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ArticleBot · Feb 4, 2005, 11:22

This is an article discussion thread for discussing the SitePoint article, "Kev's Command Prompt Cheat Sheet"

MikeFoster · May 11, 2005, 15:19

Ah, a blast from the past! Oh we were great command-line warriors at one time

Want to run a program on every file in a directory?
This passes the file name (minus the extension) of every .xcp file (in the "cwd") to a program called xc:

Code:

@for %%f in (*.xcp) do xc %%~nf

btw... cwd == current working directory

Want to have more control over your directory listing?
This outputs a "bare" listing sorted ("ordered") by name:

Code:

dir /b /on

Want that directory listing sent to a file?

Code:

dir /b /on > dir_list.txt

Here's something you can't do easily from Windows Explorer.
Let's say we have a directory of files named like this:
beach001.jpg, beach002.jpg, beach003.jpg, beach004.jpg, etc.
Now we realise those weren't beach pics at all! We want to replace "beach" with "work" for all those files...

Code:

ren beach???.jpg work???.jpg

Pretty cool, eh? But you say some of those pics were gif files and not jpg files? No prob...

Code:

ren beach???.* work???.*

Let's create a network share called "shared_src" on a computer named "main_server":

Code:

net share shared_src=c:\public\src

Now on a different computer (on the network) lets map x drive to that share:

Code:

net use x: \\main_server\shared_src

Let's compare two different directory structures and save any differences in a file:

Code:

c:
cd \projects\old
dir /on /s > ..\old.txt
cd \projects\new
dir /on /s > ..\new.txt
cd ..
fc new.txt old.txt > project_comparison.txt

Ah, those were the days

Disclaimer - It's been a long time since I used some of these. Note that you can screw things up with some of these commands.

mark_W · May 15, 2005, 16:42

Quote:

Originally Posted by MikeFoster

Ah, a blast from the past! Oh we were great command-line warriors at one time

Want to run a program on every file in a directory?
This passes the file name (minus the extension) of every .xcp file (in the "cwd") to a program called xc:

Code:

 @for %%f in (*.xcp) do xc %%~nf

btw... cwd == current working directory

Want to have more control over your directory listing?
This outputs a "bare" listing sorted ("ordered") by name:

Code:

 dir /b /on

Want that directory listing sent to a file?

Code:

 dir /b /on > dir_list.txt

Here's something you can't do easily from Windows Explorer.
Let's say we have a directory of files named like this:
beach001.jpg, beach002.jpg, beach003.jpg, beach004.jpg, etc.
Now we realise those weren't beach pics at all! We want to replace "beach" with "work" for all those files...

Code:

 ren beach???.jpg work???.jpg

Pretty cool, eh? But you say some of those pics were gif files and not jpg files? No prob...

Code:

 ren beach???.* work???.*

Let's create a network share called "shared_src" on a computer named "main_server":

Code:

 net share shared_src=c:\public\src

Now on a different computer (on the network) lets map x drive to that share:

Code:

 net use x: \\main_server\shared_src

Let's compare two different directory structures and save any differences in a file:

Code:

 c:
 cd \projects\old
 dir /on /s > ..\old.txt
 cd \projects\new
 dir /on /s > ..\new.txt
 cd ..
 fc new.txt old.txt > project_comparison.txt

Ah, those were the days

Disclaimer - It's been a long time since I used some of these. Note that you can screw things up with some of these commands.

Some of those are awesome!

geekpipe · May 14, 2005, 22:29

heh this brings back memories...

MikeFoster · May 15, 2005, 21:13

Thanks

The Command Prompt (I still call it a "DOS Box"

) can be very useful - I use it often. One problem with opening a Command Prompt from the "Start" menu is that, after opening it you then have to "cd" (change directory) to the directory where you need to work. Here's something I did to help. The following creates a new action for the "Folder" file type. After doing this you can right-click on a folder (in the "Folders" view of Explorer) and select "Command Prompt" and it will open it with the "CWD" (current working directory) set to the folder you right-clicked on.

On the main menu bar of Explorer (not 'Internet' Explorer) click "Tools", then "Folder Options...", then the "File Types" Tab. Now you see a list of file types. Look for one named "Folder". There is also one named "File Folder" - don't select that one, select the one named "Folder" (I have Windows XP Pro so things may be different for you now, depending on what version of Windows you have). Click the "Advanced" button. Now you get a dialog box named "Edit File Type" - it has a list of "Actions" (you'll probably see the "explore" and "open" actions already there). Click the "New..." button. Now you get a dialog box named "New Action" which has two text fields. For "Action" I used this: Command Prompt. For "Application used to perform action" I used this: C:\WINDOWS\system32\cmd.exe "%1". Click the "OK" buttons for all dialog boxes you opened.

This has been very useful to me. I hope it is useful to you

dc dalton · May 16, 2005, 00:06

damn I DO miss the days of the dos prompt even though I still use it a lot. I think thats why I enjoy the console on my servers so much ...... and the wonderful thing is? It ONLY does what you tell it to do (unlike some "other" apps we wont mention)

nice article ...... made me feel "homesick" for the good old days!

tauperkin · Mar 30, 2008, 07:21

Oh my gosh!

I absolutely LOVE DOS command prompts. I think I learned every single one. Then it all went to Windows.

It's so funny...this article says it's a "mysterous utility." That's funny because it was the way you did things before it all went to these pretty little folders and such.

FredJones53 · Jul 29, 2008, 04:30

Bah, get a real command line like bash or zsh

hobbit.debian · Oct 28, 2008, 17:45

how do you run a command (like net or something with a lot of sub commands) and have it appear in the prompt? i figured it out once but i forgot.
should look something like this if you do it correctly:
C:\WINDOWS\System32>net>
then you can type net start,config,etc. but without the net part. also might be like:
C:\WINDOWS\System32\net.exe>
thanks

Feb 4, 2005, 11:22	#1
ArticleBot SitePoint Articles Join Date: Apr 2001 Posts: 0	Article Discussion This is an article discussion thread for discussing the SitePoint article, "Kev's Command Prompt Cheat Sheet"

May 11, 2005, 15:19	#2
MikeFoster I'll take mine raw Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Alabama, USA Posts: 2,561	Ah, a blast from the past! Oh we were great command-line warriors at one time Want to run a program on every file in a directory? This passes the file name (minus the extension) of every .xcp file (in the "cwd") to a program called xc: Code: @for %%f in (.xcp) do xc %%~nf btw... cwd == current working directory Want to have more control over your directory listing? This outputs a "bare" listing sorted ("ordered") by name: Code: dir /b /on Want that directory listing sent to a file? Code: dir /b /on > dir_list.txt Here's something you can't do easily from Windows Explorer. Let's say we have a directory of files named like this: beach001.jpg, beach002.jpg, beach003.jpg, beach004.jpg, etc. Now we realise those weren't beach pics at all! We want to replace "beach" with "work" for all those files... Code: ren beach???.jpg work???.jpg Pretty cool, eh? But you say some of those pics were gif files and not jpg files? No prob... Code: ren beach???. work???.* Let's create a network share called "shared_src" on a computer named "main_server": Code: net share shared_src=c:\public\src Now on a different computer (on the network) lets map x drive to that share: Code: net use x: \\main_server\shared_src Let's compare two different directory structures and save any differences in a file: Code: c: cd \projects\old dir /on /s > ..\old.txt cd \projects\new dir /on /s > ..\new.txt cd .. fc new.txt old.txt > project_comparison.txt Ah, those were the days Disclaimer - It's been a long time since I used some of these. Note that you can screw things up with some of these commands.

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May 14, 2005, 22:29	#4
geekpipe SitePoint Zealot Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: ny Posts: 132	heh this brings back memories...

May 15, 2005, 21:13	#5
MikeFoster I'll take mine raw Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Alabama, USA Posts: 2,561	Thanks The Command Prompt (I still call it a "DOS Box" ) can be very useful - I use it often. One problem with opening a Command Prompt from the "Start" menu is that, after opening it you then have to "cd" (change directory) to the directory where you need to work. Here's something I did to help. The following creates a new action for the "Folder" file type. After doing this you can right-click on a folder (in the "Folders" view of Explorer) and select "Command Prompt" and it will open it with the "CWD" (current working directory) set to the folder you right-clicked on. On the main menu bar of Explorer (not 'Internet' Explorer) click "Tools", then "Folder Options...", then the "File Types" Tab. Now you see a list of file types. Look for one named "Folder". There is also one named "File Folder" - don't select that one, select the one named "Folder" (I have Windows XP Pro so things may be different for you now, depending on what version of Windows you have). Click the "Advanced" button. Now you get a dialog box named "Edit File Type" - it has a list of "Actions" (you'll probably see the "explore" and "open" actions already there). Click the "New..." button. Now you get a dialog box named "New Action" which has two text fields. For "Action" I used this: Command Prompt. For "Application used to perform action" I used this: C:\WINDOWS\system32\cmd.exe "%1". Click the "OK" buttons for all dialog boxes you opened. This has been very useful to me. I hope it is useful to you

May 16, 2005, 00:06	#6
dc dalton SitePoint Wizard Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Right behind you, watching, always watching. Posts: 5,940	damn I DO miss the days of the dos prompt even though I still use it a lot. I think thats why I enjoy the console on my servers so much ...... and the wonderful thing is? It ONLY does what you tell it to do (unlike some "other" apps we wont mention) nice article ...... made me feel "homesick" for the good old days!

Mar 30, 2008, 07:21	#7
tauperkin SitePoint Addict Join Date: Jun 2006 Posts: 222	Oh my gosh! I absolutely LOVE DOS command prompts. I think I learned every single one. Then it all went to Windows. It's so funny...this article says it's a "mysterous utility." That's funny because it was the way you did things before it all went to these pretty little folders and such.

Jul 29, 2008, 04:30	#8
FredJones53 SitePoint Member Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: UK Posts: 17	Bah, get a real command line like bash or zsh

Oct 28, 2008, 17:45	#9
hobbit.debian SitePoint Member Join Date: Oct 2008 Posts: 1	how do you run a command (like net or something with a lot of sub commands) and have it appear in the prompt? i figured it out once but i forgot. should look something like this if you do it correctly: C:\WINDOWS\System32>net> then you can type net start,config,etc. but without the net part. also might be like: C:\WINDOWS\System32\net.exe> thanks