I am trying to merge multiple text files with the same prefix into a single file using a native command in VBScript, rather than writing a loop in VBScript to open each file, read its content, and write it to the destination file. I am having issues with the COPY command, which seems to require flushing the StdOut buffer because it outputs the names of all the files it copies. I am considering using the XCOPY command because it has more flags to configure its behavior and output, such as the /Q flag which suppresses the display of XCOPY messages.
According to the documentation for XCOPY, it is possible to append files by specifying a single file for the destination and multiple files for the source, using wildcards or the “file1+file2+file3” format. However, when I try this using the following command: xcopy "My file pattern whatsoever.*.tmp" "My destination file.tmp", XCOPY prompts me to specify whether the destination is a file or directory. I can suppress this message by using the /i flag, but this does not meet my needs.
Instead, I have tried using the following command: echo F|xcopy "My file pattern whatsoever.*.tmp" "My destination file.tmp". This successfully copies the first file to the destination, but for each subsequent file, a prompt appears asking if I want to replace the destination file. Additionally, the echo command does not provide any input for these prompts, causing all subsequent files to be discarded.
If I use the /y flag to suppress the prompt to overwrite the destination file, the destination file will only contain the content of the last file that I am trying to merge. I have also tried using the “file1+file2+file3” syntax with only two files, using the command xcopy "My file pattern whatsoever.0001.tmp"+"My file pattern whatsoever.0002.tmp" "My destination file.tmp", but this results in an error saying “File not found – My file pattern whatsoever.0001.tmp+My file pattern whatsoever.0002.tmp”. It seems that this syntax does not work with long filenames, including those with spaces.
I am not sure what is causing these issues with my attempts to merge the files.
3 Answers
Merging Multiple Text Files with VBScript
Merging multiple text files with the same prefix into a single file can be done using a native command in VBScript. This is a more efficient method than writing a loop in VBScript to open each file, read its content, and write it to the destination file. However, there are some issues that can arise when using certain commands, such as COPY and XCOPY. In this article, we will discuss how to merge multiple text files using VBScript and how to overcome the issues with the XCOPY command.
Using the COPY Command
The COPY command is a native command in VBScript that can be used to copy files from one location to another. To merge multiple text files using the COPY command, you can use the following code:
Set fso = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")
Set destFile = fso.CreateTextFile("destination.txt", True)
For Each file In fso.GetFolder("C:pathtofiles").Files
If Left(file.Name, 4) = "prefix" And Right(file.Name, 4) = ".txt" Then
Set sourceFile = fso.OpenTextFile(file.Path, 1)
destFile.Write sourceFile.ReadAll
sourceFile.Close
End If
Next
destFile.Close
This code loops through all the files in the specified folder and checks if the file name starts with “prefix” and ends with “.txt”. If it does, the file is opened, and its content is written to the destination file.
However, the COPY command has an issue where it outputs the names of all the files it copies, which can cause issues when merging multiple files. To prevent this, we can use the XCOPY command instead.
Using the XCOPY Command
The XCOPY command is another native command in VBScript that can be used to copy files from one location to another. It has more flags to configure its behavior and output, such as the /Q flag which suppresses the display of XCOPY messages.
To merge multiple text files using the XCOPY command, you can use the following command:
xcopy "C:pathtofilesprefix*.txt" "C:pathtodestinationdestination.txt" /q
This command specifies the source files using the wildcard pattern “prefix*.txt” and the destination file as “destination.txt”. The /q flag suppresses the display of XCOPY messages.
However, this command will prompt you to specify whether the destination is a file or directory. To prevent this, we can use the /i flag, which specifies that the destination is a directory if the destination does not exist and that the destination is a file if only one file is specified.
xcopy "C:pathtofilesprefix*.txt" "C:pathtodestinationdestination.txt" /q /i
This command will merge all the text files with the prefix “prefix” into a single file called “destination.txt”.
Overcoming Issues with the XCOPY Command
When using the XCOPY command to merge multiple text files, there are some issues that can arise. One issue is that the command will prompt you to replace the destination file for each subsequent file, which can cause issues when merging multiple files.
To prevent this, we can use the /y flag, which specifies that the destination file should be overwritten without prompting.
xcopy "C:pathtofilesprefix*.txt" "C:pathtodestinationdestination.txt" /q /i /y
This command will merge all the text files with the prefix “prefix” into a single file called “destination.txt” without prompting to replace the destination file.
Another issue with the XCOPY command is that it does not support merging more than two files using the “file1+file2+file3” syntax. To merge more than two files, you can use a loop to concatenate the files one by one.
Set fso = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")
Set destFile = fso.CreateTextFile("destination.txt", True)
For i = 1 To 10
Set sourceFile = fso.OpenTextFile("prefix" & i & ".txt", 1)
destFile.Write sourceFile.ReadAll
sourceFile.Close
Next
destFile.Close
This code loops through all the files with the names “prefix1.txt” to “prefix10.txt” and concatenates their content into a single file called “destination.txt”.
Conclusion
Merging multiple text files with the same prefix into a single file can be done using a native command in VBScript. The COPY command can be used, but it has issues with outputting the names of all the files it copies. The XCOPY command can be used instead, but it has issues with prompting to replace the destination file and merging more than two files using the “file1+file2+file3” syntax. These issues can be overcome by using the /q, /i, and /y flags and by using a loop to concatenate the files one by one.
It sounds like you’re trying to merge multiple files with the same prefix into a single file using the xcopy command. There are a couple of issues with the approach you’re taking:
- As you mentioned, using the
xcopycommand with the/iflag will assume that the destination is a directory, but you want to copy the files to a single file. - The
file1+file2+file3syntax for specifying multiple source files only works if the filenames do not contain spaces. In your case, it seems that the filenames do contain spaces, which is causing theInvalid number of parameterserror.
One way to achieve what you want is to use the type command to concatenate the contents of the multiple files into a single file. Here’s how you can do this:
- Create a new empty file that will be used as the destination file:
copy /b NUL "My destination file.tmp"
- Use a loop to iterate over all the files that match the pattern
My file pattern whatsoever.*.tmpand concatenate their contents into the destination file:
for /f "delims=" %%a in ('dir "My file pattern whatsoever.*.tmp" /b') do type "%%a" >> "My destination file.tmp"
This will loop through all the files in the current directory that match the pattern My file pattern whatsoever.*.tmp and append their contents to the destination file My destination file.tmp.
I hope this helps! Let me know if you have any questions or if you need further assistance.
According to some comments on another question, xcopy may not append files as its documentation suggests.
To append multiple files into a single destination file, you can use the type command followed by the source file pattern and the destination file name:
type "My file pattern whatsoever.*.tmp" > "My destination file.tmp"
Note that the type command also outputs the filenames as it processes them. To suppress this output, you can redirect it to NUL like this:
type "My file pattern whatsoever.*.tmp" > "My destination file.tmp" 2>NUL
(The 2>NUL is used because type displays filenames on the standard error stream.)
Alternatively, you can use the copy command to append the files. To suppress the output of filenames, redirect the standard output stream to NUL like this:
copy "My file pattern whatsoever.*.tmp" "My destination file.tmp" >NUL
(The >NUL is used because copy displays filenames on the standard output stream.)