputs to stdout, like the type command.

copy letter.txt con

The following concatenates the page# files into book.txt like cat.

copy page1.txt+page2.txt book.txt

The command can copy files between drives.

The following uses text mode to copy text of the file; stopping when it reaches an EOF character.

copy /a doc1.txt + doc2.txt doc3.txt
copy /a *.txt doc3.txt

The following uses binary mode; concatenating files in their entirety; ignoring EOF characters.

copy /b image1.jpg + image2.jpg image3.jpg
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See also

  • XCOPY – Shell command for copying files

References

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Further reading

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