Batch file query for copying files

Ant555

I have an excel file containing the names of 2000+ files such as file1.txt, file44.pdf, file888.xls

All of these files live in a single directory on an old Windows machine along with many thousands of other files.

I'd like to copy all of the files named in the excel document to a different directory.

copy d:\files\file1.txt e:\newcopy will work but I don't want to have to do that 2300 times.

Can anyone help with the syntax of a batch file or dos script that can lookup the name in a file (currently excel but can export to any format required) and copy it to a different location.

Many thanks in advance.

closed

As it's in excel, add a the copy commands in another column, export to txt/bat and run

or use

for

victor2

If the list of files are in subsequent rows in Excel, just add a column to the right of each with a formula in the format of ="copy "&A1&" destination", where the copy source is included in the first quoted bit and the destination in the second.
Copy that as values to a new sheet and save it as a txt file, rename it to .bat and there's your batch file.

You can dump the list as a text file and have a batch file import each item into a command, but that's probably OTT for a one-off operation.

billett05

You want to use a loop. Save your txt file as a CSV and replace the filename and end location foldername in the below (%%A is column A in excel):

paste the below into notepad and rename to something like build.cmd, ensure your csv is in the same folder


FOR /F "tokens=1,2,3,4,5,6,* delims=," %%A IN (filename.csv) DO (
echo copy %%A c:\foldername >> move.cmd
)
call move.cmd

Ant555

Woohoo!

Done and dusted!

Many thanks to everyone -

I used the excel route. Tested with 5 lines - all worked fine. Its currently running through the whole list.

Thanks again.

rmg1

I know this is sorted, but have you thought about using VBA (Excel's programming language) to move/copy the files for you as the list is in Excel already?
It's quite straightforward to do (especially the move) and I could probably throw something together in about 10 minutes.

Ant555

Thanks rmg1 but the files are on an old timer NT4 server box that I just powered up. (Yes I did say NT4!)

The files don't show up in windows explorer but can be seen in a command prompt. Copying the 'missing' files off the old box is something I have been meaning to tidy up for ages. Batch file created in Windows 7 lap top, copied to floppy disk, ran on NT4 and worked fine.