Microsoft KB Archive/50076

XCOPY and COPY Return Different Merge File Results PSS ID Number: Q50076 Article last modified on 03-24-1993 PSS database name: O_MSDOS

3.x 4.x 5.00 6.00

MS-DOS

Summary:

There is a difference in the way XCOPY reports the number of files copied when merging files, as compared to the COPY command. When multiple files are merged using the internal COPY command, the COPY command reports the number of target files (one) written. When XCOPY merges files, it reports the number of source files read. For example, if the following files are merged together, the examples listed below show the difference between the results of the two commands.

A.TXT B.TXT C.TXT

The following example uses the COPY command to append the three .TXT files:

C> COPY ?.TXT ALL.TXT

A.TXT B.TXT C.TXT 1 File(s) copied

The following example uses XCOPY to append the same three files:

C> XCOPY ?.TXT ALL.TXT

Does ALL.TXT specify a file name or directory name on the target (F = file, D = directory)? F Reading source file(s)… A.TXT B.TXT C.TXT 3 File(s) copied

Additional reference words: 3.20 3.21 3.30 3.30a 4.00 4.01 5.00 6.00

Copyright Microsoft Corporation 1993.