Copy (command)
| Company type | Command line utility |
|---|---|
| Industry | Computing / Software |
| Products | File copying utility |
copy is a shell command utilized for duplicating files. Various versions provide functionalities including:
- Merging several files into a single file
- Transferring multiple source files into an existing directory
- Differentiating between text and binary data; text mode halts at EOF, while binary mode copies the full file
- In DOS environments, enabling copying to or from devices, for example,
copy path consends file content to the console, andcopy con pathcreates a file using console input
Implementations
This command is incorporated in a wide range of operating systems such as RT-11, OS/8, RSX-11, ISIS-II, iRMX 86, TOPS-10, TOPS-20, OpenVMS, MetaComCo TRIPOS, HDOS, Z80-RIO, OS-9, DOS, FlexOS, 4690 OS, PC-MOS, Hewlett-Packard’s MPE/iX, OS/2, various versions of Windows, ROM-DOS, ReactOS, SymbOS, DexOS, and 86-DOS.
For IBM PC DOS/MS-DOS systems, this command has been present since the initial release. Alternative names are used in other environments: in Unix-like systems, it appears as cp; within CP/M systems, it is known as PIP; and OpenVOS uses copy_file.
DOS
In DOS, the copy command replicates an existing file designated by fromfile to a target named tofile.
copy fromfile tofile
It supports copying files to hardware devices, for instance sending a document to the printer on lpt1:
copy letter.txt lpt1
The command can also direct output to the console, functioning similarly to the DOS type command:
copy letter.txt con
Concatenation of several files into one is possible, comparable to the Unix cat utility:
copy page1.txt+page2.txt book.txt
Copying across different drives is supported as well.
When operating in text mode, copying stops upon encountering EOF markers:
copy /a doc1.txt + doc2.txt doc3.txt copy /a *.txt doc3.txt
Binary mode ensures that entire files are copied without regard to EOF characters:
copy /b image1.jpg + image2.jpg image3.jpg
See also
- XCOPY
Further reading
- Wolverton, Van. MS-DOS Commands: Microsoft Quick Reference, 4th Revised edition, 1990, Microsoft Press.
- Ivens, Kathy; Proffit, Brian. OS/2 Inside & Out, 1993, Osborne McGraw-Hill.
- Frisch, Æleen. Windows 2000 Commands Pocket Reference, 2001, O'Reilly Media.